Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Patent
1996-07-08
1999-02-16
Hong, Stephen S.
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
707526, G06F 300
Patent
active
058731105
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a character information processing device that is provided with a layout display function for displaying an input document in the image to be actually printed, and that prints out the input document or performs imprinting.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Generally speaking, Japanese or English wordprocessors are provided with various functions for simplifying document entry and editing tasks. One of these functions is a layout function. Switching the screen from a document display mode to a layout display mode displays the document being worked on in the layout that will be actually printed, in a graphic display format such as dot columns and lines. By viewing this layout display, the user can evaluate the actual print-out image on the screen.
This type of layout display function was disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. H5-108630, for example. The layout display function disclosed in this publication allows correction and editing of the document data on the screen while the screen is in the layout display mode.
Recently, small printing devices, referred to as label printers or label wordprocessor, have come into use. This type of printing device prints information onto a tape-shaped printing medium possessing an adhesive bottom surface, and is usually provided with a function to cut the printed medium to the desired length after the printing is completed. The piece of printing medium that has been cut to the desired length can then be pasted as a label in a desired location.
As is the case with ordinary wordprocessors, this type of printing device is also provided with a display function for displaying input document data. Therefore, it would be convenient if the actual print-out on a tape-shaped printing medium with a predetermined width can be determined in advance. Given such a consideration, some printing devices have been proposed that are provided with a layout function, and in which pressing a layout key switches the screen from a document input mode to a layout display mode, as in ordinary wordprocessors.
A layout display function is a convenient function which enables the user to verify information such as the position of the print content of the label being created, by displaying such information on the screen without actually printing the input document on an expensive tape-shaped printing medium. This layout display function is intended to be used after the entry of the document to be printed is completed. However, the user may wish to verify the layout even during the document input. For example, when entering a document consisting of three lines, the user may wish to verify whether or not the first two lines entered are acceptable. In such a case, a conventional layout display function requires that the screen be switched from the input mode to the layout display mode. When the layout display shows that the layout of the entered document is different from the intended layout, the user must first switch back to the input mode, adjust attributes such as character spacing, character size, and tape margin, and then again switch back to the layout mode to verify the updated layout.
As explained above, when using a conventional layout display function, it may be necessary to repeatedly switch the screen between the input mode and the layout mode until the desired layout is obtained. Such operations are cumbersome and should be eliminated.
A function that allows correction of input documents in the layout display mode has been proposed, as mentioned above. However, generally speaking, the input characters in the screen are more difficult to view in a layout display mode than in an input mode, and the operations for correcting/modifying those characters are cumbersome.
Such a problem has arisen in tape printing devices, as well as in character information processing devices that perform printing or imprinting and that possess a high degree of freedom in attributes such as character spacing, character size, and tape margin. For example, the a
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Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol. 018, No. 557 (P-1817), 24 Oct. 1994 (Abstract of JP-A-06-202304)
Aida Chieko
Hosokawa Takeshi
Kameda Takanobu
Kurashina Hiroyasu
Shimmura Tomoyuki
Hong Stephen S.
King Jim Co. Ltd.
Seiko Epson Corporation
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