JP2012190163A - Symbol creation device, electronic equipment and symbol creation method - Google Patents

Abstract

Symbol data for each language corresponding to a language used is created while preventing an increase in data capacity.
A method for creating a symbol for each language by combining a common element that is a design element that does not change according to a language and a language-specific element that is a design element that changes according to a language. For each element, language-specific synthesis information in which a language and a language-specific element to be synthesized are linked is stored, a language is selected (S03), a common element is selected (S06), With reference to the stored language-specific synthesis information, for the selected common element, the language-specific element associated with the selected language is specified, and the selected common element, the specified language-specific element, and And a step of creating a symbol (S07).
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a symbol creating apparatus, an electronic device, and a symbol creating method for creating a symbol by combining design elements.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, tape printers that can print symbols (pictograms, symbols, etc.) that are combinations of patterns and characters are known. For example, in the apparatus of Non-Patent Document 1, it is possible to print a pictograph in which a character imitating a “national language” is combined with a picture imitating a notebook, or a pictograph in which a character imitating “arithmetic” is combined in a picture imitating a triangular ruler is there.

  On the other hand, electronic devices (personal computers, electronic dictionaries, portable terminals, etc.) that can input characters by switching languages are also generally known. With the recent globalization, the number of languages that can be switched is increasing.

"Tepura" PRO SR550 Instruction Manual July 2009 1st Edition King Jim Co., Ltd. p. 157 (Emoji List “School”)

  By the way, the handling of symbols with characters in such an electronic device capable of inputting a plurality of languages is either to prepare individual symbol data for each language or to prepare common symbol data regardless of the language. . In the former case, there is a problem that the cost of the apparatus cannot be avoided because the memory capacity increases and it takes time to produce symbol data. In the latter case, there is a problem that a user who selects a language other than the basic language cannot understand the meaning of the symbol.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a symbol creation device, an electronic device, and a symbol creation method capable of creating symbol data for each language according to the language used while preventing an increase in data capacity. And

  The symbol creation device according to the present invention combines a common element, which is a design element that does not change according to a language, and a language-specific element, which is a design element that changes according to a language, so that a symbol can be created according to a language. A creation device, for each common element, a language-specific synthesis information storage unit that stores language-specific synthesis information in which a language and a language-specific element to be synthesized are linked, a language selection unit that selects a language, Referring to the common element selection unit for selecting a common element and the language-specific synthesis information storage unit, for the selected common element, the language-specific element associated with the selected language is specified, and the selected common element And a symbol creating unit that creates a symbol by synthesizing the specified language-specific elements.

According to this configuration, a language-specific symbol is created by synthesizing a common element that is a design element that does not change according to the language and a language-specific element that is a design element that changes according to the language. Compared with the case where different symbols are prepared for the number of languages, the memory capacity can be reduced. Also, if symbols for each language are prepared for the number of languages, the number of candidate symbols increases and it takes time to select the target symbol. Easy. For example, assuming that there are N types of languages for M common elements, rather than selecting a target symbol from among (M × N), one language in N types, It is easier to select one common element out of M. In addition, when a target symbol is selected from (M × N) symbols, symbols that do not make sense to a user who can understand only a specific language are included, and it is considered that the selection becomes more difficult. Furthermore, in order to create symbols for each language, there is a problem that symbols that do not make sense must be used, such as when only symbol data corresponding to the basic language is prepared among selectable languages. Absent.
The “symbol” is a concept including pictographs, composite characters, symbols, and the like.
Further, a symbol does not necessarily have to be a combination of one common element and one language element. For example, by combining a plurality of language-specific elements with respect to one language as the language-specific synthesis information, a symbol combining one common element and a plurality of language-specific elements can be created.

  In the symbol creation device, synthesis attribute information indicating a synthesis method is added to at least one of the common element and the language-specific element, and the symbol creation unit includes the selected common element and the identified language-specific element. It is preferable to perform synthesis based on synthesis attribute information added to at least one to create a symbol.

According to this configuration, since synthesis is performed based on the synthesis attribute information, it is possible to perform appropriate synthesis according to common elements or language-specific elements (symbol data with good appearance can be created).
In the case where the composite attribute information is added to both the common element and the language-specific element, it is preferable to follow both when there is no contradiction. Moreover, when there is a contradiction, it is possible to follow one or let the user select which one to follow.

  In the above symbol creation device, the synthesis attribute information preferably includes information indicating a synthesis position of the common element and the language-specific element.

  According to this configuration, by adding the synthesis attribute information to the language-specific element, it is possible to create a good-looking symbol data even when the size of the language-specific element varies depending on the language. On the other hand, by adding synthesis attribute information to a common element, it is possible to synthesize language-specific elements at different positions for each common element. That is, the common element A can add a language-specific element to the upper left, and the common element B can add a language-specific element to the upper right.

  In the symbol creation device, the synthesis attribute information includes white frame information indicating whether or not to add a white frame to the outline or line segment of at least the overlapping element among the synthesized elements, Among them, background white painting information indicating whether or not the background of at least the overlying element is white-painted, transmittance information indicating the transmittance of at least the overlying element among the synthesized elements, OR expression and EOR expression It is preferable to include information indicating at least one of arithmetic expression information indicating which arithmetic expression is to be used for superposition from among the logical arithmetic expressions included.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to add white frame information, background white painting information, transmittance information, and arithmetic expression information to the common element or the language-specific element as composite attribute information. As a result, it is possible to perform appropriate synthesis according to the common element or the language-specific element.

  In the above symbol creating device, at least one of the common element and the language-specific element is attached with editing attribute information indicating a method for editing the language-specific element, and the symbol creating unit identifies the selected common element and the specified element. Based on the editing attribute information added to at least one of the language-specific elements, it is preferable that the language-specific element is edited and synthesized to create a symbol.

According to this configuration, since the language-specific element is edited based on the editing attribute information, it is possible to create a good-looking symbol data according to the common element or language-specific element.
When editing attribute information is added to both the common element and the language-specific element, it is preferable to follow both when there is no contradiction. Moreover, when there is a contradiction, it is possible to follow one or let the user select which one to follow.

  In the above symbol creation device, when the language element is text data, the editing attribute information preferably includes information indicating at least one of the data size, font type, and character decoration of the text data.

According to this configuration, since the data size, font type, and character decoration of the text data can be specified by the editing attribute information, there is no need to prepare different text data (language-specific elements) for each data size, font type, and character decoration. The memory capacity can be further reduced.
The character decoration is a concept including a character color, a character spacing, and character decoration (underline, outlined character, italic, etc.).

  Another symbol creation device of the present invention can create a symbol for each language by combining a common element that is a design element that does not change according to the language and a language-specific element that is a design element that changes according to the language. A language-specific synthesis information storage unit that stores language-specific synthesis information in which the language and the language-specific element to be synthesized are linked for each common element, and the language is selected. The language selection unit and the language-specific synthesis information storage unit, identify the common element including the language-specific synthesis information of the selected language, and select the language selected as the identified common element. And a symbol creating unit that creates the symbol by synthesizing the language-specific elements linked to each other.

  The symbol creation method of the present invention is a symbol creation that creates a symbol for each language by combining a common element that is a design element that does not change according to a language and a language-specific element that is a design element that changes according to a language. A method, for each common element, referring to language-specific synthesis information in which a language and a language-specific element to be synthesized are linked, selecting a language, and language-specific synthesis information, Performing a step of identifying a common element including synthesis information for each language of the selected language, creating a symbol by synthesizing the identified common element with each language element associated with the selected language. It is characterized by doing.

  According to these configurations, in order to create a symbol for each language by combining a common element that is a design element that does not change according to the language and a language-specific element that is a design element that changes according to the language, The memory capacity can be reduced compared to the case where symbols for each language are prepared for the number of languages. In addition, if symbols for each language are prepared for the number of languages, the number of candidate symbols increases and it takes time to select the target symbol. However, since the symbols are narrowed down by language, selection is easy. is there. For example, it is convenient when a list of symbols corresponding to a selected language is displayed, and a desired symbol is selected from the list to create or print a document.

  According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an electronic apparatus including: each unit in the symbol creation device described above; and an output unit that outputs a symbol created by the symbol creation unit.

According to this configuration, it is possible to realize an electronic device that can generate symbol data for each language according to the language used and output it while preventing an increase in data capacity.
Note that the output unit may output symbols by display, printing, and communication.

1 is an external perspective view of a tape printer according to a first embodiment. It is a control block diagram of a tape printer. 6 is a flowchart illustrating print processing according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the creation image of a symbol. It is a figure which shows an example of common data. It is a figure which shows an example of the data classified by language, (a) is the data classified by language at the time of Japanese setting, (b) is the data classified by language at the time of setting English, (c) is the figure which shows the data classified by language at the time of setting French It is. It is explanatory drawing which shows a synthetic | combination position. It is explanatory drawing which shows how to overlap, (a) when it superimposes by OR type, (b) when it superimposes by EOR type, (c) when it superimposes with a white frame, (d) is It is a figure at the time of superimposing at the transmittance | permeability 50%. It is a flowchart which shows the printing process which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of common data. It is explanatory drawing which shows a modification, (a) is a case where a common element and a language element are arranged side by side, (b) is a case where a language element is a character string, and (c) is a character string which is a language element. When each character size is gradually increased, (d) is a diagram in a case where each character interval of a character string which is a language-specific element is wide.

[First Embodiment]
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of the tape printer 1 according to the present embodiment with the open / close lid 21 opened. As shown in FIG. 1, the tape printer 1 has an outer case formed by a device case 2, and a keyboard 3 having various input keys is arranged on the front upper surface of the device case 2. An opening / closing lid 21 is attached to the left part, and a display screen 41 is arranged on the right part thereof.

  A cartridge mounting portion 6 for mounting the tape cartridge C is recessed inside the opening / closing lid 21, and the tape cartridge C is detachably mounted on the cartridge mounting portion 6 with the opening / closing lid 21 opened. The The open / close lid 21 is formed with a viewing window 21a for visually confirming whether the tape cartridge C is mounted or not mounted in a state in which the lid 21 is closed.

  On the keyboard 3, a character key group 3a and a function key group 3b for designating various operation modes are arranged. The character key group 3a has a full key configuration based on the JIS layout, and is similar to a general word processor or the like including a shift key for suppressing an increase in the number of keys to be operated. The function key group 3b includes a [print] button, a [cursor] key, a [select] key, a [menu] key, and the like.

  The [Print] button is a button for executing printing. After inputting information using the character key group 3a, the user presses a [PRINT] button to execute printing based on the input information. In particular, in this embodiment, a common element (see FIG. 4), which is a design element that does not change according to the language, and a language-specific element (see FIG. 4), which is a design element that changes according to the language, are combined to generate symbols (pictograms). ) And printing the symbol. In the following description, a symbol composed of a common element and a language-specific element is referred to as a “language-specific symbol”. The [cursor] key is made up of up / down / left / right keys ([↑], [↓], [←], [→]), and is used for cursor movement and scrolling operations. The [Select] key is a key for performing a selection operation or a confirmation operation. These [cursor] key and [selection] key are used, for example, for selecting a language or selecting a common element. The [Menu] key is a key for performing various environment settings. In this embodiment, the language setting can be performed by pressing the [Menu] key.

  The display screen 41 is a liquid crystal display, and is used when confirming an editing result based on input information input by the user using the keyboard 3 and print data generated based on the editing result.

  A tape discharge port 22 is formed on the left side of the apparatus case 2 to communicate the cartridge mounting portion 6 with the outside. The tape discharge port 22 has a tape (printing tape) T sent out by a tape transport mechanism (not shown). The tape cutter 23 for cutting is facing. Then, the printed tape T is fed out from the tape discharge port 22 by a predetermined length, and after the feeding is temporarily stopped, the printed tape T is cut by the tape cutter 23 to create a strip-shaped label. To do.

  On the other hand, the cartridge mounting portion 6 has a head unit 61 in which a thermal type print head 7 is built in a head cover 61a, a platen drive shaft 62 facing the print head 7, and a winding for winding an ink ribbon R described later. A drive shaft 63 and a positioning projection 64 of the tape reel 17 described later are provided. In addition, a tape feed motor 26 (see FIG. 2) for rotating the platen drive shaft 62 and the take-up drive shaft 63 serving as a tape transport mechanism is incorporated below the cartridge mounting portion 6.

  The tape cartridge C includes a tape reel 17 in which a tape T having a certain width (about 4 mm to 48 mm) is wound at an upper central portion inside the cartridge case 51, and a ribbon reel 19 in which an ink ribbon R is wound on the lower right. The tape T and the ink ribbon R have the same width. A through hole 55 for inserting a head cover 61 a covering the head unit 61 is formed in the lower left portion of the tape reel 17. Furthermore, the head unit 61 inserted into the through-hole 55 and the platen roller 53 fitted to the platen drive shaft 62 and driven to rotate are arranged corresponding to the portion where the tape T and the ink ribbon R overlap. . On the other hand, a ribbon take-up reel 54 is disposed in the vicinity of the ribbon reel 19, and the ink ribbon R fed out from the ribbon reel 19 is taken up by the ribbon take-up reel 54 so as to go around the head cover 61a. ing. That is, the ribbon is wound around the ribbon take-up reel 54 via the ribbon running path on the peripheral wall of the through hole 55.

  When the tape cartridge C is mounted on the cartridge mounting portion 6, the through hole 55 is formed in the head cover 61 a, the center hole of the tape reel 17 is positioned in the positioning protrusion 64, and the center hole of the ribbon take-up reel 54 is positioned in the winding drive shaft 63. Then, the print head 7 is brought into contact with the platen roller 53 with the tape T and the ink ribbon R interposed therebetween, and printing becomes possible. Thereafter, when the user inputs desired text (characters, numbers, symbols, characters such as simple graphics, symbols by language, etc.) and images using the keyboard 3 while checking the editing result of the display screen 41, and instructs printing. The tape printer 1 feeds the tape T from the tape cartridge C by the tape feed motor 26, and performs desired printing on the tape T by a printing operation in which the heating elements of the print head 7 are selectively heated. The printed portion of the tape T is fed out from the tape discharge port 22 as needed, and when printing is completed, the tape feed motor 26 feeds the tape T to the position of the tape length including the margin and stops. Thereafter, the tape motor 23 is driven by the cutter motor 25 (see FIG. 2), and the tape T is cut in the width direction.

  On the other hand, the tape T includes a recording tape Ta having a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer formed on the back surface and a release tape Tb attached to the recording tape Ta by the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer. The tape T is wound in a roll shape with the recording tape Ta on the outside and the release tape Tb on the inside, and is accommodated in the cartridge case 51. Further, a plurality of tapes T having different tape types (tape width, tape ground color, ground pattern, material, etc.) are prepared, and each of the cartridge cases 51 has one type of tape T ( And an ink ribbon R). A plurality of holes (not shown) for specifying the type of the tape cartridge C are provided on the back surface of the cartridge case 51. A plurality of tape identification sensors (such as microswitches) 27 (see FIG. 2) for detecting these are provided in the cartridge mounting portion 6 corresponding to the plurality of holes. By detecting the state of the hole, the tape type can be determined.

  Next, the control configuration of the tape printer 1 will be described with reference to the control block diagram of FIG. The tape printer 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 81, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 82, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 83, a display screen 41, a keyboard 3, a cutter motor 25, a tape cutter 23, a tape feed motor 26, A print head 7 and a tape identification sensor 27 are provided. Among these, the RAM 82 and the ROM 83 are connected to the CPU 81 via the bus 85, and the other components are directly connected to the CPU 81.

  The CPU 81 is a central processing unit and forms the main part of the “symbol creation unit” in the claims. Based on the selected language and common element, the “symbol creation unit” identifies the language-specific element to be synthesized with the common element, synthesizes the selected common element and the identified language-specific element, Create another symbol. The RAM 82 is directly connected to the CPU 81 and is used as a work area when the CPU 81 performs various controls. The ROM 83 stores a control program and control information for the CPU 81 to perform various controls. Specifically, the control program includes a symbol creation program for creating a language-specific symbol, a display control program for performing display control of the display screen 41, a printing / cutting processing program for performing printing processing and cutting processing, and the like. (Not shown).

  The ROM 83 has a common data storage area 86 and a language-specific data storage area 87. The common data storage area 86 stores various data related to “common elements” that do not change according to the language (hereinafter referred to as “common data”, see FIG. 5 and the like). The common data includes language-specific synthesis information in which a language is associated with a language-specific element to be synthesized. The “language-specific synthesis information storage unit” in the claims is realized by the common data storage area 86. On the other hand, the language-specific data storage area 87 stores various data relating to “language-specific elements” that change according to the language (hereinafter referred to as “language-specific data”, see FIG. 6).

  The display screen 41 functions as a display unit for displaying the editing result and the print layout. The keyboard 3 includes an input unit for a user to input information (including symbols for each language), an editing unit for performing editing processing, a setting unit for performing various settings, a printing instruction unit for performing printing instructions, Function as such. Further, it functions as a “language selection unit” and a “common element selection unit” in the claims.

  The cutter motor 25 is connected to the tape cutter 23 and functions as a cutting unit. The tape feed motor 26 and the print head 7 function as a printing unit that performs printing on the tape T while transporting the tape T. Further, as described above, the print head 7 and the tape identification sensor 27 are provided in the cartridge mounting unit 6, and the tape identification sensor 27 detects the type of the tape T accommodated in the tape cartridge C. Based on the detection result of the tape identification sensor 27 (based on the tape material, width, etc.), the CPU 81 determines the number of lines that can be input as text, the number of characters, the character size, whether or not cutting is possible, and the like. I do. In addition, the CPU 81 performs display control of the display screen 41 and drive control (printing / cutting control) of the print head 7, the cutter motor 25, and the tape feed motor 26 in accordance with an instruction input from the keyboard 3.

  Next, the flow of the printing process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the user presses the [Menu] key to display an environment setting menu and designates a language menu (S01), the tape printer 1 (CPU 81) displays language candidates on the display screen 41 (S02). ). The language menu includes a plurality of language candidates such as “Japanese”, “English”, and “French”. Here, when the user selects a desired language (S03), the language setting is completed. As described above, S01 to S03 are operations at the time of environment setting. Note that, according to the language setting, characters (including titles, options, guidance, and units) displayed on the display screen 41 are displayed corresponding to the set language.

  Next, the operation during the printing process will be described. In a state where a text input screen (not shown) for inputting information to be printed on the tape T is displayed on the display screen 41, when the user instructs display of the common element list (S04), the tape printer 1 displays The common element candidates are displayed on the screen 41 (S05). Here, when M pieces of common data are stored in the common data storage area 86, images of M pieces of common elements (see FIG. 4) are displayed as common element candidates. When the user selects one common element from the displayed plurality of common element candidates (S06), the tape printer 1 creates a language-specific symbol based on the selection results of S03 and S06 (S07). . The created language-specific symbols are input (displayed) on the text input screen. The creation process will be described in detail later.

  When the user presses the [Print] button while a language-specific symbol is input on the text input screen and gives a print instruction (S08), the tape printer 1 generates print data including the language-specific symbol. This is printed on the tape T (S09). In addition to the language-specific symbols, texts and images can be entered on the text input screen. In other words, it is possible to input language-specific symbols as part of the input data.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 4 to FIG. 8, the creation process of the symbol for each language will be described with a specific example. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a creation image of language-specific symbols. As shown in the figure, “language-specific symbols” (symbols) are created by combining language-dependent design elements “common elements” and language-dependent design elements “language-specific elements”. Is done. In the example of the figure, when the setting language is “English”, the symbol shown in the upper part is created, and when the language setting is “Japanese”, the symbol shown in the lower part is created.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of common data. The common data is information in which the common element ID, the language-specific synthesis information, and the data body are associated with each other. In the example shown in the figure, for a common element whose common element ID is “0xE000”, “data body” is 48 × 48 dot bitmap dot binary data (hereinafter referred to as “bitmap data”) imitating a part of a register. It is shown that language-specific element IDs for three languages are added as language-specific synthesis information.

  As for the language-specific synthesis information, when the common element shown in the figure is selected when Japanese is set, a language-specific symbol synthesized with the language-specific element with the language-specific element ID “001” (see FIG. 6A) is created. Is meant to do. Similarly, a language-specific symbol combined with a language-specific element (see FIG. 6B) with a language-specific element ID “002” is created when English is set, and a language-specific element ID “003” is set when French is set. This means that a language-specific symbol synthesized with a language-specific element (see FIG. 6C) is created. In the example shown in the figure, the “data body” of the common data is represented by bitmap data, but may be characters, pictograms, symbols, etc. represented by text codes.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of language-specific data. The language-specific data is information in which the common element ID, the attribute information, and the data body are linked. In the example of FIG. 6A, four pieces of information are added as attribute information to the text code of “¥” shown in the “data body” for the language-specific element whose language-specific element ID is “001”. Is shown. Here, “attribute information 1” indicates whether the data body is a text code or bitmap data. “Attribute information 2” indicates the data size when combining with the common element. In the example of the figure, the data size is indicated by the number of dots, but may be indicated by a byte unit (data amount). “Attribute information 2” is attribute information indicating a method for editing language-specific elements when creating a language-specific symbol, and corresponds to “edit attribute information” in the claims.

  “Attribute information 3” indicates a combination position when combining with the common element. The composition position is defined with reference to the upper left vertex of the image. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, when a 24 × 24 dot language element image is combined with a 48 × 48 dot common element image, the combining position is (24, 0) (FIG. 6A). Reference), among the four partial areas obtained by equally dividing the 48 × 48 dot area vertically and horizontally into four partial areas, the language-specific element image is superimposed on the upper right partial area. In this embodiment, language-specific elements are superimposed on common elements (the overlapping order is fixed). Further, “attribute information 3” and “attribute information 4” to be described later are attribute information indicating a synthesis method when creating a symbol for each language, and correspond to “synthesis attribute information” in the claims.

  “Attribute information 4” indicates how to overlap with the common element. Specifically, background white painting information indicating whether or not the background of at least the overlapping elements among the elements to be combined is white is shown. In the example shown in the figure, since “white background” (white background) is set, the background portion of the image of “¥” (other than the image portion) within the 24 × 24 dot area of the language-specific element ) Is solidly painted in white and superimposed with the image of the common element (see FIG. 7). If “no background white painting” is set in “attribute information 4”, an image of “¥” is arranged with the upper right portion of the surrounding frame of the common element remaining (not shown).

  In the example of FIG. 6A, the “data body” of the language-specific element is represented by a text code (the same applies to FIG. 6B), but may be represented by bitmap data. (See FIG. 6 (c)). That is, it is possible to create a language-specific symbol corresponding to a set language by combining text-specific elements or image-specific language elements with the same common element. Various editing methods and composition methods can be realized by setting attribute information.

  For example, as attribute information indicating the editing method, when the language element is text data (data indicating text), in addition to the data size of “attribute information 2”, the font type (Mincho, Gothic, etc.) , Character decoration, etc. can be set. Here, the character decoration refers to a character color, a character style (bold, italic, etc.), and a character decoration (underline, outlined character, etc.).

  Further, as the attribute information indicating the synthesis method, arithmetic expression information indicating a logical arithmetic expression (operator) may be set. FIG. 8A is a diagram showing a superimposed image of each element when an OR expression is set as a logical operation expression. In the figure, round and triangular images indicate each element (common element, language-specific element), and the image shown at the end of the arrow indicates a language-specific symbol. FIG. 8B is a diagram showing an overlapping image of each element when an EOR expression is set as a logical operation expression. As described above, any one of a plurality of arithmetic expressions including an OR expression and an EOR expression may be set as attribute information.

  Further, as the attribute information indicating the synthesis method, white frame information indicating whether or not to add a white frame to the outline or line segment of at least the overlapping element among the synthesized elements may be set. FIG. 8C is a diagram showing a superimposed image of each element when it is set to add a white frame. In the example of the figure, a case where a white frame is added to an element indicated by a triangle is illustrated. In this way, when “add” is set as the white line information, a white line is added to the outline of the element image that overlaps or the outside of the image line part, and synthesis is performed to generate a good-looking symbol by language. it can.

  Further, as attribute information indicating the synthesis method, transmittance information indicating the transmittance of at least the overlapping element among the elements to be combined may be set. FIG. 8D shows the overlapping of each element when the transmittance of the element that overlaps (in the example of the figure, the element indicated by the white triangle, for example, the language-specific element) is set to “50%”. It is a figure which shows a matching image. It should be noted that the transmittance may be set for elements that overlap (for example, common elements), or may be set for all elements that are combined.

  In the example shown in FIG. 7, the language-specific elements are superimposed on the common elements, but the common elements may be superimposed on the language-specific elements. Further, as the attribute information (composite attribute information), superposition order information indicating which one is to be overlaid may be set.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, a common element that does not change according to a language and a language-specific element that changes according to a language are synthesized to create a language-specific symbol. Compared with the case where a language-specific symbol corresponding to a language is prepared, the memory capacity can be reduced and the number of symbol generation steps can be reduced. In addition, when language-specific symbols corresponding to all languages are prepared, the number of candidate symbols increases, and it takes time to select a target symbol. Easy to select. Furthermore, in order to create symbols for each language according to the set language, symbols that do not make sense are used, such as conventional tape printers that only provide symbol data corresponding to the basic language among selectable languages. There is no problem of having to print.

  In addition, attribute information indicating the synthesis method or editing method is added to the language-specific elements, so that appropriate synthesis can be performed according to the common elements or language-specific elements (creating good-looking symbol data it can). For example, since the data size and composition position can be added to each language element, even if the language element size differs depending on the language, it looks good according to the language element size. Good symbol data can be created. In addition, if the language-specific element is text data, the text data data size, font type, and character decoration can be specified by the attribute information. Therefore, different text data (language-specific elements) for each data size, font type, and character decoration. There is no need to prepare, and the memory capacity can be further reduced.

  In the above embodiment, a case where one common element and one language-specific element are combined has been illustrated, but a language-specific symbol may be created by combining a plurality of language-specific elements for one common element. good. In this case, a plurality of language-specific element IDs are associated with one language as the language-specific synthesis information. In addition, the elements to be superimposed on the common elements are not limited to language-specific elements, but may be design elements that do not change depending on the language.

  In the above embodiment, the attribute information is added to the language-specific element, but may be added to the common element. For example, by adding attribute information indicating the synthesis position to the common element, a language-specific element is added to the upper left for the common element A, and a language-specific element is added to the upper right for the common element B. Is possible. When attribute information is added to both the common element and the language-specific element, it is preferable to follow both when there is no contradiction. If there is a contradiction, the user follows one (that is, the attribute information added to one of the elements is applied with priority), and the user selects which one to follow (when the common element is selected, the display screen 41 is displayed). Display a selection screen).

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the first embodiment, one language-specific symbol is created based on the setting language and the common element selection result. However, in the present embodiment, the languages of all common elements that can be created based on the setting language. Create another symbol. Only differences from the first embodiment will be described below. In the present embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. Moreover, the modification applied about the component similar to 1st Embodiment is applied similarly about this embodiment.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of printing processing according to the second embodiment. Note that S11 to S13 shown in the figure are the same as the environment setting flow according to the first embodiment (see S01 to S03 in FIG. 3), and thus description thereof is omitted. When the user issues a symbol list display instruction during the printing process (S14), the tape printer 1 creates all language-specific symbols corresponding to the language based on the language setting that is the selection result of S13 (S14). S15).

  Specifically, the CPU 81 refers to the common data storage area 86, specifies one or more common elements including the language-specific synthesis information of the set language, and associates the selected language with the selected language. The attached language-specific elements are combined to create one or more language-specific symbols. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, when four common data are stored in the common data storage area 86 and the set language is “Japanese”, the language-specific synthesis information of the set language is included. Common element IDs “0xE000”, “0xE001”, and “0xE003” are specified as one or more common elements. Further, by combining these three common elements with language-specific elements (language-specific element IDs “001”, “001”, “011”) associated with the set language “Japanese”, 3 Two language-specific symbols (“0xE000” + “001”, “0xE001” + “001”, “0xE003” + “011”) are created.

  When the tape printer 1 creates all the language-specific symbols corresponding to the set language as described above (S15), it displays them on the display screen 41 as a symbol list (S16). The user selects a desired symbol for each language from the displayed symbol list (S17), and instructs to print the symbol for each language by pressing the [Print] button (S18). On the other hand, the tape printer 1 prints the print data including the selected language-specific symbol on the tape T (S19).

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, in order to display a list of symbols by language according to the set language, the user selects a desired symbol by language after confirming the image of the symbol by language. Can do.

  In the above example, the case where the list of symbols by language is displayed is exemplified, but the second embodiment may be applied to the case where a list of pictograms is displayed. That is, language-specific symbols may be displayed as a part of the pictogram list without distinguishing from other pictograms. In this case, the symbol creation process as described above is performed only when the pictogram includes common data including language-specific synthesis information. In other words, for general pictograms that do not have language-specific synthesis information (in the case of pictogram data composed only of a common element ID and data body), an image display based on the data body is displayed when the pictogram list is displayed regardless of the set language. Will only do.

  Further, in the flowchart shown in FIG. 9, all the symbols for each language corresponding to the set language are created (S15), but not all the symbols for each language corresponding to the set language are created. If the display candidate is displayed and the display candidate is switched, a process of creating and displaying another language-specific symbol corresponding to the set language may be repeated. According to this configuration, for example, when all the symbols for each language cannot be displayed due to restrictions on the display screen 41, only the symbols for each language to be displayed need be created. Can be omitted.

[Modification]
Next, a modification of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In each of the above embodiments, the language-specific symbol is created by superimposing the common element and the language-specific element, but it is not always necessary to superimpose. For example, as shown in FIG. 11A, language-specific symbols may be created by arranging two elements on the left and right. In addition, a composition method such as arranging them vertically or arranging four elements in a matrix is also conceivable.

  Further, the language-specific element is not necessarily limited to one character. For example, as shown in FIG. 11B, a character string “ABC” may be a language-specific element. Note that the ABC outer frame (dotted line frame) indicates an area of language-specific elements, and is not an image included in the language-specific elements. As described above, when the character string is a language-specific element, the character size and character spacing of each character may be set as attribute information (edit attribute information). For example, as shown in FIG. 11C, the character size of each character may be set to be gradually increased, or conversely, may be set to be gradually decreased. Further, as shown in FIG. 11D, the character spacing may be set wide. In this case, the character spacing may be set not as “wide” or “narrow” but as an absolute value (in centimeters or inches).

  In addition, although not particularly illustrated, color setting, object deformation (for example, character arrangement method for arranging characters on the circumference, rotation angle of each element), effect setting (for example, 3D, blur), etc. Various elements that can be set by an illustration creation application or graphic application can be set as attribute information.

  In each of the above embodiments, language-specific elements are prepared for each language, but country-specific elements that vary depending on the country may be used instead. In this case, in the environment setting, “country” is selected instead of language selection. According to this configuration, even in the same language, there are design elements whose expression changes depending on the country, and the meaning of pictograms and symbols changes, but symbols that include such design elements are also suitable for that country. Design.

  Moreover, it is possible to provide each component of the tape printer 1 shown in each said embodiment as a program. Further, the program can be provided by being stored in various recording media (CD-ROM, flash memory, etc.). That is, a program for causing a computer to function as each unit of the tape printer 1 and a recording medium on which the program is recorded are also included in the scope of rights of the present invention. In addition, the symbol creation device and the symbol creation method of the present invention may be applied to electronic devices other than the tape printer 1, such as personal computers, electronic devices, display devices, and communication devices. Other modifications can be made as appropriate without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Tape printer 3 ... Keyboard 7 ... Print head 41 ... Display screen 81 ... CPU 82 ... RAM 83 ... ROM 86 ... Common data storage area 87 ... Data storage area according to language T ... Tape

Claims (9)

A symbol creation device capable of creating a symbol for each language by combining a common element that is a design element that does not change according to a language and a language-specific element that is a design element that changes according to a language,
For each of the common elements, a language-specific synthesis information storage unit that stores language-specific synthesis information in which the language and the language-specific element to be synthesized are linked;
A language selector for selecting the language;
A common element selection unit for selecting the common element;
Referring to the language-specific synthesis information storage unit, for the selected common element, the language-specific element associated with the selected language is specified, and the selected common element and the specified language A symbol creating apparatus comprising: a symbol creating unit that creates the symbol by combining another element. Synthesis attribute information indicating a synthesis method is added to at least one of the common element and the language-specific element,
The symbol creating unit creates the symbol by performing synthesis based on the synthesis attribute information added to at least one of the selected common element and the identified language-specific element. Item 2. The symbol creation device according to Item 1.   3. The symbol creating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the synthesis attribute information includes information indicating a synthesis position of the common element and the language-specific element.   The composite attribute information includes white frame information indicating whether or not to add a white frame to the outline or line segment of an element that overlaps at least the element that is combined, and an element that overlaps at least the element that is combined Of white background information indicating whether or not to make the background white, transmittance information indicating the transmittance of at least the overlapping element among the combined elements, and a logical operation expression including an OR expression and an EOR expression The symbol creating apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising information indicating at least one of arithmetic expression information indicating which arithmetic expression is used for superimposing. Editing attribute information indicating an editing method of the language-specific element is added to at least one of the common element and the language-specific element,
The symbol creation unit edits the language-specific element based on the editing attribute information added to at least one of the selected common element and the specified language-specific element, and synthesizes the symbol. The symbol creating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the symbol creating apparatus creates the symbol. When the language-specific element is text data,
6. The symbol creating apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the editing attribute information includes information indicating at least one of a data size, font type, and character decoration of the text data. A symbol creation device capable of creating a symbol for each language by combining a common element that is a design element that does not change according to a language and a language-specific element that is a design element that changes according to a language,
For each of the common elements, a language-specific synthesis information storage unit that stores language-specific synthesis information in which the language and the language-specific element to be synthesized are linked;
A language selector for selecting the language;
Refer to the language-specific synthesis information storage unit, identify the common element including the language-specific synthesis information of the selected language, and the identified common element is associated with the selected language. A symbol creation device, comprising: a symbol creation unit that synthesizes language-specific elements to create the symbol. Each part in the symbol creating device according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
An electronic device comprising: an output unit that outputs the symbol created by the symbol creation unit. A symbol creation method for creating a symbol for each language by combining a common element that is a design element that does not change according to a language and a language-specific element that is a design element that changes according to a language,
Storing, for each common element, language-specific synthesis information in which the language and the language-specific element to be synthesized are linked;
Selecting the language;
Refer to the language-specific synthesis information, identify the common element including the language-specific synthesis information of the selected language, and identify the common element by the language associated with the selected language. And a step of synthesizing elements to create the symbol.

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