JP2002215358A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer enabling easy installing and updating of a color conversion table and printer driver necessary for generating printing data in the printer for generating the printing data, based on an information resource received from the outside and performing printing. SOLUTION: This printer for generating the printing data, based on the information resource received from the outside and performing the printing, gains access by itself to a specific site on a network at a specific timing when a power is turned on, and utilizes the color conversion table and printer driver by properly downloading them.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a printer having a function of generating print data based on information resources received from the outside and executing printing, and more particularly, to a color conversion table and a color conversion table necessary for generating the print data. The present invention relates to a printer capable of acquiring a printer driver and the like via a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the relationship between a conventional printer and a host computer. (A) of FIG.
The figure shows a case where the printer 102 is directly connected to the host computer 101 by a connection cable 103. In this case, when printing a document or image from the host computer 101, the printer driver 1 installed on the host computer 101 side is used.
04 is the information resource (TXT (TeXT), HTML
(HyperText Markup Language), JPEG (Joint Photogr
aphic Experts Group), and generates print data in a predetermined format (a format that can be understood by the printer, that is, a format described in a language (printer control language) that can be interpreted by the printer), and generates the print data in the printer. Send to 102. And the printer 10
2 interprets the received print data and executes printing according to the request. Also, the printer driver 104
When generating print data, a color table 105 (color conversion table) required for color conversion processing, font data 106 required for processing text data, and the like are used.

The printer driver 104, the color table 105, the font data 106, and the like used for printing in this manner include a printer 102 for executing printing.
In order to generate print data specific to a printer, printer data is usually prepared for each printer model. Therefore, in the case of FIG.
02, the printer driver 104 for the printer 102, the color table 105, the font data 106, etc.
It is necessary to install on the host computer 101 from 107 or the like. Note that the font data 106 that already exists in the host computer 101 may be used. In this case, the installation is omitted.

At the time of installation, a printer 10 is connected from a host computer 101 via a connection cable 103.
2 for the identification information, and prints a printer driver 104 or the like corresponding to the identification information returned from the printer 102 to a CD.
Install from 107.

[0005] An example shown in FIG.
Has a network board 208 and a LAN (Local Area
Network) or the like. In this case, a plurality of host computers 201 connected to the network 203 can issue a print request to the printer 202. Even in this case, print data unique to the printer 202 is transmitted to each host computer 201 by the host computer 201. Therefore, each host computer 201 needs a printer driver 204 for the printer 202, a color table 205, font data 206, and the like.

[0006] These installations are performed by acquiring from the CD 207 or a predetermined location on the network 203 in accordance with the identification information acquired from the printer 202, as in the case of FIG.

As described above, in the conventional printer,
Printing is always performed via a host computer, and the host computer generates print data suitable for the printer. Therefore, a printer driver or the like specific to a printer model is prepared on the host computer side when the use of the printer is started or when the printer driver or the like is updated.

[0008]

However, with the recent rapid spread of the Internet and the development of various digital devices connected to the Internet, demands for printers have diversified, and printing via a host computer is not always efficient. A case is assumed. For example, it is expected that the number of cases in which printing is directly instructed from a device other than a computer such as a mobile phone will increase. Therefore, in the future, there is a demand for a printer capable of acquiring information resources to be printed from a network, generating print data, and executing printing without using a host computer.

In such a printer, since the printer itself generates print data, it is necessary to provide the printer driver described above. Generally, the version of a printer driver or the like is often upgraded, so that even after the printer driver is once installed, a task of updating to a new version may occur at any time. Therefore, it is desired that such an update operation be easily performed.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer having a function of generating print data based on information resources received from the outside and performing printing, and a color conversion table necessary for generating print data and executing printing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer which can easily install and update a printer driver and the like.

[0011]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer for generating print data based on an information resource received from the outside and performing printing when a power supply is turned on. At a predetermined timing such as, for example, the user himself accesses a predetermined site on the network and downloads and uses printing-related information such as a color conversion table and a printer driver as appropriate. Therefore, according to the present invention, since the printers themselves acquire necessary printing-related information as appropriate, the installation work and the update work become easy, and the operator of the printer or the host computer is not bothered.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the information resource is appropriately obtained from a predetermined location on a network.

In the above invention, another preferred aspect is characterized in that the information resource is any one of image data, text data, and intermediate data generated in a process of generating print data.

In another preferred aspect of the present invention, the predetermined timing is at the time of turning on the power of the printer, receiving an instruction from a user, or receiving the information resource. Features.

In another preferred aspect of the present invention, the print-related information includes at least a color conversion table,
It is characterized by including one of a printer driver program, font data, and a font renderer program.

In another preferred aspect of the present invention, the print-related information necessary for generating the print data is classified into at least two groups based on the priority regarding acquisition.

In another preferred aspect of the present invention, at least a color conversion table, a printer driver program, basic font data, or basic It is characterized in that any one of the font renderer programs is included.

[0018] In the above invention, another preferable aspect is that the print-related information classified into a group having a low priority regarding acquisition includes at least a program for interpreting the format of the received information resource, It is characterized in that either font data of the included font or a font renderer program of the font is included.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the printer relates to a memory area for storing print-related information, and classifies and manages areas to be stored for each of the groups.

[0020] In the above-mentioned invention, another preferred embodiment is characterized in that the printer appropriately deletes, at a predetermined timing, print-related information classified into a group having a low priority regarding acquisition.

In another preferred aspect of the present invention, when the printer acquires the print-related information, the printer accesses a server which provides the location information of the print-related information, and obtains the location information of the print-related information on the network. It is characterized by inquiring.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the acquisition of the print-related information necessary for generating the print data is performed when the print-related information already possessed by the printer is:
This is performed when it is determined that the information is different from the print-related information held by the predetermined place on the network.

In another preferred aspect of the present invention, the acquisition of the print-related information necessary for generating the print data is performed when the print-related information already possessed by the printer is:
This is performed when it is determined that it is necessary to replace the print-related information held by the predetermined place on the network.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the determination is made by the printer itself. Alternatively, the determination is made at a predetermined location on the network.

In another preferred aspect of the present invention, the print-related information obtained from a predetermined location on the network is stored in the printer, and the print-related information is stored until the print-related information is deleted. It is characterized in that it is kept in a usable state.

In another preferred aspect of the present invention, when the print-related information is acquired from a predetermined location on the network, the printer has old print-related information corresponding to the acquired print-related information. In this case, the old print-related information is erased.

[0027] In the above-mentioned invention, another preferable aspect is that the print-related information obtained from the predetermined place on the network relates to a predetermined place on the network to be accessed when the print-related information is obtained next time. It is characterized by including information.

An information processing method according to the present invention is an information processing method for a printer that generates print data based on an information resource received from outside and executes printing, and is necessary for generating the print data at a predetermined timing. Determining whether or not to obtain appropriate print-related information, and, if determined to be obtained, appropriately obtaining print-related information necessary for generating the print data from a predetermined location on a network, A step of generating the print data using the acquired print-related information and executing printing.

A program according to the present invention executes the information processing method according to the present invention on a computer in a printer. The program of the present invention can be installed or loaded on a computer in a printer through various recording media such as a CD-ROM, a magnetic disk, and a semiconductor memory, or via a network.

Further objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the embodiments of the present invention described below.

[0031]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, such embodiments do not limit the technical scope of the present invention.
In the drawings, the same or similar components are denoted by the same reference numerals or reference symbols.

FIG. 1 is a network configuration diagram according to an embodiment of a printer using the present invention. In the figure, a printer 1 is a printer according to the present invention. Printer 1
A network transmission / reception unit 21 is provided inside, and is connected to the LAN 3 and the network 5 via the network transmission / reception unit 21. The network 5 is a home environment network (for example, the Internet, etc.)
(A network in which the home gateway is a server and the printer is a client).

Although only one is shown in the figure, there are many content providing servers 9 on the network 5 for providing various contents (information resources to be printed).

Further, a driver providing server 8 for providing a printer driver and the like for the printer 1 is provided. The driver providing server 8 is provided, for example, for each printer manufacturer, and print data such as a printer driver (for example, the latest printer driver), a color conversion table (color table), font data, and a font renderer is provided for each printer model. (Hereinafter referred to as “print-related information”) is prepared.

Further, when there are a plurality of such driver providing servers 8, which print providing information is stored in which driver providing server 8 is stored in association with each other, and in response to an inquiry from a printer. In addition, a location information providing server 10 having a function of returning location information of the driver providing server 8 in which desired print-related information is stored may be provided.

The printer 1 according to the present embodiment has a LAN
The printer 3 has a function of receiving print data sent from a host computer 4 such as a personal computer connected to the server 3 and executing printing based on the print data.

Further, the printer 1 itself obtains the content to be printed from the content providing server 9, generates print data based on the content, and
It also has a function to execute printing.

By using such a function, for example, in response to an instruction from the mobile phone 7 via the network 5, the printer 1 acquires the content specified from the predetermined content providing server 9 and executes printing. And
The image data of the digital camera 6 connected to the network 5 can be received by the printer 1 and printed out. Also, according to the stored job contents, it is possible to collect predetermined information every morning from a plurality of content providing servers 9 and print the information in a predetermined layout.

Note that the content includes not only image data and text data but also intermediate data (for example, band image data) generated in the process of generating print data. For example, when the intermediate data is sent from the host computer 4 or when the intermediate data is obtained as the content from the content providing server 9, the printer 1 generates print data based on the intermediate data and executes printing. Will do.

In the present embodiment, the above-described operation is realized by providing the printer 1 with an information resource acquisition function and a print data generation function which have conventionally been performed on the host computer 4 side. I have. Therefore, in order to generate print data, the printer 1 needs to include a printer driver suitable for the printer 1, a color table, and print-related information necessary for generating print data such as font data.

The printer 1 according to the present embodiment having the configuration and functions as described above with reference to FIG. 1 includes a printer driver for the printer 1 required for generating print data, and the like. It is characterized in that it obtains itself from a predetermined location on the network 5 (for example, the driver providing server 8) at a predetermined timing, thereby reducing the work of installing and updating the printer driver and the like. Things.

FIG. 2 shows a printer 1 according to this embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the device. As shown in the figure, a printer 1 includes a network transmitting / receiving unit 21, a print data transfer unit 22, a CPU 23, a RAM 24, a flash ROM 2
5, a controller 11, an engine 12, and the like.

As described above, the printer 1 receives print data via a network such as the LAN 3 or
An information resource to be printed is obtained, and print data is generated.

The controller 11 receives print data, performs a binarization process based on the print data, issues a print command or the like in synchronization with the engine 12, and controls the engine 12 in the same manner as in the conventional apparatus. The engine 12 performs actual printing according to the print command.

The network transmitting / receiving unit 21 has an interface function with a network such as the LAN 3.
The print data transfer unit 22 transfers print data received or generated by the printer 1 to the controller 11.

The flash ROM 25 stores the printer 1
Contains various programs, data, and printing-related information for executing the functions described above, and these are
Various processes are actually executed by the CPU 23 and the RAM 24.

The content acquisition program 251 is a LAN
3 or a program for processing for acquiring an information resource to be printed specified from the host computer 4 or the mobile phone 7 via the network 5 from a predetermined location (the content providing server 9). As information resources, for example, TXT (TeXT), HTML (HyperText Markup Languag
e) and information in formats such as JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group).

The driver program 253 is a program for controlling the functions of the printer driver. The driver program 253 determines whether the information received by the network transmission / reception unit 21 is content or print data. Then, in the case of print data, the print data is passed to the controller 11 as it is, otherwise, the print data to be passed to the controller 11 is generated based on the content.
At that time, the color table 254 and the font data 255 stored in the flash ROM 25 are used. These driver program 253, color table 254, font data 255, etc.
As described above, it is necessary to prepare print-related information unique to the printer model and suitable for the printer 1. Although not shown, a program for rendering a font (a font renderer) and the like are prepared as necessary.

Lastly, the initialization program 252 is a part that carries out the characteristic functions of the printer 1. The driver program 253, the color table 254, and the font table 254 are provided at a predetermined timing such as when the printer 1 is turned on. With respect to the print-related information such as the data 255, a process of obtaining a print-related information (version) appropriate for the printer 1 from a predetermined place (the driver providing server 8) on the network 5 is performed.

As described above, the inside of the printer 1 is configured.
A process flow at the time of acquiring the print-related information performed based on No. 2 will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the processing flow.

As shown in FIG. 3A, when the power of the printer 1 is turned on, first, an initialization program 252 is started (step S1 in FIG. 3). Based on the initialization program 252, the printer 1
The version of print-related information such as the driver program 253, the color table 254, the font data 255, and the font renderer stored in the ROM 25 is checked (step S2 in FIG. 3).

Next, the printer 1 is connected to the printer 1 via the network transmitting / receiving unit 21, the LAN 3, and the network 5.
Access to the driver providing server 8 on the network 5 which distributes printing related information for
3).

Here, first, the location information providing server 1
0 may be configured to be accessed. In this case, the printer 1 transmits the inquiry information including the identification information of the print-related information for the printer 1 to the location information providing server 10. The location information providing server 10 includes a database that stores the location information of the driver providing server 8 that prepares the printing-related information in association with the identification information of the printing-related information, and receives the inquiry information from the printer 1. In this case, corresponding location information is extracted from the database based on the identification information of the printing-related information in the inquiry information, and the location information is transmitted to the printer 1. Thereby, the printer 1 can access the driver providing server 8 in which the print-related information for the printer 1 is stored based on the received location information.

Next, the printer 1 checks the version of the print-related information for the printer 1 prepared in the driver providing server 8 (step S4 in FIG. 3).

Next, the version of the print-related information owned by the self confirmed in step S2 and the
The version on the server confirmed in step 4 is compared (step S5 in FIG. 3).

As a result of the comparison, whether the versions are the same,
Alternatively, when the version of the print-related information owned by the user is newer (No in step S6 in FIG. 3), the process is not particularly performed because the print-related information already has appropriate print-related information.

On the other hand, when the version of the print-related information owned by itself is older and needs to be replaced with newer print-related information (Yes in step S6 in FIG. 3), the print-related information is prepared in the driver providing server 8. The relevant print-related information is downloaded, the old print-related information in the flash ROM 25 is deleted, and the print-related information is updated to a newer one (step S7 in FIG. 3).

Thereafter, when print data is generated,
The updated version of the print-related information is used until it is updated next (step S8 in FIG. 3). In addition,
Even when the print-related information owned by the user is of an old version, the difference between the print-related information and the version provided in the driver providing server 8 is small. May be determined that replacement is not necessary.

It should be noted that the above-described comparison of the versions of the print-related information, determination of whether or not to update, and updating should be performed for each unit of version management (for example, for each driver program or color table). Can be.

FIG. 3B shows an example of another processing method. In the process based on (a) of FIG. 3 described above, the version of the print-related information owned by itself is compared with the version of the print-related information held by the driver providing server 8, and whether the print-related information is downloaded based on the comparison is determined. The determination is made by the printer 1, but in this example, the determination is made by the driver providing server 8 side. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, steps S4, S5, and S7 in (a)
In the method in (b), steps S4 ′, S5 ′, and S5
6 '.

Specifically, after accessing the driver providing server 8 (step S3 in FIG. 3), the printer 1 notifies the driver providing server 8 of the version of the print-related information that the printer 1 has (step S4 in FIG. 3). '), The driver providing server 8 performs the comparison (step S in FIG. 3).
5 '), based on the result, the driver providing server 8 determines whether or not to replace the print-related information of the printer 1 (step S6' in FIG. 3). The result of the judgment is printer 1
And the subsequent processing is the same as in (a).

Further, access is made to the driver providing server 8 (or the location information providing server 10) (step S in FIG. 3).
3) Before or before downloading from the driver providing server 8 (step S7 in FIG. 3), a step of determining whether or not the operator of the printer 1 continues the subsequent processing may be included. Accordingly, it is possible to appropriately cope with a case where connection to the network 5 should not be performed or a case where the current print-related information should not be updated.

In the example based on FIG. 3, the timing at which the printer 1 obtains the print-related information is at the time of power-on, but may be at the time of receiving an instruction from the user of the printer 1 instead. . Specifically, when an operation is performed using a button provided in the printer 1 or the like, or when the LAN 3
For example, when an instruction to that effect is received from the user via the Internet.

When the location (such as the address on the network 5) where the driver providing server 8 for providing a printer driver or the like is provided changes, if the driver providing server 8 knows this in advance, ,
The information on the location to be accessed from the next time may be included in the print-related information to be downloaded and transmitted to the printer 1.

As described above with reference to FIG. 3, the present printer 1 itself updates the version of the print-related information such as the driver program 253 and the like, so that the installation and updating of the printer 1 is troublesome. Nothing.

(Modification) Flash ROM 2 of Printer 1
In general, the font data 255 stored in the font data 255 has a large data amount. Therefore, always preparing the latest font data 255 and the font renderer for all the fonts is based on the recording capacity and the processing based on the initialization program 252. Is not preferred in terms of speed.

The same applies to other print-related information.
It can be said that always preparing all print-related information is not preferable in terms of storage capacity and the like.

Therefore, the printer 1 preferentially installs, among the print-related information, those which are always necessary for generating print data (depending on the printer model), those which have high versatility, and those which are frequently used. Should be done. Conversely, those that are specific to a particular resource, those that are less versatile,
It can be said that it is desirable to install only those that are infrequently used when necessary, or to update them to the latest.

Therefore, in the present modification, the printing-related information is classified and managed based on the priority regarding installation (acquisition). That is, those that depend on the printer model (for example, a printer driver or a color conversion table) and those that have high versatility or frequency of use (for example, basic font data or font renderer) are installed in a group with a high installation priority (hereinafter, referred to as a group). , "Resident groups"), and those which are specific to a predetermined information resource or have low versatility or use frequency (for example, special font data or font renderer) have a low installation priority. (Hereinafter, referred to as “non-resident group”). The timing for obtaining the print-related information, the determination as to whether or not to obtain the print-related information, and the storage area are made different depending on the group, so that the memory efficiency and the processing speed are improved.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the internal configuration of the printer 1 according to this modification. As shown in the figure, this modified example has the flash ROM 25 in addition to the configuration of the above-described embodiment.
A non-resident information acquisition program 256 and a non-resident information deletion program 257 are stored. Hereinafter, operations and configurations different from those of the above embodiment will be described.

The initialization program 252 executes the same processing as the processing flow shown in FIG. 3 in principle. However,
The initialization program 252 acquires, determines, updates, and the like only for the printing-related information classified into the resident group.

The non-resident information acquisition program obtains, determines, and determines print-related information classified into a non-resident group.
This is a program for performing updates and the like.

The processing flow performed based on the non-resident information acquisition program will be described below. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the processing flow. In this processing flow, a format interpretation program and font data are shown as examples of print-related information classified into a non-resident group.

The non-resident information acquisition program is started when the content acquisition program 251 acquires information resources to be printed.

First, the printer 1 extracts the type of the format of the information resource and the type of the font used in the information resource based on the header information and the like of the obtained information resource (step S10 in FIG. 6). .

Next, the printer 1 executes a format interpretation program corresponding to the extracted format type,
It is determined whether the font data corresponding to the extracted font type is installed in the printer 1 (step S11 in FIG. 6).

If it is determined that it has been installed,
The process ends. Subsequently, the driver program 253 is started, and print data is generated based on the acquired information resources.

On the other hand, when it is determined that there is a printer that has not been installed (YES in step S11 in FIG. 6), the printer 1 accesses the location information providing server 10 via the network transmitting / receiving unit 21, the LAN 3, and the network 5. ,
An inquiry is made as to the location of the corresponding driver providing server (step S12 in FIG. 6). If the location information is known, the driver may directly access the driver providing server 8 on the network 5 that distributes the format interpreter program and / or font data that are not installed.

The location information providing server 10 searches the database in response to the inquiry and transmits the location information of the search result to the printer 1 as answer information. If the search result is not found (if the corresponding location is not registered in the database), the reply information indicating the unknown location is transmitted to the printer 1.

The printer 1 determines whether the response information received from the location information providing server 10 indicates that the location is unknown (step S13 in FIG. 6). If the location information is unknown, the format already installed in the printer 1 is determined. The interpretation program and font data are set as substitute programs and substitute font data.

On the other hand, if the received response information indicates the location (NO in step S12 in FIG. 6), the driver accesses the driver providing server 8 at the location and accesses the uninstalled format interpretation program and / or font data. Is downloaded and installed in the printer 1, and the process is terminated (step S14 in FIG. 6).

Next, the non-resident information erasing program will be described. The non-resident information erasing program is a program that deletes print-related information classified into a non-resident group.

The non-resident information erasing program is started, for example, when printing has been completed. However,
The start timing can be changed according to the design, and the start timing may be configured to be started when print data generation is completed or when print data transfer to the controller 11 is completed.

Specifically, the printer 1 determines whether or not the print-related information of the non-resident group is used to generate the print data for the print data whose printing has been completed. If it is determined that it is not used, the process ends. On the other hand, if it is determined that the non-resident group is used, the printing related information of the used non-resident group is uninstalled (erased) from the printer 1.

By configuring the non-resident information acquisition program and the non-resident management program in this way, the printing-related information classified into the non-resident group is obtained only when necessary, and is installed in the printer 1 only when necessary. Can be controlled. As a result, the memory efficiency and processing speed of the printer 1 can be improved.

It is also conceivable that the non-resident information erasing program is started periodically. In this case, the memory area of the flash ROM 25 for storing the print-related information is managed by being divided into at least a memory area X for storing information of a resident group and a memory area Y for storing information of a non-resident group. It is desirable. The non-resident information erasing program periodically checks the usage rate of the memory area Y and determines that the usage rate is equal to or higher than a certain value (for example, 9
(0% or more), the date and time of installation and the frequency of use are extracted for each piece of print-related information stored in the memory area Y. For example, uninstallation is performed in ascending order of installation date and time or in ascending order of frequency of use. I do.

As described above, the printer according to the present embodiment obtains, at a predetermined timing, a program and data necessary for generating print data from a predetermined location on the network. Therefore, the user does not have to bother installing or updating them. In addition, predetermined font data and font renderers are managed as print-related information of the non-order-receiving group, and the print-related information of the non-resident group is acquired and installed from the network when necessary. Since it is configured to perform only those necessary for a while, the recording capacity can be reduced, and the speed of the processing performed at the predetermined timing can be increased.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be applied in various modifications. For example, the information resource received from outside is not limited to the information of the print target itself, and may include location information of a content providing server or the like in which the print target is stored. In this case, the printer of the present invention specifies and accesses a content providing server or the like based on the information resource received from the outside, further acquires the content (information resource) from the content providing server, and prints the data based on the content. Will be generated.

The scope of protection of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but extends to the inventions described in the claims and their equivalents.

[0090]

As described above, according to the present invention, the printer itself obtains necessary printing-related information as appropriate, so that these installation and updating operations are facilitated, and the operator of the printer and the host computer is troublesome. Nothing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a network configuration diagram according to an embodiment of a printer using the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a printer 1 according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow of a process performed based on the initialization program 252.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a relationship between a conventional printer and a host computer.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a printer 1 according to a modified example of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a flow of a process performed based on a nonresident information acquisition program.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 3 LAN 4 Host computer 5 Network 6 Digital camera 7 Mobile phone 8 Driver providing server 9 Content providing server 10 Location information providing server 11 Controller 12 Engine 21 Network transmission / reception section 22 Print data transfer section 23 CPU 24 RAM 25 Flash ROM 101 Host Computer 102 Printer 103 Connection cable 104 Printer driver 105 Color table 106 Font data 107 CD 201 Host computer 202 Printer 203 Network 204 Printer driver 205 Color table 206 Font data 207 CD 208 Network board 251 Content acquisition program 252 Initialization program 253 Driver program 254 Color table 255 Todeta 256 transient information acquisition program 257 non-resident information erasing program

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 13/10 330 G06F 13/10 330B F term (Reference) 2C061 AP01 AR01 HH03 HJ08 HJ10 HN15 HQ12 HR07 2C087 AA15 AB05 AB08 BA03 BA06 BA07 BC04 BC07 BD46 5B014 EB01 FA14 FA15 FA16 FB03 FB04 GD05 GD25 GD47 HC05 5B021 AA01 BB01 CC05 DD15 JJ01

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. A printer for generating print data based on an information resource received from the outside and executing printing, wherein at a predetermined timing, print-related information required for generating the print data is stored in a predetermined location on a network. A printer that appropriately obtains the print data from a location, generates the print data using the obtained print-related information, and executes printing. 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the information resource is acquired from a predetermined location on a network as needed. 3. The printer according to claim 2, wherein the information resource is one of image data, text data, and intermediate data generated in a process of generating print data. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined timing is at the time of turning on the power of the printer, receiving an instruction from a user, or receiving the information resource. A printer according to any one of the preceding claims. 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print-related information includes at least one of a color conversion table, a printer driver program, font data, and a font renderer program. Printer. 6. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the print-related information is classified into at least two groups based on a priority regarding acquisition. 7. The printing-related information classified into a group having a high priority regarding acquisition includes at least a color conversion table,
7. The printer according to claim 6, wherein the printer includes one of a printer driver program, basic font data, and a basic font renderer program. 8. The printing-related information classified into a group having a low priority regarding acquisition includes at least a program for interpreting the format of the received information resource, font data of a font included in the information resource, or the 8. The printer according to claim 6, wherein the printer includes any one of a font renderer program for fonts. 9. The printer according to claim 6, wherein the printer manages a memory area for storing print-related information by classifying areas to be stored for each of the groups. Printer. 10. The printer according to claim 6, wherein the printer appropriately deletes the print-related information classified into a group having a low priority regarding acquisition at a predetermined timing.
10. The printer according to any one of claims 1 to 9. 11. The printer according to claim 1, wherein, when acquiring the print-related information, the printer accesses a server that provides the location information of the print-related information, and inquires about the location information of the print-related information on the network. 11. The printer according to any one of claims 10 to 10. 12. The printing related information is obtained when the printing related information already possessed by the printer is determined to be different from the printing related information possessed by a predetermined place on the network. The printer according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the printer operation is performed. 13. Acquiring print-related information necessary for generating the print data, wherein the print-related information already possessed by the printer is the print-related information possessed by a predetermined location on the network. The printer according to any one of claims 1 to 11, which is performed when it is determined that it is necessary to replace the printer. 14. The printer according to claim 12, wherein the determination is made by the printer itself. 15. The printer according to claim 12, wherein the determination is made at a predetermined location on the network. 16. The printing related information obtained from a predetermined location on the network is stored in the printer, and the printing related information is held in a usable state until the printing related information is deleted. Claims 1 to 15
A printer according to any one of the preceding claims. 17. When acquiring the print-related information from a predetermined place on the network, if the printer has old print-related information corresponding to the acquired print-related information, 17. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the printing related information is deleted. 18. The printing-related information acquired from a predetermined location on the network includes information on a predetermined location on the network to be accessed when acquiring the printing-related information next time. Claim 1
18. The printer according to any one of claims 17 to 17. 19. An information processing method in a printer for generating print data based on an information resource received from outside and executing printing, wherein at a predetermined timing, print-related information necessary for generating the print data is obtained. A step of determining whether or not to obtain, and, if it is determined to be obtained, a step of appropriately obtaining print-related information necessary for generating the print data from a predetermined location on a network; and And generating the print data and executing printing. 20. A program for causing a computer to execute the information processing method according to claim 19.