JP2003345542A - Font data download method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve a method for downloading fonts which are not incorporated in a page descriptive language printer to which font data can be downloaded, and to improve the performance of a print system. <P>SOLUTION: The print system comprises: a font data storage means; a page descriptive language printer having a means for downloading font data to the storing means from the outside; one or more computers; and a printer control software means for converting a document prepared by a user on the computer into page descriptive language and transmitting it to the printer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for downloading font data in a printing system capable of downloading and printing font data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a printer capable of downloading and printing font data, when a user-created document includes a font that is not built in the printer, the printer control software uses the font. Data is downloaded to a printer for each print job and printing is performed.

Alternatively, when there is a font that is not built into the printer, the user downloads the font data to the storage device of the printer prior to using the font, that is, before printing the document.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, fonts that are not built in the printer have to be downloaded to the printer each time a print job is performed.

Since it is necessary to insert font data for each print job, the size of the print job increases, and the time required for printing increases.

[0006] Since the font data included in the print job is stored in the memory of the printer, the use efficiency of the memory is reduced.

Alternatively, a font which is not built in the printer is downloaded by the user to the storage means of the printer prior to printing.

[0008] Even fonts that are infrequently used are forcibly downloaded, so that the storage means of the printer is wastefully used.

[0009] Since the user downloads the font data to the storage means of the printer, the user is troublesome.

[0010]

In order to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks, a first aspect of the present invention provides a printer control software which records the frequency and the number of font downloads every time a print job occurs. In the case where the past use condition matches a certain condition, the user is notified that the font data is downloaded to the printer.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, each time a print job is generated, the printer control software records the frequency and number of font downloads. It is characterized in that it itself downloads font data to a printer.

[0012]

(First Embodiment) FIGS. 1 to 5
Is a drawing showing the first embodiment, and in FIG.
Reference numeral 01 denotes a printer which has a storage unit capable of storing font data, and from which font data can be externally downloaded to the storage unit, and which performs print processing in a page description language. A computer connected to the computer network, 104 is a computer network. Here, the printer 101 stores the built-in font in the printer, and in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the built-in font is also stored in the storage unit for downloading font data from the outside. The storage location of the data is not limited to this storage means. In this embodiment, the connection between the printer and the computer depends on the network. However, the connection can be realized by another connection.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the printer. Reference numeral 201 denotes a printer main body; 202, a computer network interface; 203, a page description language interpretation / rendering control unit; 204, a hard disk for storing font data; A print control unit 206, a drawing memory for developing a page description language into a bitmap, 20
Reference numeral 7 denotes a working memory used by the page description language interpretation / drawing control unit, and 208 denotes a printing unit that prints a bitmap developed in the drawing memory on a medium. In addition, the printer downloads font data in the print job,
The data is stored in the working memory 207 and is deleted when the print job is completed. However, font data is transferred from the computer 102 or the like to the font data hard disk 2 using software for downloading fonts.
In this system, font data can be permanently used without downloading font data for each print job by downloading the font data to the print job.

FIG. 3 is a work flow chart of the present embodiment, showing the operation of printer control software installed in a computer.

FIG. 4 is a table showing the number of times of use for each font, which is stored in the printer control software installed in the computer in the software.
Is a flag indicating whether or not it has been downloaded (TR
UE, otherwise FALSE).

FIG. 5 shows a document created by the user.
1 is written in font A and 502 is written in font B.

The embodiment will be described below using a specific example. In the description, the following conditions are assumed.

The user operates the computer 102 to print the font A
And one document FIG. on the other hand,
It is assumed that the printer has only the font A among these fonts mounted on the font data hard disk 204. Therefore, when the user prints this document, the printer control software needs to download the font data of font B to the printer.
Further, in this embodiment, when a font that is not in the printer is used more than 100 times, the printing system prompts the user to download the font to the font data hard disk. This user prints the document containing the font B 98 times in the past. Suppose you print.

First, the user instructs the printer control software to print the document shown in FIG. The printer control software prints the text 501 of font A. At 301 in the flowchart, this is font data, so go to 303. At 303, the font A is determined to be a font built in the printer, and at 304, print processing of the 501 text of the font A is performed. Subsequently, since the print job has not been completed in 311, the process returns to 301.

Next, the printer control software proceeds to print processing of the text of font B 502. In 301, this sentence is determined to be font data,
Proceed to 3. At 303, the text of the font B is determined to be a font that is not built in the printer. Proceeding to 305, the font download table in FIG. 4 is checked to see if font B has already been downloaded. here,
Since it is known that the font B has not been downloaded, the process proceeds to 307. At 307, the counter of the number of times the font is used is increased by one. That is, the number of times of the font B is increased by one in the font use number table of FIG. Next, at 308, this number is 1
Since it is not more than 00 times, the process proceeds to 309, where font data is downloaded in this print job and a character string is drawn. As described above, the font data of the font B is stored in the work memory 207 in the printer. Finally, it is determined in 311 that the print job has been completed, so this printing is completed.

It should be noted that the contents of the working memory 207 are erased at the end of the print job. That is, the downloaded font B font data is erased at the end of the printing, and if it is necessary to draw the font B again, the font B font data must be downloaded again.

Next, the user prints the document shown in FIG. 5 again. In this print, the sentence 5 of font A was used.
Since the printing of 01 is the same procedure as the printing of the previous time, the description is omitted.

Next, the process proceeds to the printing of the sentence 502 of the font B. In the case of font data 301, 30
Proceed to 3. Next, in 303, it is determined that the font B is a font that is not built in the printer.
Proceed to. At 305, the font download table in FIG. 4 is checked to see if font B has already been downloaded. Here, since it is found that the font B has not been downloaded, the process proceeds to 307. In 307, the counter of the number of times of use is increased by one.

That is, the number of times of the font B is increased by one in the font use number table of FIG. Next, in 308, the number of times is 100 or more, and since the font data of the font B has not been downloaded to the font data hard disk 204 yet, a message is displayed to the user in 310. This display content suggests that the font data of the font B be downloaded to the font data hard disk of the printer using the font data download software because the font B is frequently used.

Finally, the printing of this document ends at 311. In this printing, it is assumed that the user has downloaded the font data of the font B to the font data hard disk 204 using the font data download software in accordance with the message 310. At this time, TRUE is written in the font 403 download field 403 of the font usage count table.

Finally, the user prints the document of FIG. 5 again. Note that the printing of the sentence 501 of the font A also has the same procedure as that of the previous printing, so that the description is omitted. Subsequently, the process proceeds to printing of the text 502 of the font B. At 301, since the data is font data, the process proceeds to 303. Next, at 303, font B
Is determined to be a font that is not built in the printer, and the process proceeds to 305. At 305, the font download table in FIG. 4 is checked to see if font B has already been downloaded. Here, since the font download field 403 of the font B is TRUE, it can be seen that the font data hard disk in the printer already has font B font data. So 306
To print the text 502 of the font B without downloading the font data of the font B. This print job ends at 311.

(Second Embodiment) FIGS. 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7 are drawings showing a second embodiment. FIG. 1 shows a printing system of this embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 5 shows an internal block diagram of a document created by a user. These documents are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 6 is a font use frequency table for each font held by the printer control software installed in the computer in the software. A column 601 indicates the font name, and a column 602 indicates the date and time when the previous font was used. , 603 are the number of downloads per unit time,
A flag 604 indicates whether or not the font data of the font has been downloaded (TRUE if yes, FALSE otherwise). The formula for calculating the number of downloads per unit time calculated at the time of font download is as follows.

(Number of downloads per unit time) =
(Number of downloads per unit time in the table + 1) /
(1 + the current date / time−the date and time in the table) In addition, the initial value of the number of downloads per unit time of the table and the first use of the font are set to 0.

The embodiment will be described below using a specific example. In the description, the following conditions are assumed.

The user operates the computer 102 to print the font A
And one document FIG. on the other hand,
It is assumed that the printer has only the font A among these fonts mounted on the font data hard disk 204. Therefore, when the user prints this document, the printer control software needs to download the font data of font B to the printer.
In this embodiment, when the unit time is one hour and a font is used 0.5 times or more per unit time, the printer control software downloads the font data of the font to the font data hard disk in the printer. The date and time when the user last used font B is 19
It is 15:00 on September 1, 1998, and the number of downloads per unit time is 0.

First, the user instructs the printer control software to print the document shown in FIG. The date and time at this time is 18:00 on September 1, 1998. The printer control software prints the text 501 of font A. In step 701 of the flowchart, since this is font data, the process proceeds to step 703. In step 703, the font A is determined to be a font built in the printer. In step 704, print processing of the text 501 of the font A is performed. Subsequently, since the print job has not been completed in 711, the process returns to 701.

Next, the printer control software proceeds to the printing process for the text of font B 502. In step 701, this sentence is determined to be font data.
Proceed to 3. In step 703, the text of the font B is determined to be a font that is not built in the printer. Proceeding to 705, the font download table in FIG. 6 is checked to see if font B has already been downloaded. here,
Since it is found that the font B has not been downloaded, the process proceeds to 707. At 707, the frequency of use of the font is calculated. From the calculation formula, (0 + 1) / (1 + 3) =
0.25, the usage frequency per unit time is 0.25
Times. Next, in 708, since this number is not more than 0.5 times, the process proceeds to 709, where font data is downloaded in this print job, and a character string is drawn. As described above, the font data of the font B is stored in the work memory 207 in the printer. Finally, in 711, it is determined that the print job has been completed, so this printing is completed.

It should be noted that the contents of the working memory 207 are erased at the end of the print job. That is, the downloaded font B font data is erased at the end of the printing, and if it is necessary to draw the font B again, the font B font data must be downloaded again.

Next, the user prints the document shown in FIG. 5 again. The date and time at this time is 19:00 on September 1, 1998
And In this case, the printing of the sentence 501 of the font A is performed in the same procedure as that of the previous printing, so that the description is omitted.

Next, the process proceeds to the printing of the sentence 502 of the font B. 701 is font data.
Proceed to 3. Next, in step 703, the font B is determined to be a font that is not built in the printer.
Proceed to. At 705, the font download table of FIG. 6 is checked to see if font B has already been downloaded. Here, since it is known that the font B has not been downloaded, the process proceeds to 707. At 707, the frequency of use of the font is calculated. According to the calculation formula, (0.25
+1) / (1 + 1) = 0.625, and the frequency of use per unit time is 0.625. Next, in 708, since the use frequency is 0.5 or more, the printer control software downloads the font data of the font B to the font data hard disk 204 in 709. Finally, the printing of this document ends at 711. At this time, the font B in the font usage count table
Is written in the download column 604 of.

Finally, the user prints the document of FIG. 5 again. The date and time at this time were September 1, 1998
0:00. Note that the printing of the sentence 501 of the font A also has the same procedure as that of the previous printing, so that the description is omitted. Then, font B
To print the sentence 502. Since the data is font data in 701, the process proceeds to 703. Next, in step 703, the font B is determined to be a font that is not built in the printer. In 705, since the font download field 604 for font B is TRUE, it can be seen that the font data hard disk in the printer already has font B font data. In step 706, the text 502 of the font B is printed without downloading the font data of the font B. At 711, the print job ends.

[0038]

As described above, according to the invention of the present application, the number of times and frequency of use of a font that needs to be downloaded to a printer are grasped by the printer control software, and the conditions of the number of times and frequency of use are determined. If it matches, the user is encouraged to download the font data, or the printer control software downloads the font data. ・ It is not necessary to download the font data for each print job. The time required for printing is also reduced. -Since the font data is stored in the font data storage means, the use efficiency of the memory is improved. In a print system in which printer control software downloads font data, there is no need for the user to download font data. There are advantages such as.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a printing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an internal block diagram of the printer.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a font use count table in the printer control software.

FIG. 5 is a document created by a user in the first and second embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 Printer 102,103 Computer 104 Computer Network 201 Printer body 202 Computer Network Interface 203 Printer description language interpretation / drawing control unit 204 Font data storage hard disk 205 Print control unit 206 drawing memory 207 Working memory 208 Printing section 401 Font name 402 Font Usage Count 403 font download flag 501 Font A text 502 Text in Font B 601 font name 602 Last use date and time 603 Font usage count per unit time 604 font download flag

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A storage device capable of storing font data, wherein the font data is pre-loaded in the storage device or another storage device, and the font data is further downloaded from the outside to the storage device. A printer capable of performing print processing in a page description language, one or more computers, and a printer control mounted on the computer for converting a document created by a user on the computer into a page description language and transmitting the document to the printer If the user-created document contains fonts that are not installed on the printer, the printer control software obtains the font data from the computer in a print job and downloads the font data from the computer. Past usage Font data download, wherein the user is notified that the font data of the font is to be downloaded to a storage device of the printer so that the printer can be used without having to download the font data for each print job in the future. Method. 2. The font data download method according to claim 1, wherein the font data is outline font data, and the past usage status is the number of times the font has been used. 3. The font data download method according to claim 1, wherein the font data is outline data, and the past usage status is the number of times the font has been used per unit time. 4. The font data download method according to claim 1, wherein the font data is bitmap font data, and the past usage status is the number of times the font of that size has been used. 5. The font data download method according to claim 1, wherein the font data is bitmap font data, and the past usage status is the number of times a font of that size has been used per unit time. 6. A storage device capable of storing font data, wherein the storage device or another storage device is provided with the font data in advance, and the font data is further downloaded from the outside to the storage device. A printer capable of performing print processing in a page description language, one or more computers, and a printer control mounted on the computer for converting a document created by a user on the computer into a page description language and transmitting the document to the printer If the user-created document contains fonts that are not installed on the printer, the printer control software obtains the font data from the computer in a print job and downloads the font data from the computer. Past usage Conditions as matching the font data downloaded wherein downloading the font data of the font, the storage device printer control software of the printer to the printer can be used without having to download to each print job in the future. 7. The font data download method according to claim 6, wherein the font data is outline font data, and the past usage status is the number of times the font has been used. 8. The font data download method according to claim 6, wherein the font data is outline data, and the past usage status is the number of times the font has been used per unit time. 9. The font data downloading method according to claim 6, wherein the font data is bitmap font data, and the past usage status is the number of times the font of that size has been used. 10. The font data download method according to claim 6, wherein the font data is bitmap font data, and the past usage status is the number of times a font of that size has been used per unit time.