JP2007157036A - Print system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print system, capable of appropriately managing font data while sharing the font data by a plurality of client terminals and printer server devices. <P>SOLUTION: In this print system 1, a font server computer 40 manages access authority for font list requests and font requests from a client computer 10 and a printer server computer 20 based on an access management file that is predetermined access management information, and controls transmission/transmission rejection of a font list and transmission/transmission rejection of font data. Therefore, fonts are managed in an integrated fushion on the font server computer 40, and the font data are provided only to the client computer 10 and the printer server computer 20 which have the access authority, whereby the fonts can be appropriately and efficiently used. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system, and more particularly, to a printing system that is inexpensive and highly usable by sharing font data among a plurality of host devices and a printer server device and appropriately managing font data.

  In a host device such as a computer, documents such as texts and graphics created by the installed application are sent to a printing device such as a printer device or a composite device for printing, but the host device and the printing device are directly connected. If it is, the OS (Operating System) installed in the host device receives the document data created by the application from the application and passes the document data to the printer driver. The printer driver converts document data received from the OS into a PDL (Page Description Language) understandable by the printing apparatus, transmits the data to the printing apparatus together with a print command, and performs printing processing on the printing apparatus.

  When the host device and the printing device are connected via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) to which the printer server device is connected, a printer driver is installed on the printer server device in order to reduce management costs. Is installed, and each host device on the network shares the printer driver on the printer server device. In this case, the host device converts the document data created by the application into an intermediate print data format that can be converted into any data, and then transfers the data to the printer server device. The printer server device uses the printer driver installed therein, After the intermediate print data is converted into a PDL format understandable by the printing apparatus, the PDL data is transmitted to the printing apparatus.

  In a printing system using a network in which such a printer server device is used, conventionally, a host device embeds fonts in the character information of the intermediate print data created and transfers them to the printer server device. A method of converting information into PDL and transmitting it to the printing device, and the host device does not embed fonts, but transfers only the font information to the printer server device, and the printer server device uses the fonts on the printer server device. Then, there is a method of converting to PDL.

  In the former method, only the font installed in the host device can be used, and printing can be reliably performed by the printing device using the designated font.

  On the other hand, in the latter method, only the font information is specified by the host device, and the printer server device creates a PDL incorporating the font of the printer server device based on the font information. When the corresponding font is not installed in the printer server apparatus, the designated font does not match the font actually printed in the PDL.

  Therefore, the applicant first places part or all of the fonts on a device on the network, does not have the necessary font resources when receiving the character code, and the font resources of the device are specified in advance. If so, a print control method for acquiring font resources from the device is proposed (see Patent Document 1).

JP-A-6-110625

  However, in the above prior art, the font data stored in the devices on the network can be used effectively, but if the font data is used carelessly, the font data can be managed appropriately. In addition, the font data development and management costs could not be properly collected, and improvement was necessary.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a printing system capable of recovering necessary costs without installing font data in a host device and a printer server device on a network and appropriately managing font data. The purpose is that.

  In the printing system of the first aspect of the present invention, a host device, a printer server device, a font server device holding a plurality of types of font data and a printing device are connected to a predetermined network, and the host device is connected to the font server device. Requesting a list of fonts held by the font server device, the font server device sending a font list of the plurality of fonts held in response to the font list request to the host device, When a font is selected on the basis of the transmitted font list, the selected font is specified and a font request is made to the font server device. The font server device sends the requested font data to the font list. Sent to the host device, and the host device If a document is created using the font data sent from the printer and there is a print instruction, the document data is converted into intermediate print data that does not include the font but has font information that specifies the font. The data is converted and sent to the printer server device, and the printer server device requests the font server device to specify the font specified by the font information of the sent intermediate print data, and the font server device is requested. The final font data is transmitted to the printer server device, and the printer server device incorporates the received font data into the intermediate print data received from the host device, so that the intermediate print data can be processed by the printing device. Convert to print data, send to the printing device, and print processing by the printing device The font server device includes: the host device and the printer server device based on predetermined access management information for the font list request and the font request from the host device and the printer server device. The above-mentioned object is achieved by managing the access authority and controlling transmission / rejection of the font list and transmission / rejection of the font data.

  In this case, for example, as described in claim 2, in the printing system, the font server device uses any data format among a plurality of data formats in a font request from the host device or the printer server device. The host server or the printer server device designates an arbitrary format format from the data format format permitted by the font server device, and the font server device When the format format is designated from the host device or the printer server device, the font data that is data-formatted in the designated format format may be transmitted.

  Further, for example, as described in claim 3, the printing system enables the font server device to specify a file specifying the entire font file for each font as the data format, and the host device or the The printer server device may be able to specify a file as a data format format permitted by the font server device.

  Further, for example, as described in claim 4, the printing system enables the font server device to specify a character for specifying a font for each character as the data format, and the host device or the printer server device. However, characters may be specified as a data format format permitted by the font server device.

  For example, as described in claim 5, the printing system enables the font server device to specify a bitmap that specifies a bitmap as the data format, and the host device or the printer server device As a data format format permitted by the font server device, bitmap designation may be possible.

  Further, for example, as described in claim 6, the printing system is configured such that the font server device converts font data usable by the host device among the plurality of font data for each host device to the host device. An access management file associated with the specified host information is created as the access management information, and the access authority for each font of the host device is managed. The host device stores its host information together with the intermediate print data in the printer The host device and the printer server device transmit the host information to the font server device in response to the font list request and the font request, and the font server device sends the received host to the server device. Access based on information and the access management file For the font list request, a font list consisting only of fonts permitted to access the host information is created and transmitted. For the font request, the font request Alternatively, the font data may be transmitted only when the access management file is a font permitted to access the host information in the access management file.

  For example, as described in claim 7, the printing system is configured such that the font server device is charged with font data that can be used free of charge by the host device among the plurality of font data for each host device. Available font data may be managed, and when the font list is requested from the host device, the free font list and the paid font list may be created and transmitted to the host device.

  Further, for example, as described in claim 8, in the printing system, the font server device is charged with font data that can be used free of charge by the host device among the plurality of font data for each host device. The available font data may be managed, and when the free font list is specified in the font list request from the host device, only the free font list may be created and transmitted to the host device. .

  For example, as described in claim 9, the printing system is configured such that the font server device is charged with font data that can be used free of charge by the host device among the plurality of font data for each host device. The available font data may be managed, and if a paid font list is specified in the font list request from the host device, only the paid font list may be created and transmitted to the host device. .

  Further, for example, when the font server device requests a font of the paid font data from the host device, the font server device sends the requested paid font data to the host device. The transmission history of the paid font data may be stored in a predetermined storage unit.

  According to the printing system of the present invention, a host device requests a font list from a font server device, designates a font on the font list acquired from the font server device, requests a font, and acquires the font server device from the font server device A document created using the converted font is converted into intermediate print data having font information that does not include the font but that specifies the font, and is sent to the printer server. The printer server specifies the font information. When a font request is made to the font server device, the font server device obtains the font from the font server device, converts it into final print data, sends it to the printing device, and performs printing processing by the printing device, the font server device Font list request and font from printer server In response to the request, the access authority of the host device and the printer server device is managed based on predetermined access management information, and the font list transmission / transmission rejection and font data transmission / transmission rejection are controlled. Fonts can be centrally managed on the server device, and font data can be provided only to the host device and printer server device that have access authority, and it is necessary for each host device and printer server device to store font data Can be used efficiently while properly managing fonts.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, since the Example described below is a suitable Example of this invention, various technically preferable restrictions are attached | subjected, However, The scope of the present invention limits this invention especially in the following description. As long as there is no description of the effect, it is not restricted to these aspects.

  1 to 4 are diagrams showing an embodiment of a printing system of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a system block configuration diagram of a printing system 1 to which an embodiment of the printing system of the present invention is applied.

  1, a printing system 1 includes, for example, at least a client computer 10 that is a host device, a printer server computer (printer server device) 20, and a printing device 30 connected to a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network). A font server computer (font server device) 40 is connected to the network or another network such as the Internet connected to the network. In this embodiment, in order to simplify the description, it is assumed that the client computer 10, the printer server computer 20, the printing device 30, and the font server computer 40 are all connected to the same network.

  The client computer 10 includes an application program 11, an OS printing system 12, a client printer driver module 13, a client font management module 14, and the like. The client printer driver module 13 includes a data transmission unit 15, and client font management. The module 14 includes a font list inquiry unit 16 and a font acquisition unit 17.

  The printer server computer 20 includes an OS printing system 21, a server printer driver module 22, a client font management module 23, and the like. The server printer driver module 22 includes a PDL (Page Description Language) conversion unit 24 and a data transmission unit. The client font management module 23 includes a font list inquiry unit 26 and a font acquisition unit 27.

  Furthermore, the font server computer 40 includes a server font management module 41 and the like, and the server font management module 41 includes a font list listing unit 42, a font data download unit 43, an access right management unit 44, and the like. Although not shown, the font server computer 40 includes a memory such as a hard disk that stores font data provided for a fee and font data provided free of charge.

  The client computer 10 creates a document such as a sentence, a figure, and a spreadsheet by using the application program 11 by the user. In the creation of this document, a font is selected and the selected font is used. And a document is created.

  In creating a document, the application program 11 calls the font list inquiry unit 16 of the client font management module 14 to inquire about a list of fonts (font list) that can be used in document creation.

  When there is a request for a font list from the application program 11, the font list inquiry unit 16 inquires of the font server computer 40 about available fonts, and a list of font names that can be used from the font server computer 40 (font list). Is sent to the application program 11, and the application program 11 displays the font list on the display of the client computer 10. In this font list request, the paid font data and free font data provided by the font server computer 40 can be individually designated and requested.

  When the font to be used is designated by the user in the display of the font list, it is necessary to set the designated font data in the client computer 10, so that the application program 11 obtains the designated font data by using the font. The acquisition unit 17 is instructed.

  The font acquisition unit 17 makes a font request to the font server computer 40 to acquire the font data of the specified font, downloads the specified font from the font server computer 40, acquires it, and sets it in the client computer 10 To do. In this state, the specified font can be used, and the application program 11 creates a document using the acquired font.

  When a print instruction is given to a document created by the user, the application program 11 calls the OS printing system 12 and passes the document data. The OS printing system 12 receives the document data from the application program 11 and receives the client printer. Pass to the driver module 13. In this embodiment, the document data from the application program 11 is passed to the client printer driver module 13 via the OS printing system 12, but the document data is passed directly from the application program 11 to the client printer driver module 13. Also good.

  Upon receiving the document data, the client printer driver module 13 transmits the document data as intermediate print data from the data transmission unit 15 to the printer server computer 20. The intermediate print data is data that does not depend on the printing device defined on the OS side installed in the client computer 10, but is not limited to the intermediate printing data defined on the OS side. For example, the intermediate printing data is defined by the printing device 30. It may be print data. When the intermediate print data defined by the printing apparatus 30 is used, the server printer driver module 22 which is a printer driver operating on the printer server computer 20 is called to acquire the definition of the printing apparatus 30 and the definition is obtained. In the printing system 1 according to this embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the client printer driver module 13 of the client computer 10 creates intermediate print data defined on the OS side and generates data. The data is transmitted from the transmission unit 15 to the printer server computer 20.

  The character data of the intermediate print data is only information (font information) necessary for the print layout such as the font name and size, and does not include the font data itself.

  When the intermediate print data is sent from the client computer 10 to the printer server computer 20, the OS printing system 21 passes the intermediate print data such as characters, graphics, and images to the server printer driver module 22.

  When the server printer driver module 22 receives the intermediate print data, the PDL conversion unit 24 converts the intermediate print data into PDL, which is the final print data that can be processed by the printing apparatus 30, and the PDL conversion unit 24 converts the PDL. The data transmission unit 25 transmits the data to the printing apparatus 30. At this time, the PDL conversion unit 24 calls the font list inquiry unit 26 of the client font management module 23 from the character information received from the OS printing system 21 to inquire about usable fonts.

  When there is a font list inquiry request from the PDL conversion unit 24, the font list inquiry unit 26 inquires of the font server computer 40 about available fonts, and a list of font names that can be used from the font server computer 40 (font list). ) To get.

  When there is a font specified by the intermediate print data in the font list acquired by the font list inquiry unit 26, the PDL conversion unit 24 instructs the font acquisition unit 27 to acquire the font data.

  The font acquisition unit 27 makes a font request to the font server computer 40 to acquire the font data of the designated font, and downloads and acquires the font data from the font server computer 40. In this state, the specified font can be used, and the PDL conversion unit 24 converts the character information into data depending on the PDL of the printing apparatus 30 using the acquired font.

  When the PDL conversion unit 24 converts the intermediate print data into PDL data, the server printer driver module 22 transmits the PDL data from the data transmission unit 25 to the printing apparatus 30.

  The printing apparatus 30 interprets the sent PDL data using the PDL mounted therein, and prints out a document of the PDL data on a sheet by a predetermined printing method, for example, an electrophotographic method.

  In the font server computer 40, as described above, font data is stored in a memory such as a hard disk. However, the font data is collectively arranged on a specific directory, and the font in this directory is stored in the font server computer 40. Data is managed and available fonts can be listed by scanning all font data in this directory. Further, the font server computer 40 stores an access management file (access management information) indicating which fonts are available for each client computer 10 in a memory. As shown, the font name and the client computer name that identifies the client computer 10 that is permitted to access are described in XML (Extensible Markup Language).

  In FIG. 2, the font defined by the <CommonAcessFont-List> tag indicates a font that can be freely used without restriction of access right. <Client-PC-1 address = 133.139.111.111 The font enclosed in the “> tag indicates a font that can be used by the client computer 10 called Client-PC-1, and the tag <Client-PC-2 address =“ 133.139.111.112 ”> The enclosed font is a font that can be used by the client computer 10 called Client-PC-2.

  In the font server computer 40, the access right management unit 44 identifies the access right for each client computer 10 and for each font by adding an access setting tag to the access management file for each client computer 10. That is, the access right management unit 44 searches the access management file in the memory based on the client information (host information) including the computer name and IP address sent from the client computer 10 and the printer server computer 20, and The font permitted for the client computer 10 in the client information is managed. Further, the access right management unit 44, when requested to download a paid font among fonts provided free of charge and fonts provided free of charge, of the client computer 20 that has requested the paid font. The client information (client computer name and IP address), download date such as download date, font name, and the like are stored in the memory, and charging for the paid font download is possible.

  The font list inquiry unit 14 of the client computer 10 sends client information (client computer name and IP address) for specifying the client computer 10 when making an inquiry to the font server computer 40 for the font list. When making a font list inquiry to the font server computer 40, the font list inquiry unit 26 of the server computer 20 sends client information (client computer name and IP address) passed from the client computer 10 that has issued the print request. .

  That is, when sending a print request and intermediate print data to the printer server computer 20, the client computer 10 sends client information (computer name, IP address) for identifying the client computer 10 together with the intermediate print data to the printer server computer 20, When the printer server computer 20 receives this client information (computer name, IP address), the server printer driver module 22 passes it to the client font management module 23. When the font list inquiry unit 26 and the font acquisition unit 27 of the client font management module 23 make a font list inquiry (font list request) or a font request to the font server computer 40, the printer server computer 20 receives this client information. By sending (computer name, IP address) to the font server computer 40, the font server computer 40 can be accessed with the access authority of the client computer 10 which has made the print request, and a necessary font list and font data can be obtained. Can be acquired.

  The font list enumeration unit 42 of the server font management module 41 on the font server computer 40 uses the client information (client computer name and IP address) when an inquiry about the font list is received from the client computer 10 or the printer server computer 20. The client computer 10 that searches the access management file, creates a list of fonts that can be used by the client computer 10 of the client information (client computer name and IP address), and inquires about the font list. Return to the printer server computer 20.

  When there is a font request specifying a font from the font acquisition unit 17 of the client computer 10 and the font acquisition unit 27 of the printer server computer 20, the font data download unit 43 of the server font management module 41 downloads the specified font data. Is possible.

  The access right management unit 44 searches the access management file in the memory based on the client information including the computer name and the IP address sent from the client computer 10 and the printer server computer 20, and permits the client of the client information. The access authority is managed for each client and for each font.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. In the printing system 1 of the present embodiment, the font server computer 40 manages the fonts that can be used by each client computer 10, and each client computer 10 selects a font that is appropriately selected from a font list that is permitted to be used. When a document is created by downloading from the server computer 40, and there is an instruction to print the document, the intermediate print data of the document in which the font is specified is sent to the printer server computer 20, and the printer server computer 20 specifies the intermediate print data. The downloaded font is downloaded from the font server computer 40 based on the client information of the client computer 10 to generate a PDL and print it on the printing apparatus 30.

  That is, in the client computer 10, a document such as a sentence, a figure, and a spreadsheet is created by the application program 11. In creating this document, the application program 11 uses the font list inquiry unit 16 of the client font management module 14. The client information (client computer name and IP address) of the client computer 10 is passed, and an inquiry about fonts that can be used for document creation is made (step S101).

  The font list inquiry unit 16 of the client font management module 14 transmits the client information (client computer name and IP address) of the client computer 10 to the server font management module 41 of the font server computer 40 in response to the inquiry of the font. Then, an inquiry is made for a font list of fonts that can be used by the client computer 10 of the client information (step S102).

  When there is a font list inquiry from the client computer 10, the server font management module 41 of the font server computer 40 receives the client information (client computer name and IP address) sent by the access right management unit 44 when the font list is inquired. The access management file is searched based on () to check which font has the access right (step S103).

  Then, the font list enumeration unit 42 of the server font management module 41 first adds a font that can be used free of charge to any client computer 10 to the list buffer that stores the available font list, and then the access management unit 44. The number of usable fonts of the client computer 10 is counted based on the client information (client computer name and IP address) of the client computer 10 from the search result of the usable fonts of the client computer 40 searched for (step S104). ), Sequentially obtain the font names of the available fonts and add them to the list buffer (step S105). At this time, the font list enumeration unit 42 expands the list buffer every time a font name is added.

  When the font list enumeration unit 42 acquires the font names of the available fonts and adds them to the list buffer, the font list enumeration unit 42 checks whether the number of remaining available fonts has become “0” (step S106), and the remaining available fonts. If the number of fonts is not “0”, the process returns to step S103 to count the number of usable fonts and add the font name to the list buffer in the same manner as described above, and check whether the number of usable fonts is “0”. The checking process is sequentially repeated (steps S103 to S106).

  When the number of available fonts becomes “0” in step S106, the font list enumeration unit 42 inquires about the font name in the list buffer, that is, the font name list of available fonts (available font list). Is transmitted to the client computer 10 that has performed the process, and the process is terminated (step S107).

  When the client computer 10 receives the available font list, the font list inquiry unit 16 passes the sent available font list to the application program 11, and the application program 11 displays the font list.

  When the font to be used is designated by the user in the display of the font list, it is necessary to set the designated font data in the client computer 10, so that the application program 11 obtains the designated font data by using the font. The acquisition unit 17 is instructed.

  The font acquisition unit 17 sends a download request designating the designated font to the font server computer 40. At this time, the font acquisition unit 17 transmits the client information (client computer name and IP address) together.

  In this font request, the font server computer 40 permits a transmission request of font data in an arbitrary data format among a plurality of data formats, and the client computer 10 includes data permitted by the font server computer 40 by the application program 11. It is possible to specify a font request specifying an arbitrary format format from the format formats, and the font acquisition unit 17 issues a font request to the font server computer 40 in the specified format format. When a font format is requested from the client computer 10 and the format format is specified, the font server computer 40 transmits font data that has been data-formatted in the specified format format to the client computer 10.

  Further, in this font request, the font server computer 40 can specify a file for specifying the entire font file for each font as a data format, and the client computer 10 can specify a data format format permitted by the font server computer 40 as a data format. File specification is possible.

  Further, in this font request, the font server computer 40 can specify a character for specifying a font for each character as a data format, and the client computer 10 can specify a character as a data format format permitted by the font server computer 40. Is possible.

  In this font request, the font server computer 40 can specify a bitmap specifying a bitmap as a data format, and the client computer 10 can specify a bitmap as a data format format permitted by the font server computer 40. Is possible.

  When the font server computer 40 receives a request for downloading font data, the access right management unit 44 first compares the sent client information (client computer name and IP address) with the access management file. It is checked whether or not there is an access right to the designated font. If there is an access right, the font data download unit 43 can download the designated font data. However, when the client information (client computer name and IP address) sent is checked against the access management file and there is no access right, the access right management unit 44 gives an error to the client computer 10 that has made the download request. Send back.

  When the font acquisition unit 17 of the client computer 10 downloads and acquires the designated font from the font server computer 40, the font is set in the client computer 10, and in this state, the designated font can be used, The program 11 creates a document using the acquired font.

  When a print request is made for a document created by the user, the application program 11 calls the OS printing system 12, and the OS printing system 12 receives the document data from the application program 11 and sends it to the client printer driver module 13. hand over.

  When the client printer driver module 13 receives the document data, the client printer driver module 13 converts the document data into intermediate print data defined on the OS side, together with client information (client computer name and IP address), from the data transmission unit 15 to the printer server computer. 20 to send. The character data of the intermediate print data is only information necessary for the print layout such as the font name and size, and does not include the font data itself.

  When the intermediate print data is sent from the client computer 10 to the printer server computer 20, the OS printing system 21 passes the intermediate print data such as characters, graphics, and images to the server printer driver module 22.

  When the server printer driver module 22 receives the intermediate print data, the PDL conversion unit 24 converts the intermediate print data into a PDL that can be processed by the printing apparatus 30, and the PDL data converted by the PDL conversion unit 24 is a data transmission unit. 25 transmits to the printing apparatus 30. At this time, the PDL conversion unit 24 specifies the font used in the document creation in the client computer 10 from the font information of the intermediate print data (character information) received from the OS printing system 21, and sends the corresponding font to the client font management module 23. The font data of the font is acquired from the font server computer 40.

  In this case, in the client font management module 23, the font list inquiry unit 26 makes a font list request to the font server computer 40, acquires a list of available fonts (available font list) from the font server computer 40, and If the font specified by the PDL conversion unit 24 is included in the available font list, the font acquisition unit 27 sends a font request for the font data to the font server computer 40, and the font server computer 40 sends the font data. To get.

  The available font list acquisition (inquiry) process by the font list inquiry unit 26 of the printer server computer 20 is similar to the available font list inquiry process by the font list inquiry unit 16 of the client computer 10 shown in FIG. However, in this font list inquiry process, the same client information (client computer name and IP address) as the client information (client computer name and IP address) used in the font list inquiry process in the client computer 10 is used. It is necessary to make an inquiry.

  Therefore, the PDL conversion unit 24 of the server printer driver module 22 passes the client information (client computer name and IP address) passed from the client computer 10 to the font list inquiry unit 26, and the font list inquiry unit 26 receives this client information ( The font server computer 40 is inquired of the font list using the client computer name and IP address).

  Further, the font acquisition unit 27 makes a font request using the client information (client computer name and IP address) and downloads the target font from the font server computer 40 in the same manner as the above-mentioned inquiry of the font list. get. In this state, the specified font can be used, and the PDL conversion unit 24 converts the character information into data depending on the PDL of the printing apparatus 30 using the acquired font.

  In this font request, as in the case of the font request from the client computer 10, the font server computer 40 permits a request to send font data in an arbitrary data format from among a plurality of data formats, and the printer server computer 20. Thus, it is possible to specify a font request specifying an arbitrary format format from the data format format permitted by the font server computer 40, and the font acquisition unit 27 makes a font request to the font server computer 40 in the specified format format. When a font format is requested from the printer server computer 20 and the format format is specified, the font server computer 40 transmits font data that has been data-formatted in the specified format format to the printer server computer 20.

  In this font request, as in the case of the client computer 10, file designation, character designation, bitmap designation, etc. can be used as the data format.

  When the PDL conversion unit 24 converts the intermediate print data into PDL data, the server printer driver module 22 transmits the PDL data from the data transmission unit 25 to the printing apparatus 30.

  For example, the printing apparatus 30 interprets the PDL data sent by the PDL installed therein, and prints and outputs a document of the PDL data on a sheet by a predetermined printing method, for example, an electrophotographic method.

  As described above, in the printing system 1 of this embodiment, the font server computer 40 accesses the font list request and the font request from the client computer 10 and the printer server computer 20 based on the access management file that is the predetermined access management information. Authority is managed and transmission / rejection of font list and transmission / rejection of font data are controlled.

  Therefore, the fonts can be centrally managed on the font server computer 40 and the font data can be provided only to the client computer 10 and the printer server computer 20 having the access authority. This eliminates the need to store data and allows efficient use while managing fonts appropriately.

  Further, the printing system 1 of this embodiment transmits font data in various format formats (for example, file units, character units, bitmap formats, etc.) requested by the client computer 10 or the printer server computer 20.

  Therefore, the usability of font data in the client computer 10 and the printer server computer 20 can be improved.

  Furthermore, in the printing system 1 of the present embodiment, the font server computer 40 creates an access management file in which usable font data among a plurality of font data is associated with client information for specifying the client computer 10 as access management information. The client computer 10 manages the access authority for each font of the client computer 10, and the client computer 10 transmits its own client information together with the intermediate print data to the printer server computer 20. The client computer 10 and the printer server computer 20 At the time of the request and the font request, the client information is transmitted to the font server computer 40, and the font server computer 40 receives the client information and the received client information. The access authority based on the host information is managed based on the access management file, and in response to a font list request, a font list consisting only of fonts permitted to access the host information is transmitted. Transmits the font data only when the font according to the font request is a font permitted to access the host information in the access management file.

  Therefore, the access authority for each font can be managed for each client computer 10, and the font can be used more appropriately and efficiently while managing the font more appropriately.

  The printing system 1 according to the present embodiment sets font data that can be used for a fee and font data that can be used for a fee, and charges the paid font data.

  The paid font data is, for example, a paid font for a certain client computer 10, but may be a free font for another client computer 10, and a paid font for the client computer 10 is a font server computer. Among the fonts held by the font 40, the font is not registered in the access management file of the font server computer 40 as a font usable by the client computer 10 and has no access authority.

  The process for acquiring the font data for the paid font will be described below. First, the application program 11 of the client computer 10 inquires of the font list to the font list inquiry unit 16 of the client font management module 14 and performs the font list acquisition processing in the same manner as in FIG. 3 (step S201). When the font list is acquired from the font server computer 40, the font list received from the font list inquiry unit 16 is displayed. In the acquisition of the font list, the client computer 10 acquires not only the fonts that can be used free of charge but also the list of fonts that can be used for a fee, but if the font list that can be used free of charge is known, Only a list of fonts that can be used for a fee may be acquired.

  In the display of the font list, when a pay font to be used is selected and designated by the user (step S202), the designated font data needs to be set in the client computer 10, so that the application program 11 is designated. The font acquisition unit 17 is instructed to acquire paid font data, and the font acquisition unit 17 sends a download request specifying the specified paid font to the font server computer 40 (step S203). At this time, the font acquisition unit 17 transmits the client information (client computer name and IP address) together.

  When the font server computer 40 receives a request for downloading font data, the access right management unit 44 first compares the client information (client computer name and IP address) sent to the access management file to specify the designation. It is checked whether or not there is an access right to the assigned font (step S204), and whether or not there is an access right is checked (step S205). In order to perform charging, client information such as the amount of money, the client computer name of the client computer 10 and the IP address is written in the charging file, and the font data download unit 43 creates a font data buffer. To, writes the specified font data (step S207).

  When the font data download unit 43 completes the writing of the font data into the font data buffer, it returns the pointer of the font data buffer to the client computer 10 and ends the process (step S208).

  If there is an access right in step S205, there is no need for charging. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S207, where the font data download unit 43 creates a font data buffer and writes the specified font data ( In step S207), when the writing of the font data to the font data buffer is completed, the font data download unit 43 returns the pointer of the font data buffer to the client computer 10 and ends the processing (step S208).

  As described above, the font server computer 40 manages the font data that can be used free of charge and the font data that can be used free of charge among the plurality of font data for each client computer 10. When there is a font list request, a free font list and a paid font list are created and transmitted to the client computer 10. Therefore, a wide variety of fonts can be used.

  The font server computer 40 manages font data that can be used free of charge and font data that can be used free of charge among a plurality of font data for each client computer 10, and a font list from the client computer 10. If a free font list is specified in the request, only the free font list is created and transmitted to the client computer 10. Therefore, the usability of fonts on the client computer 10 can be improved.

  Further, the font server computer 40 manages font data that can be used free of charge and font data that can be used free of charge among a plurality of font data for each client computer 10, and a font list from the client computer 10. If a paid font list is specified in the request, only the paid font list is created and transmitted to the client computer 10. Therefore, the paid font can be effectively used.

  Further, when a font request for paid font data is received from the client computer 10, the font server computer 40 sends the requested paid font data to the client computer 10 and saves the paid font data transmission history in a memory. is doing.

  Therefore, it is possible to appropriately charge for the use of paid fonts, and it is possible to appropriately collect font development expenses and the like.

  The invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the preferred embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say.

  The present invention can be applied to a printing system that uses font data inexpensively and efficiently by a plurality of host devices and a printer server device.

1 is a system block configuration diagram of a printing system to which an embodiment of a printing system of the present invention is applied. The figure which shows an example of the access management file stored in the memory of the font server computer of FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a font list acquisition process from a font server computer by a client computer or a printer server computer in the printing system of FIG. 1. 3 is a flowchart showing paid font acquisition / billing processing by a client computer in the printing system of FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printing system 10 Client computer 11 Application program 12 OS printing system 13 Client printer driver module 14 Client font management module 15 Data transmission part 16 Font list inquiry part 17 Font acquisition part 20 Printer server computer 21 OS printing system 22 Server printer driver module 23 Client font management module 24 PDL conversion unit 25 Data transmission unit 26 Font list inquiry unit 27 Font acquisition unit 30 Printing device 40 Font server computer 41 Server font management module 42 Font list enumeration unit 43 Font data download unit 44 Access right management unit

Claims (10)

  A host device, a printer server device, a font server device that holds a plurality of types of font data, and a printing device are connected to a predetermined network, and the host device stores fonts held by the font server device in the font server device. Requesting a list, the font server device transmits a font list of the plurality of fonts held in response to the font list request to the host device, and the host device sends a font based on the transmitted font list Is selected, a font request is made to the font server device by specifying the selected font, the font server device transmits the requested font data to the host device, and the host device Font data sent from the font server device If the document is created and a print instruction is issued, the document data is converted into intermediate print data that does not include the font but has font information for specifying the font, and sends the intermediate print data to the printer server device. The printer server device requests the font server device to specify a font specified by the font information of the intermediate print data sent thereto, and the font server device sends the requested font data to the printer server device. And the printer server device incorporates the received font data into the intermediate print data received from the host device and converts the intermediate print data into final print data that can be processed by the printing device. A printing system that performs printing on the printing apparatus and includes: The server device manages access authority of the host device and the printer server device based on predetermined access management information for the font list request and the font request from the host device and the printer server device, and the font device A printing system for controlling transmission / rejection of a list and transmission / rejection of the font data.   In the printing system, the font server device permits a font data transmission request in an arbitrary data format among a plurality of data formats in a font request from the host device or the printer server device, and the host device or The printer server device requests the font by specifying an arbitrary format format from the data format format permitted by the font server device, and the font server device specifies the format format from the host device or the printer server device. 2. The printing system according to claim 1, further comprising: transmitting font data that has been data-formatted in the designated format.   The printing system enables the font server device to specify a file for specifying the entire font file for each font as the data format, and the host device or the printer server device allows data to be permitted by the font server device. The printing system according to claim 2, wherein a file can be specified as a format.   In the printing system, the font server device can specify a character for specifying a font for each character as the data format, and the host device or the printer server device can use a data format format permitted by the font server device. The printing system according to claim 2, wherein characters can be designated.   The printing system allows the font server device to specify a bitmap that specifies a bitmap as the data format, and the host device or the printer server device as a data format format permitted by the font server device, The printing system according to claim 2, wherein bitmap designation is possible.   In the printing system, the font server device accesses the access management file in which font data usable by the host device among the plurality of font data for each host device is associated with host information for identifying the host device. Created as management information, manages the access authority for each font of the host device, and the host device transmits its host information together with the intermediate print data to the printer server device, and the host device and the printer server In response to the font list request and the font request, the device transmits the host information to the font server device, and the font server device manages access authority based on the sent host information and the access management file. In response to the font list request Creates and sends a font list consisting only of fonts that are permitted to access the host information. For the font request, the font for the font request is the host information in the access management file. 6. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the font data is transmitted only when the font is permitted to be accessed.   In the printing system, the font server device manages font data that can be used free of charge by the host device and font data that can be used for a fee among the plurality of font data for each host device. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein when the font list is requested, the free font list and the paid font list are created and transmitted to the host device.   In the printing system, the font server device manages font data that can be used free of charge by the host device and font data that can be used for a fee among the plurality of font data for each host device. 8. The printing system according to claim 7, wherein when a free font list is specified in the font list request, only the free font list is created and transmitted to the host device.   In the printing system, the font server device manages font data that can be used free of charge by the host device and font data that can be used for a fee among the plurality of font data for each host device. 8. The printing system according to claim 7, wherein when a paid font list is specified in the font list request, only the paid font list is created and transmitted to the host device. When there is a font request for the paid font data from the host device, the font server device sends the requested paid font data to the host device and sends the paid font data transmission history to a predetermined storage means. The printing system according to claim 7 or 9, wherein the printing system is stored.

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