Computer system, host computer and terminal equipment

Details Computer system, host computer and terminal equipment Computer system, host computer and terminal equipment

1998-10-01

2001-05-22

Gaffin, Jeffrey (Department: 2841)

Facsimile and static presentation processing

Static presentation processing

Emulation or plural modes

C358S001120, C712S001000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06236462

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer system wherein a print preview of printed material that a terminal will produce, in accordance with form data supplied from a host computer, is created at the host computer and the print settings at the time the desired preview is obtained are downloaded to the terminal equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 9
is a diagram showing an example of a network system. In the figure, reference numeral
1
is a host computer,
2
is a printer dedicated to the host,
3
a
is an analyzing section,
3
b
is a printing section,
4
is a terminal (a personal computer, a workstation, or the like),
5
is a host terminal printer emulator,
6
is a printer driver, and
7
is a printer.
The host computer
1
has its dedicated printer
2
. The dedicated printer
2
includes the analyzing section
3
a
and the printing section
3
b.
The analyzing section
3
a
analyzes the form data transferred from the host computer
1
, creates print data (e.g., a sequence of character codes and control codes) representing the material to be printed, and passes the created print data to the printing section
3
b.
The printing section
3
b
performs printing in accordance with the supplied print data.
The terminal
4
and the host computer
1
are connected via a data line. The terminal
4
is a personal computer, a workstation, or the like, and contains therein the host terminal printer emulator
5
and the printer driver
6
. The host terminal printer emulator
5
is one that replaces the functions of the host terminal printer
2
, hardware dedicated to the host, with software that runs on the personal computer or workstation, and thus enables the digital data from the host computer to be printed using the ordinary office printer
7
. More specifically, when the form data sent from the host computer
1
is received, the host terminal printer emulator
5
creates the print data by analyzing the form data, and passes the created print data to the printer driver
6
. The printer driver
6
converts the print data into a form that the printer
7
can understand, and passes the thus converted print data to the printer
7
.
In the prior art, at the host computer, there is no knowing what print settings the host terminal printer emulator and the printer driver have; hence, it has not been possible at the host computer to accurately predict the results of the printing produced at the terminal. Furthermore, the kinds of print settings that the host computer can specify to the host terminal printer emulator and the printer driver are extremely limited in number, so that the host computer cannot set all the print parameters that can be changed at the host terminal printer emulator side.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been devised in view of the above situation, and an object of the invention is to provide a computer system wherein provisions are made so that the results of the printing to be produced at the terminal side can be accurately predicted at the host computer side, and so that the print settings of each individual host terminal printer emulator and printer driver can be made from the host computer.
To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a computer system comprising: (a) terminal equipment having a host terminal printer emulator and a printer driver; (b) a host computer including (1) a printing processing section for carrying out processing to cause the terminal equipment to perform printing, (2) a preview processing section for emulating an operating system running at the host terminal printer emulator side, and thereby enabling the printer driver to be run on the host computer, loading the printer driver from the host terminal printer emulator side, and creating a print preview of material to be printed at the terminal equipment side, and (3) a print setting storing section; and (c) a communication line connecting the host computer and the terminal equipment.
Preferably, the preview processing section queries the host terminal printer emulator about an identifier identifying the printer driver currently being used, examines whether the printer driver is already loaded, and loads the printer driver from the terminal equipment if the printer driver is not loaded yet.
Preferably, the print setting storing section stores print settings at the time a desired print preview is obtained.
Preferably, the print setting storing section stores a plurality of host terminal printer emulator and/or printer driver print settings, and the printing processing section selects print settings from among the print settings stored in the print setting storing section and downloads the selected print settings to the host terminal printer emulator.
Preferably, the preview creating section emulates a plurality of host terminal printer emulator operating systems, the print setting storing section holds therein a plurality of host terminal printer emulator and/or printer driver print settings, and the printing processing section queries the host terminal printer emulator about the print settings of the host terminal printer emulator and/or the printer driver and, if the print settings obtained as the result of the querying are not appropriate, selects print settings from among the print settings stored in the print setting storing section and downloads the selected print settings to the host terminal printer emulator.
Preferably, print settings for the host terminal printer emulator and/or the printer driver are included in form data to be sent from the host computer to the host terminal printer emulator.
The effect of the present invention will be described. The preview processing section emulates the operating system of the terminal equipment, and thus enables the printer driver of the terminal equipment to be run on the host computer. Then, the printer driver of the terminal equipment is loaded, and a print preview displaying the same image as will be printed at the terminal side is created. If the print preview is not what is expected, the print settings are changed to obtain the desired print preview, and the print settings at that time are stored in the print setting storing section. The printing processing section queries the terminal equipment about its print settings and, if the print settings obtained as the result of the querying are not appropriate, selects appropriate print settings from among the print settings stored in the print setting storing section and downloads the selected print settings to the host terminal printer emulator before sending a print request to the terminal equipment.


REFERENCES:
patent: 6029238 (2000-02-01), Furukawa

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