Auto-activation of fonts

Abstract

A method and an apparatus that search for font data associated with an electronic document in a system in response to a font request are described. A font search is automatically activated when a requested font is determined not yet registered in a system. As a result of the font search, a requested font may be registered into a system. If a font search cannot locate a requested font in local storages and remote systems, a replacement for the requested font is selected from registered fonts. A replacement font may be one of the registered fonts most similar to the requested font according to a similarity measurement based on font attributes.

1 . A computer-implemented method, the method comprising:
 searching, in response to a request for a font, for font data of the font associated with a document in a system; and   registering the font data into the system if the search is successful in order to allow retrieval of the registered font data from the system for displaying the document.   
     
     
         2 . A computer-implemented method, the method comprising:
 determining, in response to a request for a font associated with a document, whether the font is available in a system;   if the font is not available in the system, determining a search scope for the font, the search scope including zero or more storage locations;   searching for font data of the font limited by the search scope; and   registering the font data into the system if the font data is located within the search scope in order to allow retrieval of the registered font data from the system for displaying the document.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein registering the font data comprises:
 storing the font data in a local storage of the system; and   updating the font entry with location information of the font data in the local storage.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the searching comprises:
 determining if the font data is already registered in the system; and   searching a local storage in the system for the font data if the font data is determined not yet registered.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 detecting if a usage condition is satisfied; and   sending an alert message if the usage condition is not satisfied,   wherein the search depends on when the usage condition is satisfied.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 setting up a network connection to a remote system over a network; and   sending a search request to the remote system for the font data according to a search protocol over the network connection.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein sending the search request comprises:
 setting up a separate network connection to a separate remote system according to a response to the search request.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the search protocol includes font attributes associated with the font and wherein the font attributes are stored in the system according to a font entry associated with the font. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the search scope includes a black list specifying locations where the search is not allowed. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising retrieving the registered font data, wherein retrieving the registered font data comprises:
 determining a similarity measure between the font and a separate font; and   selecting the separate font from among a plurality of fonts in the system as most similar to the font based on the similarity measure.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the similarity measure is determined according to font attributes associated with the font, the font attribute being stored in the system separate from the font data. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of fonts have been registered in the system and wherein the separate font is associated with the registered font data. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the registered font data is associated with the separate font and wherein the separate font is not registered in the system, further comprising:
 searching for the registered font data according to the search scope.   
     
     
         14 . A machine-readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a machine, cause a machine to perform a method, the method comprising:
 determining, in response to a request for a font associated with a document, whether the font is available in a system;   if the font is not available in the system, determining a search scope for the font, the search scope including zero or more storage locations;   searching for font data of the font limited by the search scope; and   registering the font data into the system if the font data is located within the search scope in order to allow retrieval of the registered font data from the system for displaying the document.   
     
     
         15 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 14 , wherein registering the font data comprises:
 storing the font data in a local storage of the system; and   updating the font entry with location information of the font data in the local storage.   
     
     
         16 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 14 , wherein the searching comprises:
 determining if the font data is already registered in the system; and   searching a local storage in the system for the font data if the font data is determined not yet registered.   
     
     
         17 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 detecting if a usage condition is satisfied; and   sending an alert message if the usage condition is not satisfied,   wherein the search depends on when the usage condition is satisfied.   
     
     
         18 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 setting up a network connection to a remote system over a network; and   sending a search request to the remote system for the font data according to a search protocol over the network connection.   
     
     
         19 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein sending the search request comprises:
 setting up a separate network connection to a separate remote system according to a response to the search request.   
     
     
         20 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the search protocol includes font attributes associated with the font and wherein the font attributes are stored in the system according to a font entry associated with the font. 
     
     
         21 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 20 , wherein the search scope includes a black list specifying locations where the search is not allowed. 
     
     
         22 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 14 , further comprising retrieving the registered font data, wherein retrieving the registered font data comprises:
 determining a similarity measure between the font and a separate font; and   selecting the separate font from among a plurality of fonts in the system as most similar to the font based on the similarity measure.   
     
     
         23 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 22 , wherein the similarity measure is determined according to font attributes associated with the font, the font attribute being stored in the system separate from the font data. 
     
     
         24 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 22 , wherein the plurality of fonts have been registered in the system and wherein the separate font is associated with the registered font data. 
     
     
         25 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 22 , wherein the registered font data is associated with the separate font and wherein the separate font is not registered in the system, further comprising:
 searching for the registered font data according to the search scope.   
     
     
         26 . A machine for a data-processing system comprising:
 means for determining, in response to a request for a font associated with a document, whether the font is available in a system;   if the font is not available in the system, means for determining a search scope for the font, the search scope including zero or more storage locations;   means for searching for font data of the font limited by the search scope; and   means for registering the font data into the system if the font data is located within the search scope in order to allow retrieval of the registered font data from the system for displaying the document via a display device.