Style-sheet output apparatus and method, and style-sheet output system

• US 6,993,711 B1
• Filed: 08/01/2000
• Issued: 01/31/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Tanaka, Keisuke, Suganuma, Hiroshi, Haneda, Norihisa
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah, Sanjiv
• Application Number:
  US09/630,136
• Time in Patent Office: 2,009 Days
• Field of Search: 715/513, 715/526, 715/517, 707/102
• US Class Current: 715/248
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/117 Tagging; Marking up details of markup languages G06F40/143; Designating a block; Setting of attributes style sheets, e.g. eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformation [XSLT], G06F40/154
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

Style sheets indicating layouts of a plurality of types are stored in a server. The user of a client computer selects the style sheet having the desired layout. When the user of the client computer subsequently accesses the server for the purpose of conducting a search, the results of the search are displayed on the selected style sheet. The user need not select the desired style sheet whenever the server is accessed.

Claims

1. A style-sheet output apparatus comprising:

a style-sheet designating unit for designating a desired style sheet from among a plurality of style sheets, wherein there have been stored a plurality of types of data representing style sheets stipulating layouts of images which include a plurality of items such as images and text;

a storage unit for storing, in association with a user, data identifying a style sheet designated by said style-sheet designating unit;

an identification-data input unit for inputting data which identifies a user;

a read-out command input unit for inputting a style-sheet read-out command; and

a style-sheet output unit for outputting, in accordance with a style-sheet read-out command that has been input from said read-out command input unit, and on the basis of a relationship that has been stored in said storage unit, data representing a style sheet corresponding to a user identified by identification data that has been input from said identification-data input unit.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said storage unit stores a relationship between data identifying a prescribed style sheet and a user, and said apparatus further comprises a unit which, when a designation has been made by said style-sheet designating unit, is for rewriting the data identifying the prescribed style sheet stored in said storage unit to data identifying a style sheet that has been designated.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a search-condition input unit for inputting a search condition;

a search unit for searching an image database for data representing an image based upon a search condition that has been input from said search-condition input unit; and

a unit for merging an image represented by image data found by the search conducted by said search unit with a style sheet represented by data that has been output from said style-sheet output unit.

4. A style-sheet output system comprising a server and a client computer that are capable of communicating data with each other;

wherein a plurality of types of data representing style sheets stipulating layouts of images which include a plurality of items such as images and text have been stored, and said client computer designates a desired style sheet from among a plurality of these style sheets and transmits data identifying the designated style sheet to said server, said server storing the data identifying the designated style sheet in association with a user;

said client computer including;

an identification-data input unit for inputting user identification data which identifies a user;

a read-out command input unit for inputting a style-sheet read-out command; and

a transmitting unit for transmitting, to said server, user identification data that has been input by said identification-data input unit and a read-out command that has been input by said read-out command input unit; and

said server includes;

a receiving unit for receiving the user identification data and the read-out command that have been transmitted from said transmitting unit of the client computer; and

a style-sheet output unit for outputting, in accordance with a style-sheet read-out command that has been received by said receiving unit, data representing a style sheet corresponding to a user identified by the user identification data.

5. A style-sheet output method comprising the steps of:

designating a desired style sheet from among a plurality of style sheets, wherein a plurality of types of data representing style sheets stipulating layouts of images which include a plurality of items such as images and text have been stored;

storing, in association with a user, data identifying a style sheet that has been designated;

inputting data for identifying a user as well as a style-sheet read-out command; and

outputting data, which represents a style sheet corresponding to a user identified by identification data, in accordance with a style-sheet read-out command.