Patent ID: 7908485
Filing Date: 2011-03-15
Classification: G06F,H04N

Abstract:
1. A data management system, in which a plurality of printers, a document server and a database server having a database are connected to communicate with one another through a network, the data management system managing image data stored in the database, the image data stored in the database being processed by the printers, wherein the database server comprises: a data registration system that receives image data and recipient information representing a recipient who receives the image represented by the image data from an external device connected to the network and registers the image data with the database in relationship to the recipient information; and a recipient information notifying system that notifies the plurality of printers of the recipient information registered with the database in relationship to the image data when the data registration system registers the received image data with the database in relationship to the received recipient information; wherein each of the plurality of printers comprises: a recipient information receiving system that receives the notification of the recipient information from the recipient information notifying system in the database server; a judging system that judges as to whether the printer is capable of establishing wireless communication with a wireless external device, which is assigned with a user ID corresponding to the recipient information; a notifier system that, when judgment is made that the printer is capable of establishing wireless communication with the wireless external device, notifies the wireless external device of presence of the image data in relationship with the user ID assigned to the wireless external device registered with the database; a user ID obtaining system that obtains the user ID of the wireless external device, which is judged to be capable of establishing wireless communication with the printer, via the wireless communication; an image data requesting system that transmits the user ID obtained by the user ID obtaining system and a request for the image data, to the database server when an image forming request is received from the wireless external device that is judged to be capable of establishing wireless communication with the printer, the image forming request including instructions to the printer to form the image and the user ID being registered with the database of the database server in relationship to the recipient information corresponding to the user ID; wherein the database server further comprises: a data transmission system that obtains the image data requested by the image data requesting system of the printer from the database and transmits the image data to the printer which transmitted the request for the image data in response to the image data request from the image data requesting system of the printer; and wherein each of the plurality of printers further comprises: an image data receiver system that receives the image data transmitted from the data transmission system of the database server; and a printing system that prints the image according to the image data, which was requested by the image data requesting system of the printer and received in the image data receiver system, wherein the document server is configured to select a communication method that transmits a receipt notification to the wireless external device based on a priority stored in a communication method database and a communication information stored in a recipient database.