JP2001325170A - System for managing and supporting use of device on network - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automate distribution and installation of a driver about a device connected with a network. SOLUTION: HTML data is generated by a management system to each client connected with the network and a list of usable printers is displayed by a browser. The printers including a printer the drivers of which is not installed to the clients is displayed within a range in which a manager allows access to each client. When a user of the client selects a printer which is desired to be used, the management system investigates an installing state of the driver to the client and when the driver is uninstalled, distributes the driver and automatically installs it. Information about a path of the printer and others to be required in the case of the installation is supplied from the management system. The user can easily use the printer connected with the network.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a system for managing and supporting the use of devices on a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the spread of a LAN (Local Area Network), a mode in which a printer is connected to a network and shared by a plurality of computers connected to the same network is spreading. A printer user selects a printer as an output destination from a computer connected to a network, submits a print job, and performs printing via the network.

When printing is performed, it is necessary that a printer driver corresponding to an output destination printer is installed in each client computer. Conventionally, each client user, flexible disk, CD-ROM
For example, printer drivers are installed from such media, or printer drivers stored in a predetermined management system connected to a network are downloaded and installed.

There are many printer drivers according to the model of the printer, the type of operating system to be used, the language, the version, and the like. Therefore, it is necessary for the user to select and install an appropriate printer driver. As for the printer driver, a program that has been upgraded more often than a program stored in a medium bundled with the main body is supplied on a predetermined Web site on the Internet. It is desirable to obtain a driver. It is difficult for a general user to properly install a printer driver in consideration of these points. Therefore, in a network to which a large number of clients are connected, a mode in which a predetermined administrator stores an optimal printer driver in the management system and a user installs the printer driver by downloading from the management system is being performed. is there.

[0005]

However, the conventional management system merely stores the printer driver in a downloadable manner, and based on the printer model, the type of operating system to be used, the language, the version, etc. It was still difficult for the user to select and install an appropriate printer driver. In particular, when the printer driver stored in the management system is updated to a new version, the driver installed once on the client is compared with the driver in the management system, and the user updates the driver. It was very difficult.

In the conventional management system, when a user uses a printer on a network, it is necessary for the user to designate a printer path and install a printer driver and perform other settings. For example, in an office, even if a printer is placed in front of a user, the printer cannot be used unless a path can be specified. Thus, it has been difficult for ordinary users to construct an environment in which a printer on a network can be used.

The conventional management system cannot sufficiently manage whether each user can access the printer. When a printer is used in an office or the like, access to each printer is often set for each user based on the department to which the printer belongs, the position, the type of business, and the like. However, it has been difficult for an actual user to determine whether the user is a printer to which access is permitted. It has been difficult for the user to select the most accessible printer within the range where access is allowed. In some cases, the user uses the printer beyond the permitted access range.

Here, the case where a printer is used on a network has been described as an example, but the same problem similarly occurs for various devices connected to the network. The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for managing and supporting use of a device connected to a network and improving user convenience.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems and Actions and Effects Thereof As a first configuration of the present invention, in a system in which a client and a device are connected to a network, the present invention relates to a system in which the client In a management system that manages use of the device, a license setting unit that sets a license for each device for each of the clients, and a driver corresponding to the device is installed in the client for the licensed device. Device display means for displaying whether or not the display is performed. Here, the devices correspond to output devices such as a printer and a display, and input devices such as a CD-ROM drive and a scanner.

According to this management system, not only devices for which a driver is installed but also devices for which a driver is not installed are displayed on the client. Therefore, the user of the client can select a device to be used more flexibly. As a result, the convenience of the device shared on the network is improved.

According to the management system of the present invention, only devices for which use is permitted are displayed to the client. Therefore, the user of the client can appropriately grasp the devices that the client can use, and can easily select a highly convenient device among them. Also, for the administrator, there is an advantage that a user who is not permitted to use the device does not use the device, so that the management load on the device is reduced.

In the management system according to the present invention, various displays such as a list format and a tree format in which device affiliations are hierarchically displayed can be applied to the display of the device. It is preferable that the display be a means for performing the display in the form of a layout drawing in an area where the device exists. This allows the user to easily determine the physical location of the device and whether or not the device can be used. Therefore, a device that is most convenient for each user can be easily selected.

Such display can be realized by various methods. As an example, the device display means includes layout data storage means for storing predetermined layout data capable of specifying the position of the device in the area. An arrangement storage unit for storing an arrangement of each device in association with the layout data; and
A display control means for displaying the layout data and controlling display or non-display of each device according to the presence or absence of the license is realized.

According to such a configuration, the layout display and non-display can be easily controlled by separately facilitating the layout data and the data relating to the device arrangement as separate data. Since the device layout usually moves more frequently than the entire layout, by making the device layout individual data,
Data update accompanying movement can be realized relatively easily.

For the layout data, for example, in the case of an office, layout diagrams of desks, cabinets and the like can be used. Since these data are used to specify the physical location of the device, they need not be exact data. Further, the data may be partially omitted. A plan view of a floor without arrangement of equipment such as a desk may be used as layout data.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in a system in which a client and a device are connected to a network, in a support system for supporting the use of the device by the client on the network, a device selected by the client Detecting means for detecting whether or not the driver is installed in the client, and installation promoting means for executing a predetermined process for causing the client to install the driver when the driver is not installed. It was provided with. The predetermined process may be a display that prompts the client to install the driver, or may automatically install the driver. In any case, there is an advantage that the user can easily perform setup for using the device.

If a message prompting installation is displayed, the user of the client can easily determine whether or not to install a driver when using the device. The display may simply request the installation of the driver, but it is more preferable to specify the type of the driver and request the installation. The display may indicate an installation from a medium such as a flexible disk or a CD-ROM.

[0018] When the support system of the present invention includes driver holding means for holding a driver corresponding to the device, the installation promotion means may cause installation from the driver holding means. . For example, a display for instructing to download and install the driver from the holding unit may be provided. When the display is performed in HTML on the client side, a link to the save destination of the driver may be displayed. According to these displays, the user can easily grasp the location of the driver, and can easily obtain and install the driver.

In the support system according to the present invention, the installation promotion means may perform various displays as described above. In particular, when a driver is held in the holding means, the installation promotion means is connected to the device. It is desirable that the corresponding driver be delivered from the driver holding unit to the client and that the installation be performed without requiring an operation on the client.

According to this configuration, the device selected by the client can be automatically installed on the client. There is no need for the user to select a driver suitable for the device. The burden of setting up the device for use by the client user is greatly reduced. In this case, if information such as a printer path which is usually required at the time of installation is supplied from the support system, the burden on the user can be further reduced. In addition, it is possible to avoid mistakes during installation.

The support system according to the present invention further comprises version determination means for detecting whether the version of the driver installed in the client is older than the version of the driver stored in the storage means, The installation instructing means may be means for executing the predetermined processing even when the installed driver is determined to be old. As described above, the predetermined process may be a display for prompting the driver to be updated, or the driver may be automatically updated. This makes it possible to easily update the installed driver.

Here, the determination of the version can be realized in various modes. The support system of the present invention includes a log holding unit for holding a record relating to the distribution of the driver from the driver holding unit to the client; When an update record holding unit that holds an update record for the driver version held in the driver holding unit is provided, the version determination unit refers to the log holding unit and the update record holding unit, It may be a means for detecting whether or not the installed driver is old.

The present invention can be configured in various modes other than the above-described modes as the management system and the support system. For example, the use of the device by the client on a network may be configured as a management method for managing the use of the device by a computer connected to the network. It may be configured as a support method for supporting the use of the device by the client on a network. In addition, the present invention may be configured by a program that realizes functions corresponding to the management method and the support method, a signal form compatible with the program, and a recording medium on which the program is recorded. Here, as a recording medium,
Flexible disk, CD-ROM, magneto-optical disk, IC card, ROM cartridge, punch card,
Various computer-readable media such as printed matter on which codes such as bar codes are printed, internal storage devices (memory such as RAM and ROM) of the computer, and external storage devices can be used.

[0024]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in the following order. A. System configuration: B. Configuration of management system: Driver registration: Driver distribution:

A. System Configuration: FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a system in an embodiment. In the present embodiment, a management system 10, a management device, and clients PC1 to PC3 are connected via a network LAN. Printers PRT1 to PRT1 to PRT
RT5 was exemplified. The clients PC1 to PC3 are general-purpose computers. Not limited to the configuration illustrated in FIG.
Further, a plurality of management devices and clients may be provided.

Each of the clients PC1 to PC3 can perform printing using the printers PRT1 to PRT5 by specifying an output destination and submitting a print job to the network LAN. In order to perform printing, it is necessary to install a printer driver suitable for the printers PRT1 and PRT2 on the client. The printer driver is stored in the management system 10. When a user of the client PC1 to PC3 needs a printer driver, the user accesses the management system 10 and installs the printer driver as indicated by a broken arrow in the drawing.

The management system 10 includes a network LAN
The printer driver set required above is stored, and the printer driver is distributed according to the request of the client PC1 to PC3 in the following procedure. First, the client sends a predetermined URL (Uniform Resource Locato) of the management system 10.
When you access r), the available printers are displayed on the client screen by the browser. Next, when the client user selects a desired printer on the screen, the printer driver is distributed and automatically installed. Note that the present invention is not limited to such a procedure, and various procedures can be applied to driver distribution.

The printer drivers provided by the manufacturers of the printers PRT1 to PRT5 are often repeatedly upgraded. The upgraded printer driver is often supplied by a Web server via the Internet. Management system 1
0 acquires the latest version of the printer driver from a Web server via the Internet or from a medium supplied by a manufacturer, and holds the printer driver in a hard disk. The management system 10 corresponds to a management system and a support system in the present invention.

B. Configuration of Management System: FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing functional blocks of the management system 10. In this embodiment, the management system 10 uses a general-purpose computer, and each functional block is configured as software. Here, the case where the management system is configured by one computer has been described as an example. However, the management system may be configured by a plurality of computers by sharing each functional block with a plurality of computers that operate in cooperation with each other. Good.

As shown in the figure, the management system 10 is provided with a control unit 12 for controlling the entire functional blocks. The following functional blocks function under the control of the control unit 12. The printer management module 14 has a function of managing the printers PRT1 to PRT5 as management devices. First, for each of the printers PRT1 to PRT5, access permission / inhibition is set and registered for each client. Information about the set access permission is registered in the access permission database 18. Second, the printer management module 14 also has a function of generating data for displaying a printer that can be used by each client on a client screen with a browser. In this embodiment,
Data is generated in HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) format.

In this embodiment, the printers PRT1 to PRT1
Display of available printers is performed based on the layout diagram 5. In order to realize such display, the management system 10 includes layout data 16 for storing a layout of an office or the like where the printers PRT1 to PRT5 are placed, and a printer layout for storing the layout of the printers PRT1 to PRT5 on the layout. And data 17. With reference to these data, the printer management module 14
Generate HTML data for display.

The driver data management module 20 has a function of managing the latest version of the printer driver. In the management system 10, a printer driver obtained from a medium such as a flexible disk or a CD-ROM or a Web site on the Internet is stored in the driver database 22. The driver data management module 20 manages information such as the version of the printer driver, the model name of the applicable printer, and the applicable operating system stored in the driver database 22. In addition, for each of the printers PRT1 to PRT5 existing on the network, link information that associates a printer driver to be distributed at the time of installation is generated.

The driver distribution module 24 has a function of distributing a printer driver in response to a request from the clients PC1 to PC3. The appropriate driver stored in the driver database 22 is delivered to the client with reference to the link information generated by the driver management module 20 according to the printer model requested by the client.
The installer of the delivered driver is remotely started, and the driver is automatically installed. The driver distribution module 24 executes the client PC1 to
The printer driver is distributed to the PC 3, and the distribution result is stored in the driver distribution log 25.

The network input / output module 26 has the function of an interface in which the above-described functional blocks exchange information with the outside via the network LAN. Generally, information is exchanged over a network LAN by exchanging packets generated in a format according to various communication protocols. The network input / output module 26 converts information output from the management system 10 into a packet conforming to a communication protocol and outputs the packet. It also analyzes a packet input from the network LAN and extracts a substantial part of the exchanged information.

C. Driver registration: As described above, the management system 10 sends the client PCs 1 to
The printer driver is delivered to the PC 3. The printer driver to be distributed is stored in the driver database 22 in advance, according to the hard disk in the management system 10 or the functional blocks in FIG. The storage of the printer driver in the driver database 22 is performed by a network administrator according to the following steps.

FIG. 3 is a process diagram showing a printer driver registration process. The processing performed by the administrator using the management system 10 has been described. When registering a printer driver,
The administrator first searches for a printer to be managed (step S100). By performing a predetermined operation, a predetermined signal is output from the management system 10 on a network by a broadcast method or the like, and a response from each device is analyzed, so that a printer can be searched.

Next, a printer driver suitable for the printer to be managed is copied from the medium to the hard disk (step S102). Here, the case of copying from a medium has been described as an example, but the printer driver may be downloaded by accessing a Web site that distributes the printer driver on the Internet.

Finally, the link information between the driver and the printer is registered as the printer driver management information thus stored (step S104). That is, a suitable printer driver is assigned to each printer to be managed. By referring to this link information, when a client desires to use a printer, an appropriate printer driver can be reliably delivered. The printer driver management information may further include information on the source, update date, and version of the driver.

D. Driver Distribution: Processing for distributing a printer driver stored in the management system 10 to a client will be described. The contents of the printer driver stored in the management system 10, the installation status of the driver in each client, and the availability of access to each printer will be described assuming a certain state.

FIG. 4 shows the state at the time of performing the driver distribution processing.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a status setting of a management system and a client. The management target is the printer PRT as shown in FIG.
1 to PRT5 and clients PC1 to PC3. The two printers PRT1 and PRT5 are the same model, and the model name is “PT001”. The printer driver corresponding to this model is version "ver1.0"
Are stored in the management system 10. Printer PR
The three models T2 to PRT4 are the same model, and the model name is “PT002”. The version “ver1.02” of the printer driver corresponding to this model is stored in the management system 10.

The setting states of the clients PC1 to PC3 are as follows. The client PC 1 has a printer P
Access is permitted to four devices RT1 to PRT4.
The driver is installed only for the printers PRT to PRT4, and the version is the same as the latest version stored in the management system 10. The client PC 2 has printers PRT3 to PRT
Access is permitted to three of the five devices. The driver is installed only for printer PRT5,
The version is the same version stored in the management system 10. The client PC 3 is permitted to access the printers PRT4 and PRT5. Drivers are installed for both. However, as for the printer PRT4, the version “v” is an older version than the version stored in the management system 10.
er1.00 "is installed. Printer P
As for RT5, the same version as the version stored in the management system 10 is installed.

The distribution of the printer driver will be described based on the above settings. Note that the above setting state is
Needless to say, this is merely a setting for convenience of explanation, and the distribution of the driver in this embodiment is not limited to such a setting state.

The distribution of the driver is performed by the client and the management system 10 executing the following processing. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the driver distribution process. The processing executed by the client is shown on the left side, and the processing executed by the management system 10 is shown on the right side.

The user of the client accesses a preset setup URL (step S1).
0). In response, the management system 10 generates HTML data for displaying a printer that can be used by the client on a browser (step S20). When the client receives the HTML data, the browser can display available printers.

In this embodiment, available printers are displayed as map images. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display example of available printers in the present embodiment.
An office layout is displayed in the browser window W, and the positions of the printer and the client are also displayed. In this embodiment, the printers PRT1 to PRT5
Are prepared as individual data separated from layout data of clients, walls, desks, and the like. Therefore,
The display of each of the printers PRT1 to PRT5 can be individually turned on / off.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of available printers on the client PC 1. As described above with reference to FIG. 4, the client PC 1
1 to PRT4 are accessible, and access to the printer PRT5 is not permitted. Therefore,
The management system 10 provides the client PC 1 with:
Printers PRT1 to PRT4 to which access is permitted
Show only. The printer PRT5 exists in the area A indicated by the broken line in the figure, but is not displayed.

The management system 10 displays only the printers for which access is permitted for each client. However, the display of the printer has nothing to do with whether or not the driver is installed in the client. This will be described with reference to the example of FIG. Although a driver corresponding to the printer PRT1 is not installed in the client PC1, access is permitted, so the printer PRT1 is also displayed as an available printer. Similarly, printers PRT3 to PRT5 are displayed for client PC2. Client PC3
, Printers PRT4 and PRT5 are displayed. As a display mode, a mode for displaying only a printer in which a driver is installed among available printers may be provided. Also, a mode may be provided in which only printers for which a driver is not installed among available printers are displayed. It goes without saying that the administrator can browse all printers with a browser.

When available printers are displayed, the user selects a target printer whose setup is desired (step S12). In this embodiment, the icon of the target printer is designated by a pointing device such as a mouse. In response to the transmission of the target printer selection result, the management system 10 checks whether the driver of the target printer is installed in the client (step S22). In the present embodiment, the Java (registered trademark) applet is transmitted to the client and executed in the client to check the installation status of the printer driver. A display may be displayed to inquire the client of the installation status, and the user may input the status. Further, regardless of whether or not the printer driver has already been installed, the printer driver distribution and installation processing described below may be performed.

In this embodiment, whether or not to distribute the driver is switched according to the installation status.
If not installed (step S2
4), the management system 10 distributes the driver to the client (step S30). For example, when the printer PRT1 is selected as the target printer in the client PC1, the driver is distributed.
The management system 10 selects a printer driver suitable for the target printer and transmits the selected printer driver to the client. When the printer driver is received by the client, installation is executed (step S14). The installation is automatically performed on the client side by starting a predetermined execution file. Prior to distribution and installation of the driver, a confirmation screen as to whether or not to install the driver may be displayed.

Normally, when installing a printer driver, it is necessary to input information such as the path of the target printer. In the present embodiment, all of this information is information that the management system 10 knows. In this embodiment,
The client will not be prompted to enter this information during installation. The installation is performed by designating all necessary information by the management system 10. As a result, after the user has selected the target printer (step S12), the user can easily complete the installation without performing any special operation. of course,
As in the case of the normal installation, the user may input various information.

In this embodiment, when there are a plurality of printers of the same model as the target printer selected by the user, the printers can be installed collectively. As an example, consider a case where the client PC 2 installs a driver for the printer PRT3. As shown in FIG. 4 earlier, the client PC 2 has been granted access permission to the printers PRT3 and PRT4, but has not installed any drivers. Printer PRT3, PRT4
Are the same model “PT002” and have the same driver. Therefore, the management system 10 uses the client PC 2
The driver of the printer PRT3 in response to the request of
At the same time as installation, a port is also set for the printer PRT4 so that it can be used.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S24 that the driver has been installed in the client (step S24), the version of the driver stored in the management system 10 is changed to the version of the installed driver. Only distribute and install drivers if they are newer. For this reason,
The management system 10 checks whether the driver installed on the client is the latest one based on the distribution log (Step S26).

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram exemplifying a distribution log of the driver. The management system 10 according to the present embodiment records the contents each time a printer driver is distributed. The contents are the date when the driver was distributed, the client, the target printer, and the version at the time of distribution. According to this log, the client PC 1 receives the driver distribution three times. The first time is distribution of ver1.0 for the printer PRT1. The second time, printer P
This is a delivery of ver1.01 for RT2. The third time is distribution of ver1.02 for the printer PRT2. Therefore, referring to this log, the client P
C1 currently has ver1.
0, ver1.02 is installed for the printer PRT2. These drivers are
This is the same version as the driver stored in the management system 10. Therefore, in this case, the management system 10
Does not distribute the driver to the client PC1.

For the client PC 3, the printer P
Consider a case in which processing for RT4 is performed. According to the log, the driver installed on the client PC 4 is ver1.00. Since the management system 10 stores a driver of ver1.02,
The driver installed in the client PC 3 is out of date. Therefore, the management system 10 determines that the driver has been updated after the installation for the client PC 3 (step S28), and distributes the driver of ver1.02 again (step S28).
30). Upon receiving this distribution, the client PC 3
A new version of the driver is installed (step S14).

The management system 1 of the present embodiment described above
According to 0, there are various advantages described below. First, in the management system 10 according to the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the printer on which the driver is not installed is also displayed on the client. Therefore, the user of the client can easily select a printer to be used more flexibly. According to the management system 10 of the present embodiment, FIG.
, Only the printers for which use is permitted are displayed to the client. Therefore, the user of the client can appropriately grasp the printers available to him, and can easily select a highly convenient printer among them. Also, for the administrator, there is an advantage that the user who is not permitted to use the printer does not use the printer, so that the management burden is reduced. Furthermore, since these displays are performed in the layout diagram format in which the printers are actually arranged, there is an advantage that each user can easily select a printer that is convenient for himself / herself.

Second, according to the management system 10 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the installation status of the driver is checked for the pudding designated by the user, and the installation is automatically executed. Can be. Therefore,
The user can use the printer. Moreover, since a driver suitable for the printer selected by the user is automatically distributed, the possibility that the user makes a mistake in selecting a driver can be avoided. Further, since information required at the time of installation can be provided from the management system 10, the load on the user at the time of installation can be further reduced, and the possibility of erroneous input of information can be avoided.

Third, according to the management system 10 of the present embodiment, if the driver has been installed in the client, the version is confirmed and automatically updated to the latest version stored in the management system 10. can do. Therefore, the burden on the user for updating the driver can be reduced.

In the embodiment, when the driver of the target printer is not installed, the driver is automatically distributed to the client and installed. Instead of distributing the driver, an instruction to install may be displayed on the client. In this case, in consideration of the user's convenience, it is preferable to output together information that can specify the type and version of the driver to be installed.

In the embodiment, the case where the applet is transmitted to the client and the installation status of the driver is checked is exemplified. On the other hand, the driver installation status may be checked based on the distribution log shown in FIG. However, after the distribution of the driver, whether or not the client has uninstalled the driver cannot be determined from the distribution log. From this point of view, it is preferable to directly investigate the current situation of the client using an applet or the like. For the same reason, when the version of the installed driver can be directly determined by an applet or the like, the version may be updated by such a method.

The embodiment has exemplified the case where the device to be managed is a printer. The management target is not limited to the printer, and various devices available on the network can be applied. For example, various input / output devices such as a display, a CD-ROM, and a scanner can be applied.

Although various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and it goes without saying that various configurations can be adopted without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the above-described control processing may be realized by software or by hardware.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing functional blocks of the management system 10.

FIG. 3 is a process chart showing a printer driver registration process.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing status settings of a management system and a client at the time of performing a driver distribution process.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a driver distribution process.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of available printers in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of available printers on the client PC1.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a delivery log of a driver;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Management system 12 ... Control part 14 ... Printer management module 16 ... Layout data 17 ... Printer arrangement data 18 ... Access permission database 20 ... Driver data management module 22 ... Driver database 24 ... Driver distribution module 25 ... Driver distribution log 26 ... Network I / O module

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Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A management system for managing the use of a device by a client on the network in a system in which a client and a device are connected to a network, wherein a license for each device is set for each client. A management system comprising: a license setting unit for performing the above operation; and a device display unit for displaying a device for which the license has been granted, regardless of whether a driver corresponding to the device is installed on the client. 2. The management system according to claim 1, wherein the device display unit is a unit that performs the display in the form of a layout drawing in an area where the client and the device exist. 3. The management system according to claim 2, wherein the device display unit stores layout data that can specify a position of the device in the area, and the layout data. Arrangement storage means for storing the arrangement of the devices in relation to the display control means for displaying the layout data on the client and controlling the display and non-display of each device according to the presence or absence of the license. And a management system as means comprising: 4. A support system for supporting the use of the device by the client on the network in a system in which the client and the device are connected to a network, wherein the driver of the device selected by the client is the client. A support system comprising: detecting means for detecting whether or not the driver is installed; and, when the driver is not installed, installation promoting means for executing predetermined processing for causing the client to install the driver. 5. The support system according to claim 4, further comprising: a driver holding unit that holds a driver corresponding to the device, wherein the installation promotion unit is a unit that causes an installation from the driver holding unit. Support system. 6. The support system according to claim 5, wherein the installation promotion unit distributes a driver corresponding to the device from the driver holding unit to the client, and does not require an operation on the client. A support system that is a means of performing installation on the system. 7. The support system according to claim 5, wherein a version of the driver installed in the client is determined to be older than a version of the driver held in the holding unit. Means for executing the predetermined processing even when it is determined that the installed driver is old. 8. The support system according to claim 7, wherein: a log holding unit that holds a record relating to the distribution of the driver from the driver holding unit to the client; and a version of the driver held by the driver holding unit. Update record holding means for holding the update record of, the version determining means refers to the log holding means and the update record holding means, and detects whether the installed driver is old or not. There is a support system. 9. A management method in a system in which a client and a device are connected to a network, wherein use of the device by the client on the network is managed by a computer connected to the network. Setting a license for each device for each client; and (b) displaying the licensed device on the client regardless of whether a driver corresponding to the device is installed. A support method comprising device display means. 10. A method for supporting a client using a device on a network in a system in which a client and a device are connected to a network, wherein: (a) a driver of a device selected by the client is Detecting whether or not the driver is installed on the client; and (b) performing a predetermined process for causing the client to install the driver when the driver is not installed. How to help. 11. In a system in which a client and a device are connected to a network, a computer-readable recording program for managing the use of the device by the client on the network by a computer connected to the network. A function for setting a license for each device for each client; and determining whether a driver corresponding to the device is installed in the client for the device for which the license is granted. A recording medium on which a program for realizing a function to be displayed regardless of the program is recorded. 12. In a system in which a client and a device are connected to a network, a recording medium in which a program for supporting use of the device by the client on the network is recorded in a computer-readable manner. A function of detecting whether or not the driver of the selected device is installed in the client; and a predetermined process for causing the client to install the driver if the driver is not installed. Recording a program for realizing the function of executing the program.