Allowing operating system access to non-standard fonts in a network document

A computer-implemented method, comprising:

• requesting, by a hand-held device with an operating system that recognizes a standard set of fonts, a network document that is hosted on a server communicatively coupled to the hand-held device via a network, the network document including:
• an application file comprising computer executable instructions identifying a plurality of display characters used in the network document, and
• computer executable instructions identifying a font used to render at least one display character of the plurality of display characters, the font not being included in the standard set of fonts;
• accessing the network document;
• receiving, at the hand-held device, a font package separate from the application file of the network document and referenced by the computer executable instructions of the network document, the font package comprising computer readable formatting information for the operating system of the hand-held device to render the at least one display character using the font and for other applications controlled by the operating system of the hand-held device to render the at least one display character using the font;
• and
• responsive to the hand-held device accessing the network document:
• installing the computer readable formatting information of the font package in a temporary fonts directory on the hand-held device so as to enable a program module of the operating system of the hand-held device to render the at least one display character using the font, wherein when the at least one display character is displayed, the at least one display character is displayed using the computer readable formatting information installed in the temporary fonts directory, and
• updating a system font table of the hand-held device to reflect an availability of the font.

A hand-held device coupleable to a network such that the hand-held device can receive information from a non-transitory computer-readable medium adapted for use with a second computer coupled to the network, the hand-held device comprising:

• a display;
• a processing unit;
• and
• memory to store instructions that, when executed by the processing unit, cause the processing unit to:
• enable communication between the hand-held device and the second computer coupled to the network,
• download an electronic file from the second computer, the electronic file including computer executable instructions for identifying two or more display characters for use in a program application and for identifying a font used to render at least one display character of the two or more display characters for use in the program application,
• wherein the computer executable instructions reference a font package comprising computer readable formatting information necessary for an operating system of the hand-held device to render the at least one display character on the display using the font,
• install an exposure module on the hand-held device, the exposure module for automatically installing or exposing the font package to the hand-held device so that the hand-held device can render the at least one display character using the font,
• cause the exposure module to install at least a portion of the font package to a temporary fonts directory of the hand-held device so that a program module of the hand-held device can render the at least one display character using the font, whereby when the at least one display character is displayed, the at least one display character is displayed using the font, and
• cause a system font table of the hand-held device to be updated to reflect an availability of the font.