Deferred printing
US5960168A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 3, 1998 |
| Grant date | Sep 28, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 3, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F3/1285
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Facilities are provided within an operating system for supporting deferred printing of print jobs. The process of spooling a print job and the process of despooling the print job are decoupled, such that a printer need not be available at the time of spooling. Print jobs are spooled in a device-independent format, such as the enhanced metafile format. The print jobs may be spooled without a printer driver being installed for a target printer or without the target printer being connected to the system. Later, when the target printer becomes available, the print job is despooled and printed. A configuration database holds different printer configurations that list available printers in different environments. For example, a user may have a different configuration for printers available when he uses his computer at home, at work and on the road, respectively. The configurations help the user to identify the printers that are currently available and those that are available in other settings. When a currently active machine configuration changes, the system checks for spooled jobs on printers that were previously unavailable and are now available and asks the user if the user wishes to…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.