Combined host and imaging device menu interface

An imaging job process associated with a networked collection of plural imaging-related instrumentalities each having respective associated imaging-related functionalities and/or controls comprising

• gathering such functionalities and controls, and
• following said gathering, creating a combined user interface which makes available to a user all of such gathered functionalities and controls.

An imaging method employable spontaneously in an interconnected system having plural, currently available, imaging-related instrumentalities including respective different imaging-associated native functionalities accessible through associated user-interface controls, at least one of which instrumentalities accommodates user introduction to the system of an imaging job, said method comprising

• at a user selectable common site which is operatively connected in the system presenting an operative user interface containing a combination of representative surrogates of all of such native-functionality-associated controls which are user engageable selectively at that site for invoking the implementation of the respective associated functionalities with respect to an imaging job introduced by the user to the system, and
• in association with the event of a user so introducing an imaging job, responding to a user's engagements of selected controls presented at the common site, and with respect to the introduced imaging job, to implement, in the execution of that job, the specific instrumentality native functionalities which are associated with the selected controls.

An imaging job process associated with a networked collection of plural imaging-related instrumentalities each having respective associated imaging-related functionalities and/or controls comprising

• gathering such functionalities and controls, and
• following said gathering, creating a combined user interface which makes available to a user all of such gathered functionalities and controls, and
• after said creating, presenting to an imaging job-requesting user the created combined user interface at the sites of selected ones of such instrumentalities, whereby different aspects of a requested imaging job are performed, as needed, by different appropriate ones of the instrumentalities.