Method and system for interfacing with a computer output device

A computer system for outputting data to one of a plurality of output devices, comprising:

• a program for selecting an output device and for invoking a plurality of device driver functions to control the outputting of data to the selected output device;
• a minidriver for each of the plurality of output devices, each minidriver having an implementation of the plurality of device driver functions that are invoked by the program wherein each device driver function invokes an analogous device driver function, having device-specific information describing attributes of the output device, and having means for invoking an initialization function passing the device-specific information;
• and
• a universal driver having an implementation of the initialization function that is invoked by each minidriver wherein the initialization function processes and stores the passed device-specific information, the universal driver having an implementation of each analogous device driver function that is invoked by each minidriver to control the outputting of data to each output device in accordance with the stored device-specific information for that output device.

A method in a computer system for outputting data to a plurality of output devices, the computer system having a program, a minidriver associated with each output device, and a universal driver, each minidriver having a plurality of minidriver functions for controlling the outputting of the data to the output device by invoking functions of the universal driver, the method comprising the steps of:

• during execution of the program, selecting an output device and invoking the minidriver functions of the minidriver associated with the selected output device;
• during execution of the invoked minidriver functions, invoking functions of the universal driver passing an indication of the selected output device and invoking an initialization function of the universal driver passing an indication of and attributes of the selected output device, each function of the universal driver having a behavior;
• during execution of the initialization function, processing the passed attributes and storing the indication and the processed attributes;
• and
• during execution of each function of the universal driver, accessing the stored attributes and performing the behavior of the function.

A method of implementing device drivers for interfacing between application programs and devices in a computer system, the method comprising the steps of:

• developing a universal driver having a plurality of universal driver functions having a behavior to effect the output of data to a device, the behavior of each universal driver function being adaptable to each output device based of device-specific attributes;
• developing a minidriver for each device, the minidriver have device-specific attributes and comprising a plurality of interfacing functions having a behavior to effect the output of data to a device, the interfacing functions including means for invoking the universal driver functions to effect the behavior of the interfacing functions;
• and
• developing an application program that invokes the interfacing functions to output data to the devices.

A computer-readable storage medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to perform a method for outputting data to a plurality of output devices, the computer system having a program, a minidriver associated with each output device, and a universal driver, each minidriver having a plurality of minidriver functions for controlling the outputting of the data to the output device by invoking functions of the universal driver, the method comprising the steps of:

• during execution of the program, selecting an output device and invoking the minidriver functions of the minidriver associated with the selected output device;
• invoking functions of the universal driver passing an indication of the selected output device and invoking an initialization function of the universal driver passing an indication of and attributes of the selected output device, each function of the universal driver having a behavior;
• processing the passed attributes and storing the indication and the processed attributes;
• and
• accessing the stored attributes and performing the behavior of the function.