Assembling and printing compound documents

A computer program product for assembling and printing a compound document from individual document files created by different document generating programs in different file formats, the product comprising a computer-usable medium having computer-readable instructions thereon for:

• allowing a computer user to arrange the individual document files in the order in which the documents they represent will appear in the compound document;
• launching the document generating program corresponding to each file;
• causing each document generating program to print the file or files corresponding to that program to a page description language file;
• and
• grouping the page description language files into a single print job;
• sequentially for each file, stripping from the page description language file information that identifies the file to the printer as a unique print job, adding the appropriate paper tray instructions to the file;
• and then
• sending the file to the printer.

A computer program product for assembling and printing a compound document from individual document files created by different document generating programs in different file formats, the product comprising a computer-usable medium having computer-readable instructions thereon for:

• allowing a computer user to arrange the individual document files in the order in which the documents they represent will appear in the compound document;
• launching the document generating program corresponding to each file;
• causing each document generating program to print the file or files corresponding to that program in the arranged order to a page description language file;
• and
• sequentially for each file, stripping from the page description language file information that identifies the file to the printer as a unique print job and then sending the file to the printer.

A method for assembling and printing a compound document from individual document files created by different document generating programs in different file formats, the method comprising:

• allowing a computer user to arrange the individual document files in the order in which the documents they represent will appear in the compound document;
• launching the document generating program corresponding to each file;
• causing each document generating program to print the file or files corresponding to that program in the arranged order to a page description language file;
• and
• sequentially for each file, stripping from the page description language file information that identifies the file to the printer as a unique print job and then sending the file to the printer.