Method and apparatus for managing printing solutions in a local area network

A method of managing printing in an environment with a plurality of workstations and a plurality of printers in one or more networks each workstation having a unique ID and each printer having a type and a configuration which is dependant on the unique ID, wherein one or more of the printers is connected to a one of the plurality of workstations;

• and wherein the network also includes a document server and a identity generator, the method comprising:
• polling a workstation when it connects to the network to determine what printers are connected thereto;
• determining the unique ID of the workstation;
• determining the type of printer;
• determining the configuration of the printer from the type and workstation location;
• determining an identification code (ID code) for each printer connected to the connected workstation using the identification generator;
• developing a look up table of unique ID of the workstation;
• type and configuration of the printer and ID code;
• receiving a print request from a workstation at the document server;
• identifying the configuration of a printer from the look up table in response to the print request which can receive the print server;
• sending the print request to the identified printer with the appropriate ID code, as identified by the look up table
• wherein the step of determining the unique ID comprises determining a discriminator selected from the list containing location, function, definition, level of priority, age and company.