Print server
AssigneeRicoh Company, Ltd.
InventorYi Ding
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Techniques are provided for servicing client requests to print data. A client sends print requests to a print server. The print server acts as an intermediary between clients and multiple printing devices. The print server includes drivers for the printing devices that are connected to the same network. The print server retrieves and store capabilities of each printing device. A print request from a client includes multiple parameters. If the capabilities of one or more printing devices satisfy the multiple parameters, then the one or more printing devices are identified as candidates to service the print request. The print server determines which of the candidates is the best match. The print server sends the print request to the determined best match.
Claims18
A data processing apparatus comprising:
- a network interface capable of coupling to a network;
- a plurality of printer drivers, each configured to convert data to a form that is specific to one or more compatible printing devices of a plurality of printing devices that are separate from the data processing apparatus and that may be in the network;
- print server logic which when executed by one or more processors is operable to perform the machine-implemented steps of:
- receiving, from a client computer that is separate from the data processing apparatus and that lacks one or more of the plurality of printer drivers, a request to print one or more documents represented in print data in the request;
- receiving, from the client computer, one or more parameters for printing the one or more documents;
- determining, based on the one or more parameters, a particular printing device from among the plurality of printing devices;
- and
- based on the determination, converting the print data using one of the plurality of printer drivers that is compatible with the particular printing device and
- sending the converted print data to the particular printing device;
- wherein the one or more parameters are a plurality of parameters, wherein the print server logic further comprises logic which when executed is operable to perform:
- receiving, in the request from the client computer, a weight values associated with each of the plurality of parameters, wherein each of the weight values indicates an importance of the associated parameter;
- and
- determining the particular printing device that best satisfies the plurality of parameters when the plurality of parameters are weighted according to the weight values.
One or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause:
- receiving, at a data processing apparatus, from a client computer that is separate from the data processing apparatus and that lacks one or more printer drivers each configured to convert data to a form that is specific to one or more compatible printing devices, of a plurality of printing devices, that are separate from the data processing apparatus and that may be in a network, a request to print one or more documents represented in print data in the request;
- receiving, from the client computer, one or more parameters for printing the one or more documents;
- determining, based on the one or more parameters, a particular printing device from among the plurality of printing devices;
- and
- based on the determination, converting the print data using one of a plurality of printer drivers that is compatible with the particular printing device and sending the converted print data to the particular printing device;
- wherein the one or more parameters are a plurality of parameters, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause:
- receiving, in the request from the client computer, a weight value associated with each of the plurality of parameters, wherein each of the weight values indicates an importance of the associated parameter;
- and
- determining the particular printing device that best satisfies the plurality of parameters when the plurality of parameters are weighted according to the weight values.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.