Postal Printer Driver System and Method

Abstract

There is disclosed a printer control system and method for abstracting the data flow to a printer, or other device, and for using the abstracted information for controlling additional processes with respect to the printer. In one embodiment, the abstracted information is used to print envelope information, such as addressee and/or a postage indicia. The postage indicia can be either generated from the abstracted data or the indicia itself can be abstracted from the data stream. In another embodiment, the process to be controlled is as downline process, such as a folding operation or the printing of information related to the original printed document.

1 . A method of processing a print data stream from a software application, said method comprising:
 scanning said print data stream;   validating at least a portion of said print data stream as a function of said scanning; and   modifying said print data stream as a function of said validating, wherein said software application is not adapted to operate with said scanning, modifying and validating.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 abstracting at least a portion of said print data stream as a function of said scanning; and   controlling the printing of a postage indicia with at least some of said abstracted portion.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said modifying comprises: normalizing at least a portion of said data stream as a function of said scanning. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein said normalizing comprises changing an address to conform with a predefined standard. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said scanning comprises examining the print data stream for one or more data patterns selected from the list consisting of:
 return address, destination address, mailing date, number of pages, type of inserts, mailing service type, postage indicia, bar codes, tracking codes, control codes, graphics, application types and a combination thereof.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said modifying comprises adding data to said print data stream. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein said added data comprises options from a user. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6  wherein said added data comprises bar code information. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6  wherein said added data comprises postage information. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 prompting a user to input options.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said abstracted information is an address and said validating is a validation of said abstracted address information against an address database. 
     
     
         12 . A computer program product, embodied on a computer-readable medium, for use in processing a print data stream from a software application, said computer program product comprising:
 a program operable for scanning said print data stream;   a program operable for validating at least a portion of said print data stream as a function of said scanning; and   a program operable for modifying said print data stream as a function of said validating, wherein said software application is not adapted to operate with said scanning, modifying and validating.   
     
     
         13 . The computer program product of  claim 12  further comprising:
 a program operable for abstracting at least a portion of said print data stream as a function of said scanning; and   a program operable for controlling the printing of a postage indicia with at least some of said abstracted portion.   
     
     
         14 . The computer program product of  claim 12  wherein said modifying comprises:
 normalizing at least a portion of said data stream as a function of said scanning.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein said normalizing comprises changing an address to conform with a predefined standard. 
     
     
         16 . The computer program product of  claim 12  wherein said scanning comprises examining said print data stream for one or more data patterns selected from the list consisting of:
 return address, destination address, mailing date, number of pages, type of inserts, mailing service type, postage indicia, bar codes, tracking codes, control codes, graphics, application types and a combination thereof.   
     
     
         17 . The computer program product of  claim 12  wherein said modifying comprises adding data to said print data stream. 
     
     
         18 . The computer program product of  claim 17  wherein said added data comprises options from a user. 
     
     
         19 . The computer program product of  claim 17  wherein said added data comprises bar code information. 
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 17  wherein said added data comprises postage information. 
     
     
         21 . The computer program product of  claim 11  further comprising:
 a program operable for prompting a user to input options.   
     
     
         22 . The computer program product of  claim 11  wherein said abstracted information is an address and said validating is a validation of said abstracted address information against an address database. 
     
     
         23 . A method of processing a print data stream from a software application, said method comprising:
 scanning the print data stream;   abstracting at least a portion of said print data stream as a function of said scanning; and   using said abstracted portion to update a database comprising information pertaining to said print data stream.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23  further comprising:
 controlling the printing of a postage indicia with at least some of said abstracted portion.   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24  wherein said abstracted portion comprises a destination address. 
     
     
         26 . A computer program product, embodied on a computer-readable medium, for use in processing a print data stream from a software application, said computer program product comprising:
 a program operable for scanning the print data stream;   a program operable for abstracting at least a portion of said print data stream as a function of said scanning; and   a program operable for using said abstracted portion to update a database comprising information pertaining to said print data stream.   
     
     
         27 . The computer program product of  claim 26  further comprising:
 a program operable for controlling the printing of a postage indicia with at least some of said abstracted portion.   
     
     
         28 . The computer program product of  claim 27  wherein said abstracted portion comprises a destination address. 
     
     
         29 . A method of processing a print data stream from a software application, said method comprising:
 scanning the print data stream;   abstracting at least a portion of said print data stream as a function of said scanning, wherein said software is not adapted to operate with said scanning and abstracting;   printing at least a portion of said print data stream; and   using the abstracted portion to generate information, separate from said print data stream, pertaining to said printed data stream.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29  wherein said generated information comprises postage indicia information. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30  wherein said generated information is any of the list consisting of: a fax sheet, a cover sheet and a combination thereof. 
     
     
         32 . A computer program product, embodied on a computer-readable medium, for use in processing a print data stream from a software application, said computer program product comprising:
 a program operable for scanning the print data stream;   a program operable for abstracting at least a portion of said print data stream as a function of said scanning, wherein said software is not adapted to operate with said scanning and abstracting;   a program operable for printing, at least a portion of said print data stream; and   a program operable for using the abstracted portion to generate information, separate from said data stream, pertaining to said printed data stream.   
     
     
         33 . The computer program product of  claim 32  wherein said generated information comprises postage indicia information. 
     
     
         34 . The computer program product of  claim 32  wherein said generated information is any of the list consisting of: a fax sheet, a cover sheet and a combination thereof.