Method and system for dynamic flowing data to an arbitrary path defined by a page description language

Abstract

Improvements to a method for flowing variable data, such as text data, image data, bar code data, and the like, into a path of a template defined by a PDL specification in a high-speed printing operation.

1 - 15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . A method for generating a multi-page representation of text, comprising:
 receiving a page description file, the page description file defining at least a boundary;   receiving text data;   receiving an attribute corresponding to the page description file, the attribute, when applied, defining an aspect of the appearance of the text data;   generating a representation of the text data and, during the generating step, applying the attribute to the text data;   flowing a first portion of the representation of the text data into a first instance of the boundary according to at least one flow rule; and   flowing a second portion of the representation of the text data into a second instance of the boundary.   
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the second portion is a subset of the first portion. 
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the first instance is on a first page, and wherein the second instance is on a second page. 
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the text data is external to the page description file. 
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 16 , comprising:
 associating at least the boundary with the text data.   
     
     
         21 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the flowing of the first portion of the representation of the text data into the first instance of the boundary according to the at least one flow rule is part of creating a first page of a book. 
     
     
         22 . The method according to  claim 21 , wherein the flowing of the second portion of the representation of the text data into the second instance of the boundary is part of creating a second page of the book. 
     
     
         23 . The method according to  claim 22 , wherein the second page is the next page after the first page of the book. 
     
     
         24 . A method for generating a multi-page representation of text, comprising:
 receiving a page description file, the page description file defining at least a boundary;   receiving text data;   receiving a first attribute corresponding to the page description file, the attribute, when applied, defining an aspect of the appearance of the text data;   generating a first representation of the text data and, during the generating step, applying the first attribute to the text data;   flowing the first representation of the text data into the boundary according to at least one flow rule;   generating a modified representation of the text data and, during the generating step, applying a second attribute to the text data; and   flowing at least a portion of the modified representation of the text data into the boundary.   
     
     
         25 . The method according to  claim 24 , wherein the applying of the second attribute to the text data comprises applying, to the text data, the second attribute in addition to the first attribute. 
     
     
         26 . The method according to  claim 24 , comprising:
 flowing over the at least the portion of the modified representation over the first representation.   
     
     
         27 . The method according to  claim 24 , wherein one or both of the first attribute and the second attribute is defined in the page description file. 
     
     
         28 . The method according to  claim 24 , wherein one or both of the first attribute and the second attribute is associated with the boundary. 
     
     
         29 . The method according to  claim 24 , wherein the boundary is defined by a path command, and wherein one or both of the first attribute and the second attribute is associated with a string command linked to the path command. 
     
     
         30 . The method according to  claim 24 , wherein the boundary is on a page of a book. 
     
     
         31 . The method according to  claim 24 , wherein the boundary is not shown. 
     
     
         32 . The method according to  claim 24 , wherein one or both of the first attribute and the second attribute is defined in a file external to the page description file. 
     
     
         33 . The method according to  claim 24 , wherein the text data is part of a platform independent data file. 
     
     
         34 . The method according to  claim 24 , wherein one or both of the first attribute and the second attribute is part of a graphics state that is associated with the text data. 
     
     
         35 . A method for generating a multi-page representation of text, comprising:
 receiving a page description file, the page description file defining at least a boundary;   receiving text data;   receiving a first attribute corresponding to the page description file, the attribute, when applied, defining an aspect of the appearance of the text data;   generating a first representation of the text data and, during the generating step, applying the first attribute to the text data;   flowing the first representation of the text data into the boundary according to at least one flow rule;   generating a modified representation of the text data and, during the generating step, applying the first attribute along with one or more additional attributes to the text data; and   flowing at least a portion of the modified representation of the text data into the boundary.   
     
     
         36 . The method according to  claim 35 , comprising:
 flowing over the at least the portion of the modified representation over the first representation.   
     
     
         37 . The method according to  claim 35 , wherein one or both of the first attribute and the one or more additional attributes is defined in the page description file. 
     
     
         38 . The method according to  claim 35 , wherein one or both of the first attribute and the one or more additional attributes is associated with the boundary. 
     
     
         39 . The method according to  claim 35 , wherein the boundary is defined by a path command, and wherein one or both of the first attribute and the one or more additional attributes is associated with a string command linked to the path command. 
     
     
         40 . The method according to  claim 35 , wherein the boundary is on a page of a book. 
     
     
         41 . The method according to  claim 35 , wherein the boundary is not shown. 
     
     
         42 . The method according to  claim 35 , wherein one or both of the first attribute and the one or more additional attributes is defined in a file external to the page description file. 
     
     
         43 . The method according to  claim 35 , wherein the text data is part of a platform independent data file. 
     
     
         44 . The method according to  claim 35 , wherein one or both of the first attribute and the one or more additional attributes is part of a graphics state that is associated with the text data.