Method and apparatus for determining a location of data in an open specification environment

1. A method for determining a location of an image referenced within a stream of document data of a first system, the method comprising:

prescanning the publication data for verifying the image exists at the location; the prescanning step comprising:

automatically initiating a scan, by the print controller, of the incoming publication data to search for references to image files which are not locally accessible, and verifying that those references are correct;

if the image does not exist at the location, manually entering a location of the image; and verifying that the manually entered location of the image is correct;

finding a comment within the publication data;

determining a location of the image, stored using a second system different from the first, as a function of the comment;

gathering the image at a local location;

retrieving the image based on the verified pathname and inserting the image into the publication data; and

outputting the publication data to the output medium via the output device.

2. The method for determining a location of the image as set forth in claim 1 , wherein:

the finding step includes:

identifying, as a function of the comment, a reference to the image within the data stream; and

the determining step includes:

determining the location of the image as a function of the reference.

3. The method for determining a location of the image as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the determining step includes:

identifying a potential mapping to a potential location of the image.

4. The method for determining a location of the image as set forth in claim 3 , further including:

identifying an additional potential mapping to an additional potential location of the image.

5. The method for determining a location of the image as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the determining step includes:

identifying a potential search path to a potential location of the image.

6. The method for determining a location of the image as set forth in claim 5 , further including:

identifying an additional search path to an additional potential location of the image.

7. A method for outputting publication data to an output medium via an output device, the method comprising:

(i) at least one of:

(a) comparing a comment within the publication data to path mappings to identify a potential pathname of data for an object within the publication data; and

(b) comparing the comment to search paths to identify the potential pathname of the object data within the publication data;

(ii) prescanning the publication data for verifying the potential pathname;

(iii) substituting the verified pathname for the comment in the publication data;

(iv) retrieving the data based on the verified pathname and inserting the object data into the publication data; and

(v) outputting the publication data to the output medium via the output device.

8. The method for outputting publication data as set forth in claim 7 , further including:

gathering the output data for the object onto a local memory device.

9. The method for outputting publication data as set forth in claim 7 , further including:

predefining the path mappings and search paths.

10. The method for outputting publication data as set forth in claim 7 , further including:

if the potential pathname is not verified in the prescanning step, prompting a user to manually enter the potential pathname.

11. The method for outputting publication data as set forth in claim 10 , further including:

after the potential pathname is manually entered, rescanning the publication data.

12. The method for outputting publication data as set forth in claim 7 , wherein the outputting step includes:

outputting the publication data within a xerographic environment.

13. The method for outputting publication data as set forth in claim 7 , wherein the prescanning step comprises:

automatically initiating a scan, by the print controller, of the incoming publication data to search for references to image files which may not be locally accessible, and verifying that those references are correct.