Method and system for a generic document processing device client

1. A method for network document processing, the method comprising:

locating a network connection from a workstation that has a generic driver to a document processing device that is connected to said network, said generic driver requiring operational settings from said document processing device in order to process a document on said document processing device,

activating a first interface between said document processing device and said workstation whereby said workstation can access a plurality of operational settings of said document processing device that are necessary for said generic printer driver to process a document on said document processing device;

providing a user interface to said workstation, whereby a user can through said user interface and said first interface select said necessary operational setting for said document processing device;

using said generic printer driver to generate a document data file at a particular location that contains the operational settings obtained through said first interface; and

communicating said particular location of said document data file to said document processing device and activating a document processing job to be executed in accordance with operational settings selected by said user.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein activating an interface further comprises launching a document processing client in response to a document processing request by the user.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein activating an interface further comprises launching and retrieving web pages to display capabilities of the document processing device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user interface is a web page.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating a document data file further comprises storing the document data file on a job file store.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein communicating a location further comprises sending a Uniform Resource Locator to the predetermined document-processing device.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of operational settings includes number of copies, stapling options, and paper selection.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the document processing device is one of the group comprising: a printer, a fax machine, a multi-function peripheral, an electronic document management system, a plotter, a network fax machine, a language translation server and a knowledge management system.

9. A computer-readable storage medium storing software code that, when executed, results in executing the method recited in claim 1 .

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the software code is a downloadable file.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the software code is a generic printer driver to be installed on each workstation of a network.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein generation of a document data file comprises generation of a document data file based on the operational settings.

13. A network document processing system, comprising:

a generic document processing client installed on a workstation connected to a network, said document processing client being operable to interact with several different types of document processing devices by

activating a first interface between said document processing device and a said workstation whereby said workstation can access a plurality of operational setting of said document processing device that are necessary for said generic printer driver to process a document on said document processing device; and

providing a user interface to said workstation, whereby a user can through said user interface and said first interface select said necessary operational setting for said document processing device;

a job file store, operable to receive document data files generated by said generic document processing client; said files including operational settings obtained through said first interface; and

a document-processing device, operable to receive a location of the document data files and auxiliary information associated with each document data file from said document-processing client, and to operate on said document data file in accordance with said auxiliary information.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the document-processing client is one of the group comprised of: a printer client, a fax client, an electronic document management system client, a language translation client, and a knowledge system management client.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the job file store is located on the workstation upon which is installed the document processing client.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the job file store is located on another device connected to the network.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the job file store is a dedicated device.

18. The system of claim 13 , wherein the document processing device is one of the group comprising: a printer, a fax machine, a multi-function peripheral, an electronic document management system, a plotter, a network fax machine, a language translation server, and a knowledge management system.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating a document data file comprises generating a document data file based on the operational settings.

20. A method for network document processing, the method comprising:

locating a network connection from a workstation that has a generic driver to a document processing device that is connected to said network, said generic driver requiring operations setting from said document processing device in order to process a document on said document processing device,

activating a first interface between said document processing device and a said workstation whereby said workstation can access a plurality of operational setting of said document processing device that are necessary for said generic printer driver to process a document on said document processing device;

providing a user interface to said workstation, whereby a user can through said user interface and said first interface select said necessary operational setting for the document processing device;

using said generic printer driver to generate a document data file that contains the operational settings obtained through said first interface, said document being stored at a particular location; and

communicating said particular location of the document data file to said document processing device, thereby activating a document processing job to be executed in accordance with operational settings selected by the user.