System and method for controlling a remote printer
View Patent ↗A printer connected to a network prints documents transmitted as portions of E-mail messages sent to the printer from computer systems through a print server. The printing process is controlled by administrative settings stored within the printer and further by keyword-value pairs recorded in the subject lines of the E-mail messages. The printer preferably also acts as a web page server to client systems connected to the network, with administrative settings being updated through the network following recognition of a password.
1. A system for remotely printing a document, wherein said system comprises: a network; a mail server connected to said network, wherein said mail server receives and stores E-mail messages from said network; a computer transmitting an E-mail message including said document to said mail server over said network; and a printer receiving said E-mail message from said mail server, wherein said printer includes a processor, data storage, and a print engine printing images on paper in response to operation of said processor, wherein said processor is programmed to execute steps of: parsing a header portion of said E-mail message to determine whether portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to administrative settings derived from data stored within said data storage and to determine whether portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to user settings determined from keywords within said header portion of said E-mail message, in response to determining that portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said administrative settings, causing said print engine to print said portions of said E-mail message according to said administrative settings, and in response to determining that portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said user settings, causing said print engine to print said portions of said E-mail message according to said user settings; wherein, said processor is programmed to determine that said portions of said E-mail messages are to be printed according to said user settings in response to a determination that an E-mail address of said printer is an only address in a “To” destination address within said header of said E-mail message, said processor is programmed to determine that said portions of said E-mail messages are to be printed according to said administrative settings in response to a determination that said E-mail address of said printer is one of a plurality of addresses in said “To” destination address within said header of said E-mail message, and said processor is programmed to determine that said portions of said E-mail messages are to be printed according to said administrative settings in response to a determination that said E-mail address of said printer is in a “CC” destination address line within said header of said E-mail message instead of in said “To” destination address within said header of said E-mail message.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein said user settings and said administrative settings each include:
a first printing control determining whether a body of said E-mail message is to be printed, and
a second printing control determining whether an attachment of said E-mail message is to be printed only if said attachment is written in a file format recognized by said printer, whether said attachment of said E-mail message is to be printed regardless of whether said attachment is written in a file format recognized by said printer, or whether said attachment is not to be printed.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein said first and second printing controls of said user settings are derived from keywords in a subject line within said header of said E-mail message.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein
said printer is connected to said network to transmit and receive data, and said processor is additionally programmed to:
receive a password transmitted over said network, determine that said password is correct, and store data for deriving said administrative settings in response to data received from said network.
5. The system of claim 4 , wherein said administrative settings include data determining whether portions of said E-mail message are printed.
6. The system of claim 4 , wherein
said printer polls said mail server on a periodic basis to determine if an E-mail message for said printer is stored within said mail server,
said printer receives said E-mail message for said printer upon determining that said E-mail message for said printer is stored within said mail server, and
said administrative settings additionally include data setting a time interval determining said periodic basis.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein said user settings are derived from keywords in a subject line within said header of said E-mail message.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein
said printer is connected to said mail server over said network,
said printer polls said mail server on a periodic basis to determine if an E-mail message for said printer is stored within said mail server, and
said printer receives said E-mail message for said printer upon determining that said E-mail message for said printer is stored within said mail server.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein
said computer generates said E-mail message in response to a user selection to print said document by E-mail,
said document is included as an attachment, written in a file format recognized as printable by said printer, and
said E-mail message is generated to include a header addressed to said printer and a textual data causing said attachment to be printed by said printer.
10. A method for remotely printing a document, wherein said method comprises: a) receiving within a printer connected to a network an E-mail message including said document addressed to said printer; b) parsing a header portion of said E-mail message to determine whether portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to administrative settings derived from data stored within said data storage and to determine whether portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to user settings determined from keywords within said header portion of said E-mail message, determining whether an address of said printer is an only address within a “To” destination address line of said E-mail message; in response to determining that said address of said printer is an only address within said “To” destination address line of said E-mail message, determining that said portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said user settings, and in response to determining that said address of said printer is not an only address within said “To” destination address line of said E-mail message, determining that said portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said administrative settings, c) in response to determining that portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said administrative settings, causing said print engine to print said portions of said E-mail message according to said administrative settings, and d) in response to determining that portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said user settings, causing said print engine to print said portions of said E-mail message according to said user settings.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein said user settings and said administrative settings each include:
a first printing control determining whether a body of said E-mail message is to be printed, and
a second printing control determining whether an attachment of said E-mail message is to be printed only if said attachment is written in a file format recognized by said printer, whether said attachment of said E-mail message is to be printed regardless of whether said attachment is written in a file format recognized by said printer, or whether said attachment is not to be printed.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein said first and second printing controls of said user settings are derived from key words in a subject line within said header of said E-mail message.
13. The method of claim 10 , wherein step a) is preceded by:
receiving said E-mail message in a mail server connected to said network; and
transmitting said E-mail message to said printer from said mail server.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein said E-mail message is transmitted to said printer from said mail server in response to said printer periodically polling said mail server to determine if an E-mail message is stored in said mail server.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein said administrative settings include data determining whether portions of said E-mail message are printed.
16. The method of claim 10 , additionally comprising:
polling said mail server on a periodic basis from said printer to determine if an E-mail message for said printer is stored within said mail server, wherein said administrative settings additionally include data setting a time interval determining said periodic basis; and
receiving within said printer said E-mail message for said printer upon determining that said E-mail message for said printer is stored within said mail server.
17. The method of claim 10 , additionally comprising:
generating said E-mail message within a computer system connected to said network in response to a user selection to print said document by E-mail, wherein said E-mail message is generated to include a header addressed to said printer and a textual data causing said attachment to be printed by said printer; and
placing said document as an attachment to said E-mail message, written in a file format recognized as printable by said printer.
18. A computer readable medium having recorded thereon computer executable instructions for performing a method for remotely printing a document, wherein said method comprises: a) receiving within a printer connected to a network an E-mail message including said document addressed to said printer; b) parsing a header portion of said E-mail message to determine whether portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to administrative settings derived from data stored within said data storage and to determine whether portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to user settings determined from keywords within said header portion of said E-mail message, determining whether an address of said printer is an only address within a “To” destination address line of said E-mail message: in response to determining that said address of said printer is an only address within said “To” destination address line of said E-mail message, determining that said portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said user settings, and in response to determining that said address of said printer is not an only address within said “To” destination address line of said E-mail message, determining that said portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said administrative settings, c) in response to determining that portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said administrative settings, causing said print engine to print said portions of said E-mail message according to said administrative settings, and d) in response to determining that portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said user settings, causing said print engine to print said portions of said E-mail message according to said user settings.
19. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein said user settings and said administrate settings each include:
a first printing control determining whether a body of said E-mail message is to be printed, and
a second printing control determining whether an attachment of said E-mail message is to be printed only if said attachment is written in a file format recognized by said printer, whether said attachment of said E-mail message is to be printed regardless of whether said attachment is written in a file format recognized by said printer, or whether said attachment is not to be printed.
20. The computer readable medium of claim 19 , wherein said first and second printing controls of said user settings are derived from key words in a subject line within said header of said E-mail message.
21. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein step a) is preceded by polling a mail server on a periodic basis to determine if an E-mail message is stored therein.
22. The computer readable medium of claim 19 , wherein said administrative settings include data determining whether portions of said E-mail message are printed.
23. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , additionally comprising:
polling said mail server on a periodic basis from said printer to determine if an E-mail message for said printer is stored within said mail server, wherein said administrative settings additionally include data setting a time interval determining said periodic basis; and
receiving within said printer said E-mail message for said printer upon determining that said E-mail message for said printer is stored within said mail server.