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

1 . A method for wrapping data to an arbitrary path defined by a page description language, comprising the steps of:

(a) processing a page description language specification defining a static data area and at least one data wrapping boundary to generate a printable image representation of at least the static data area;

(b) associating a data block external to the page description language specification with the data wrapping boundary; and

(c) generating and flowing printable image representations of the data block according to the data wrapping boundary.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further including the step of:

(d) merging the printable image representation of the data block with the printable image representation of the static data area.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein steps (b) through (d) are repeated for multiple external data blocks.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the method further includes the step of caching the printable image representation of at least the static data area and step (d) includes a step of retrieving a copy of the printable image representation from the cache and merging the printable image representation of the data block with the copy of the printable image representation of the static data area.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:

associating a graphics state with the data wrapping boundary;

wherein step (c) includes the step of applying the graphics state to the data block during the generation of the printable image representation of the data block.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the graphics state is defined in the page description language specification.

7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the graphics state is defined in a file external to the page description language specification.

8 . A computer-implemented method for generating a document, comprising the steps of:

(a) accessing a data area defined in a template document representation;

(b) monitoring a text string defined in the data area for a first special character or first string of characters, the first character or first string of characters being indicative of a wrapping command;

(c) responsive to a detection of the special character or string of characters in the text string, identifying a boundary within the template document representation and having a predetermined relationship with the data area as being a data wrapping boundary;

(d) associating a block of data external to the template document representation with the data wrapping boundary; and

(e) generating a bitmap representation of the block of data according to the data wrapping boundary and according to a flow rule.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising the step of:

associating a graphics state with the data wrapping boundary, wherein the generating step (e) includes a step of applying the graphic state to the block of data.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein

the graphics state includes at least one printable attribute that controls the printable image representation of the data block.

11 . A method for wrapping data to an arbitrary path defined by a page description language, comprising the steps of:

(a) accessing a data area defined in a page description language specification, the specification further defining a graphics state corresponding to the data area, the graphics state including at least one print attribute which controls the appearance of data in the data area;

(b) monitoring a text string defined in the data area for a first special character or first string of characters, the first character or first string of characters being indicative of a wrapping command;

(c) responsive to a detection of the special character or string of characters in the text string, (i) identifying a path defined by the page description language specification and having a predetermined relationship with the data area as being associated with the wrapping command, the path having a boundary, and (ii) storing the graphics state corresponding to the data area in memory;

(d) associating a block of text with the wrapping command;

(e) applying the stored graphics state to the block of text to generate bitmap representations of the block of text; and

(f) arranging the bitmap representations of the block of text, according to the boundary and according to a predefined flow rule.

12 . A computer-implemented method for wrapping text to a path defined in a print specification, comprising the steps of:

(a) accessing a data area defined in a print specification;

(b) monitoring a text string defined in the data area for a first special character or first string of characters, the first character or first string of characters being indicative of a wrapping command;

(c) responsive to a detection of the special character or string of characters in the text string, identifying a path defined by the print specification and having a predetermined relationship with the data area as being a text-wrapping path associated with the wrapping command;

(d) associating a block of text with the text-wrapping path; and

(e) generating a bitmap representation of the block of text according to a pre-defined flow rule to be imposed on the text-wrapping path.

13 . A computer-implemented method for wrapping text to a path defined in a page description language, comprising the steps of:

(a) accessing a data area defined in a page description language specification;

(b) monitoring a text string defined in the data area for a first special character or first string of characters, the first character or first string of characters being indicative of a wrapping command;

(c) responsive to a detection of the special character or string of characters in the text string, identifying a path defined by the print specification and having a predetermined relationship with the data area as being a text boundary associated with the wrapping command;

(d) associating a coordinate system with the text boundary;

(e) associating a block of text with the text boundary; and

(f) generating a bitmap representation of the block of text according to the coordinate system and according to a flow rule.