Method and system for flowing data to an arbitrary path defined by a page description language
A method for flowing data, such as text data, into an arbitrary path defined by a page description language specification (“PDL specification”) generally comprises the steps of: identifying a path defined in the PDL specification as a datawrapping path; associating a data block with the data-wrapping path; and generating a bitmap representation of the data block according to the path boundary and according to a predefined flow rule. Preferably, the identifying step includes the steps of associating a graphics state with the path and storing the graphics state in memory, and the generating step includes the step of applying the stored graphics state to the data block. Therefore, the generating step can be repeated for multiple data blocks to generate multiple bit map representations. The text wrapping path is preferably identified in the PDL specification by an attribute string associated with the path. Therefore, when the wrapping path is identified, the graphic states of the attribute string are saved in memory and are then subsequently applied to the data blocks when the bitmap representations of the data blocks are generated.
1. A computer implemented method for wrapping text to a path defined in a print specification, comprising the steps of:
identifying a path defined in a print specification as a text-wrapping path;
associating a block of text with the text-wrapping path; and
generating a bitmap representation of the block of text according to a pre-defined flow rule to be imposed on the text-wrapping path.
2. A computer implemented method for wrapping text to a path defined in a page description language, comprising the steps of:
identifying a path defined by a page description language as a text boundary;
associating a coordinate system with the text boundary;
associating a block of text with the text boundary; and
generating a bitmap representation of the block of text according to the coordinate system and according to a flow rule.
3. The computer implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the generating step includes characterizing at least a subset of the block of text by spatial requirements of the text boundary.
4. A computer implemented method for wrapping data to a path defined in a page description language, comprising the steps of:
identifying a variable data wrapping path within a page description language;
calculating a boundary for the variable data wrapping path using interconnected straight-line definitions overlaying the variable data wrapping path;
merging a compilation of data with the variable data wrapping path;
applying a coordinate system to the boundary; and
generating a bitmap representation of the data external to the page description language according to the boundary and the coordinate system.
5. The computer implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the coordinate system comprises at least a two dimensional coordinate system for surveying and plotting the compilation of data within the boundary.
6. The computer implemented method of claim 4 , further comprising the step of merging the bitmap representation of the data with a template bitmap representation defined by the page description language.
7. A computer implemented method for generating a document, comprising the steps of:
identifying a boundary within a representation of a template document as a data wrapping boundary;
associating a block of data external to the template document representation with the data wrapping boundary; and
generating a bitmap representation of the block of data according to the data wrapping boundary and according to a flow rule.
8. The computer implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the block of data is taken from an external merge file containing a plurality of such blocks of data and the generating step is repeated for each of the blocks of data in the merge file.
9. The computer implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the blocks of data are blocks of text data.
10. The computer implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the generating step further includes the step of applying a graphical attribute associated with the boundary to the block of data.
11. The computer implemented method of claim 10 , wherein the graphical attribute includes a font.
12. The computer implemented method of claim 7 , further comprising the step of printing a bitmap representation of the template document merged with the bitmap representation of the block of data.
13. The computer implemented method of claim 12 , wherein the block of data is taken from an external merge file containing a plurality of such blocks of data and the generating and printing steps are repeated for each of the blocks of data in the merge file.