Producing a set of operations from an output description

1. A method, including:

receiving a description of a desired result for a document to be assembled including content from a source document, wherein the description is associated with a metalanguage or a natural language, wherein the description specifies the content from the source document to be included the document to be assembled, and wherein the description at least in part specifies a layout of the content of the desired result;

determining an optimized set of operations using a processor such that executing the optimized set of operations would produce the desired result, wherein the optimized set of operations is determined to provide an optimized sequence of operations, including:

building a representation of the description of the desired result, wherein the representation provides a blueprint of the desired result;

building the blueprint for assembling the document to be assembled, wherein the blueprint specifies operations that enable application of shared properties on sub-assemblies, and wherein each segment is associated with one of the plurality of source documents and a context; and

associating each object in the representation with a segment of the desired result; and

providing the optimized set of operations as input to a plurality of applications to generate an assembled document including content from the source document;

wherein a plurality of applications are used to execute the set of operations, wherein the set of operations includes a first operation and a second operation, wherein a first operation that is associated with the first application is input to the first application for executing the first operation, and wherein the second operation that is associated with a second application is input to the second application for executing the second operation; and

wherein the desired result includes a composite document based on the description and the content from a plurality of source documents, wherein the content from a plurality of source documents includes content based on user selected source icons representing the plurality of source documents, and wherein a user selected order of the user selected source icons is used to determine an order of the source documents represented in the desired result.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of applications are capable of generating the desired result.

3. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the representation includes an in memory representation.

4. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the representation includes an object tree.

5. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the description specifies the content from a plurality of source documents included in the desired result, and wherein the desired result is a document that includes multiple chapters.

6. A method as recited in claim 1 , further including receiving source data.

7. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein an order of operations is associated with the optimized set of operations.

8. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the description is specified in a format associated with Extensible Markup Language (XML).

9. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of applications include an application capable of assembling a document.

10. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of applications include a document editing application.

11. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of applications include an encryption application.

12. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of applications include an image editing application.

13. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the desired result includes an image.

14. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein determining an optimized set of operations further includes modifying a sequence of operations and removing one or more unnecessary operations to optimize execution performance.

15. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the desired result includes the assembled document and the description specifies contents of the document in the order in which the contents should appear in the document.

16. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the description is automatically generated.

17. A computer program product, the computer program product being embodied in a computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:

receiving a description of a desired result for a document to be assembled including content from a source documents, wherein the description is associated with a metalanguage or a natural language, wherein the description specifies the content from the source document to be included the document to be assembled, and wherein the description at least in part specifies a layout of the content of the desired result;

determining an optimized set of operations such that executing the optimized set of operations would produce the desired result, wherein the optimized set of operations is determined to provide an optimized sequence of operations, including:

building a representation of the description of the desired result, wherein the representation provides a blueprint of the desired result

building the blueprint for assembling the document to be assembled, wherein the blueprint specifies operations that enable application of shared properties on sub-assemblies, and wherein each segment is associated with one of the plurality of source documents and a context; and

associating each object in the representation with a segment of the desired result; and

providing the optimized set of operations as input to a plurality of applications to generate an assembled document including content from the source document

wherein a plurality of applications are used to execute the set of operations, wherein the set of operations includes a first operation and a second operation, wherein a first operation that is associated with the first application is input to the first application for executing the first operation, and wherein the second operation that is associated with a second application is input to the second application for executing the second operation; and

wherein the desired result includes a composite document based on the description and the content from a plurality of source documents, wherein the content from a plurality of source documents includes content based on user selected source icons representing the plurality of source documents, and wherein a user selected order of the user selected source icons is used to determine an order of the source documents represented in the desired result.

18. A computer program product as recited in claim 17 , wherein the plurality of applications are capable of generating the desired result.

19. A computer program product as recited in claim 17 , wherein the plurality of applications include an application capable of assembling a document.

20. A system, including:

a processor; and

a memory coupled with the processor, wherein the memory is configured to provide the processor with instructions which when executed cause the processor to:

receive a description of a desired result for a document to be assembled including content from a source documents, wherein the description is associated with a metalanguage or a natural language, wherein the description specifies the content from the source document to be included the document to be assembled, and wherein the description at least in part specifies a layout of the content of the desired result,

determine an optimized set of operations such that executing the optimized set of operations would produce the desired result, wherein the optimized set of operations is determined to provide an optimized sequence of operations, including by:

building a representation of the description of the desired result, wherein the representation provides a blueprint of the desired result

building the blueprint for assembling the document to be assembled, wherein the blueprint specifies operations that enable application of shared properties on sub-assemblies, and wherein each segment is associated with one of the plurality of source documents and a context; and

associating each object in the representation with a segment of the desired result; and

provide the optimized set of operations as input to a plurality of applications to generate an assembled document including content from the source document

wherein the plurality of applications are used to execute the set of operations, wherein the set of operations includes a first operation and a second operation, wherein a first operation that is associated with the first application is input to the first application for executing the first operation, and wherein the second operation that is associated with a second application is input to the second application for executing the second operation; and

wherein the desired result includes a composite document based on the description and the content from a plurality of source documents, wherein the content from a plurality of source documents includes content based on user selected source icons representing the plurality of source documents, and wherein a user selected order of the user selected source icons is used to determine an order of the source documents represented in the desired result.

21. A system as recited in claim 20 , wherein the plurality of applications are capable of generating the desired result.

22. A system as recited in claim 20 , wherein the plurality of applications include an application capable of assembling a document.

23. A system as recited in claim 20 , wherein the plurality of applications include a document editing application and an image editing application.

24. A system as recited in claim 20 , wherein the desired result includes the assembled document and the description specifies contents of the document in the order in which the contents should appear in the document.

25. A computer program product as recited in claim 17 , wherein the plurality of applications include a document editing application and an image editing application.

26. A computer program product as recited in claim 17 , wherein the desired result includes the assembled document and the description specifies contents of the document in the order in which the contents should appear in the document.