Systems and methods for repositioning on user defined boundaries in a presentation data stream
View Patent ↗Systems and methods for repositioning processing of presentation data stream by a presentation device from user defined boundaries. A user may define customizable boundaries, such as mail-piece boundaries when printing mail, chapters when printing books, as well as additional boundaries that logically group or divide a data stream. The user defined boundaries are inserted into the presentation data stream. The operator does not need to guess or go through trial and error processes to determine the reposition point of the data stream. Rather, features and aspects herein allow repositioning of processing of the data stream to occur from user defined boundaries that result in the data stream reposition occurring at uniform restarting points of the data stream. This allow existing repositioning capabilities such as those provided by z/OS ‘backspace’ and ‘forward space’ commands to always land on a mail piece or other appropriate boundary.
1. A method for processing a data stream, the method comprising:
receiving a data stream comprising user-created boundaries that are each defined in an Advance Function Presentation (AFP) Begin Named Group (BNG) structured field, wherein each boundary is a non-printing portion of the data stream that does not alter presentation data for the data stream;
receiving input that selects one of the user-created boundaries in the data stream; repositioning the data stream for a presentation device to start processing from the selected user-created boundary; and
presenting the data stream on the presentation device starting from the selected user-created boundary, wherein the repositioning step further comprises:
receiving a page-level repositioning command, wherein the page-level repositioning command identifies a page at which to reposition the data stream; and repositioning the data stream for the presentation device starting from a user created boundary adjacent to the page identified by the page-level repositioning command.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the presentation device comprises a printer and the presenting step further comprises:
printing the data stream on a printable medium starting from the selected user-created boundary.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the presentation device comprises a printer and the repositioning step further comprises:
repositioning the data stream through operation of the printer.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the presentation device comprises a printer and the repositioning step further comprises:
repositioning the data stream through operation of a print server coupled to the printer.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the data stream comprises a plurality of objects and the repositioning step further comprises:
receiving user input specifying a number of objects to skip in the data stream, wherein the number of objects defines a resumption point of processing of the data stream by the presentation device; and
repositioning the data stream for the presentation device starting at the resumption point.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the repositioning step further comprises:
receiving a selected page-level repositioning command, wherein the page-level repositioning command identifies a page at which to reposition the data stream;
determining whether the identified page is an appropriate resumption point for starting processing of the data stream by comparing the identified page to adjacent user-created boundaries in the data stream; and
repositioning the data stream for the presentation device starting at an adjacent user-created boundary if the identified page is not an appropriate resumption point.
7. A method for processing a data stream, the method comprising:
receiving a data stream comprising user-created boundaries that are each defined in an Advance Function Presentation (AFP) Begin Named Group (BNG) structured field, wherein each boundary is a non-printing portion of the data stream that does not alter presentation data for the data stream;
receiving input that selects one of the user-created boundaries in the data stream; repositioning the data stream for a presentation device to start processing from the selected user-created boundary;
presenting the data stream on the presentation device starting from the selected user-created boundary;
receiving user input defining a search criterion for an object in the data stream;
locating a boundary for the object matching the search criterion; and
repositioning the data stream for the presentation device starting from the boundary for the object.
8. A system for presenting a data stream, the system comprising:
an interface adapted to receive a data stream comprising user-created boundaries that are each defined in an Advance Function Presentation (AFP) Begin Named Group (BNG) structured field, wherein each boundary is a non-printing portion of the data stream that does not alter presentation data for the data stream;
a controller adapted to receive input selecting one of the user-created boundary in the data stream, and to reposition the data stream starting at the selected user-created boundary; and
a presentation device for presenting the data stream starting from the selected user-created boundary,
wherein the controller is further adapted to receive a page-level repositioning command, wherein the page-level repositioning command identifies a page at which to reposition the data stream, and the controller is further adapted to reposition the data stream for the presentation device starting from the user-created boundary adjacent to the page identified by the page-level repositioning command.
9. The system of claim 8 wherein the presentation device comprises a printer adapted to print the data stream on a printable medium starting from the selected user-created boundary.
10. The system of claim 8 wherein the presentation device comprises a printer adapted to print the data stream on a printable medium starting from the selected user-created boundary, and the controller comprises a printer controller of the printer.
11. The system of claim 8 wherein the presentation device comprises a printer and the controller comprises a print server coupled to the printer.
12. The system of claim 8 wherein the data stream comprises a plurality of objects, and the controller is further adapted to receive user input specifying a number of objects to skip in the data stream, wherein the number of objects defines a resumption point of presentation of the data stream by the presentation device, and the controller is further adapted to reposition the data stream for the presentation device starting from the resumption point.
13. The system of claim 8 wherein the controller is further adapted to receive a page-level repositioning command, wherein the page-level repositioning command identifies a page at which to reposition the data stream, and the controller is further adapted to determine whether the identified page is an appropriate resumption point for presentation of the data stream by comparing the identified page to adjacent user-created boundaries in the data stream, and further adapted to reposition the data stream for the presentation device starting at an adjacent user-created boundary if the identified page is not an appropriate resumption point.
14. A system for presenting a data stream, the system comprising:
an interface adapted to receive a data stream comprising user-created boundaries that are each defined in an Advance Function Presentation (AFP) Begin Named Group (BNG) structured field, wherein each boundary is a non-printing portion of the data stream that does not alter presentation data for the data stream;
a controller adapted to receive input selecting one of the user-created boundary in the data stream, and to reposition the data stream starting at the selected user-created boundary; and
a presentation device for presenting the data stream starting from the selected user-created boundary,
wherein the data stream comprises a plurality of objects, and the controller is further adapted to receive user input defining a search criterion for an object in the data stream and locate a boundary for the object matching the search criterion, and the controller is further adapted to reposition the data stream for the presentation device starting from the boundary which includes the criterion.