METHOD FOR PROCESSING PRINTING ORDERS IN SERVER-BASED NETWORKS, AND CORRESPONDING SERVER-BASED NETWORK

1 . A method for processing a print job in a server-based network comprising:

providing a printer driver with a printer-independent first part installed on a server and a printer-dependent second part installed on an end device;

at the server on the network, generating at least one print job by an application on the server;

processing the print job at the server using the printer-independent first part of the printer driver,

the printer-independent part of the printer driver generating the print job in a printer-independent print format;

transmitting the print job in printer-independent print format from the server to the end device connected to a target printer; and

at the end device, converting the print job to a printer device-specific print format using the printer-specific part of the printer driver corresponding to the target printer.

2 . The method of claim 1 , providing at least one of the features of:

the printer-independent print format is a printer-independent EMF format, and

the printer device-specific print format is a printer device-specific RAW format.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the printer-independent printer driver does not perform printer device-specific processing of the print job.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the print job is transmitted to the end device at least one of online, as a file, as a stream and offline.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the offline transmitting is in the form of an e-mail.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the end device is an e-mail or fax server, which generates an e-mail or fax from the converted print job file and transmits the converted print job file to an e-mailbox or fax device on the network, respectively.

7 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

saving the print job in printer-independent print format in compressed form at the server; and

transmitting the print job in printer-independent print format, formatted for document exchange to the end device, wherein the end device includes an application with a viewer for displaying the print job file.

8 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

transmitting the print job in printer-independent print format in compressed form.

9 . A server-based network comprising:

a server coupled to a plurality of end devices, wherein at least a first of the end devices is coupled to a local print device;

wherein the server includes a printer-independent first part of a printer driver comprising means for generating a print job in printer-independent print format, wherein the server comprises means for transmitting the print job in printer-independent print format to the end devices; and

wherein the first end device includes a printer-dependent second part of the printer driver comprising means for converting the print job into a printer device-specific print format using the printer-dependent second part of the printer driver corresponding to the local print device.

10 . The network of claim 9 , providing at least one of the features of:

the printer-independent print format is a printer-independent EMF format, and

the printer device-specific print format is a printer device-specific RAW format.

11 . The network of claim 9 , wherein the printer-independent printer driver does not perform printer device-specific processing on the print job.

12 . The network of claim 9 , wherein the server comprises means for transmitting the print job in printer-independent print format to the first end device at least one of online, as a file, as a stream and offline.

13 . The network of claim 31 , wherein the server comprises means for transmitting to the first end device, in parallel with the print job in printer-independent print format, a bitmap for display on the first end device and corresponding to a page of the print job.

14 . The network of claim 9 , wherein the first end device comprises means for transmitting display information to the server, and wherein the bitmap corresponds to display options and display format of the first end device.

15 . The network of claim 31 , wherein the server comprises means for storing the print job in printer-independent print format in compressed form; and

wherein the server comprises means for formatting the print job in printer-independent print format for document exchange and means for transmitting the document exchange formatted print job to the first end device, wherein the first end device includes an application with a viewer for displaying the print job file.

16 . A method for processing a print job in a server-based network, comprising:

providing a printer driver with a printer-independent first part installed on a first server and a printer-dependent second part installed on a second server,

at the first server on the network, generating at least one print job by an application on the first server;

processing the print job at the first server using the printer-independent first part of the printer driver;

the printer-independent part of the printer driver generating the print job in a printer-independent print format;

transmitting the print job in printer-independent print format from the first server to the second server connected to a client; and

at the second server, which is informed by the client of a target printer, converting the print job to a printer device-specific print format using the printer-specific part of the printer driver corresponding to the target printer.

17 . The method of claim 16 , providing at least one of the features of:

the printer-independent print format is a printer-independent EMF format, and

the printer device-specific print format is a printer device-specific RAW format.

18 . The method for processing print jobs in server-based networks according to claim 16 , wherein:

the first server is a network server or an application server, and

the second server is a print server, a fax server or a mail server.

19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the printer-independent first part of the printer driver does not perform printer device-specific processing of the print job.

20 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the print job is transmitted to the second server at least one of online, as a file, as a stream and offline.

21 . The method of claim 20 , wherein the offline transmitting is in the form of an e-mail.

22 . The method of claim 20 , wherein the second server is an e-mail or fax server, which generates an e-mail or fax from the converted print job file and transmits the converted print job file to an e-mailbox or fax device on the network, respectively.

23 . The method of claim 16 further comprising:

saving the print job in printer-independent print format in compressed form at the first server; and

transmitting the print job in printer-independent print format and formatted for document exchange via the second server to the client, wherein the client includes an application with a viewer for displaying the print job file.

24 . The method of claim 16 further comprising:

transmitting the print job in printer-independent print format in compressed form.

25 . A server-based network comprising:

a first server coupled to at least one second server, wherein the at least one second server is coupled to a plurality of end devices, and wherein at least a first of the end devices is coupled to a local print device;

wherein the first server includes a printer-independent first part of a printer driver comprising means for generating a print job in printer-independent print format, wherein the first server comprises means for transmitting the print job in printer-independent print format to at least one of the second servers; and

wherein the second server includes a printer-dependent second part of the printer driver comprising means for converting the print job into a printer device-specific print format using the printer-dependent second part of the printer driver corresponding to the local print device, after the second server has been informed by the first end device of the local print device.

26 . The network of claim 25 , providing at least one of the features of:

the printer-independent print format is a printer-independent EMF format, and

the printer device-specific print format is a printer device-specific RAW format.

27 . The system for processing print jobs in server-based networks according to claim 25 , wherein:

the first server is a network server or an application server, and

the second server is a print server, a fax server or a mail server.

28 . The network of claim 25 , wherein the printer-independent first part of the printer driver does not perform printer device-specific processing on the print job.

29 . The network of claim 25 , comprising at least one of:

the first server comprising means for transmitting the print job in printer-independent print format to the second server at least one of online, as a file, as a stream and offline, and

the second server comprising means for transmitting the print job in printer device-specific print format to the first end device at least one of online, as a file, as a stream and offline.

30 . The network of claim 25 , wherein the first server comprises means for transmitting to the second server, in parallel with the print job in printer-independent print format, a bitmap for display on the first end device and corresponding to a page of the print job.

31 . The network of claim 25 , wherein the second server or the first end device comprises means for transmitting display information to the first server, and wherein the bitmap corresponds to display options and display format of the first end device.

32 . The network of claim 25 , wherein the first server comprises means for storing the print job in printer-independent print format in compressed form; and

wherein the first server comprises means for formatting the print job in printer-independent print format for document exchange and means for transmitting the document exchange formatted print job via the second server to the first end device, wherein the first end device includes an application with a viewer for displaying the print job file.