System and method for efficient production of dynamic documents
A production system and method for producing a VIPDL output stream from a dynamic document and a recipients list including a data iterator for iterating through the recipients list one record at a time and computing values for each dynamic object in the dynamic document for the record, a document instantiator for creating an instance document for the record, an output generator operating in tandem with the document instantiator for generating code specifying the rendering of the document instance, and a merge component for generating the VIPDL output stream from output of the output generator.
1. A production system for producing a VIPDL output stream from a dynamic document and a recipients list comprising:
a data iterator for iterating through said recipients list one record at a time and computing values for each dynamic object in said dynamic document for said record;
a document instantiator for creating an instance document for said record;
an output generator operating in tandem with said document instantiator for generating code specifying the rendering of said document instance; and
a merge component for generating said VIPDL output stream from output of said output generator.
2. A production system according to claim 1 , wherein said VIPDL output stream is defined in an object-oriented (rendering) specification language.
3. A production system according to claim 2 , wherein said object-oriented specification language is VPS.
4. A production system according to claim 2 , wherein said object-oriented specification language is PPML.
5. A production system according to claim 1 , wherein said VIPDL output stream is defined in HTML.
6. A production system according to claim 1 , and also comprising a content objects buffer for allowing said data iterator and said document instantiator to operate in a producer consumer manner.
7. A production system according to claim 1 , wherein said merge component comprises:
a definitions dictionary comprising reusable object names and their definitions;
a booklets section comprising layout information for pages of dynamic document instances; and
a merge processor for generating said VIPDL output stream from contents of said definitions dictionary and said booklets section.
8. A production system for producing a VIPDL output stream from a dynamic document and a recipients list comprising:
a parts generator for breaking said recipients list into a plurality of parts;
a plurality of pipelines for parallel processing of said recipients list;
a plurality of definitions dictionaries for receiving reusable object definitions from said plurality of pipelines;
a plurality of booklets sections for receiving layout information from said plurality of pipelines; and
a merge processor for generating said VIPDL output stream from contents of said plurality of definitions dictionary and said plurality of booklets section.