System and method employing script-based device drivers
First Claim
1. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable components for controlling a hardware device of a computer system, comprising:
- a scripting driver for interacting with, through a device driver interface, an application running on the computer system; and
a script engine for executing a driver script for the hardware device, the driver script containing a plurality of programming instructions defining behavior of the hardware device, the programming instructions calling functions of system-provided objects for communicating with and controlling the hardware device, the scripting driver programmed for receiving, through the device driver interface, a request from the application for a requested operation by the hardware device, and invoking the script engine to execute the driver script, the script engine interpreting the programming instructions in the driver script and invoking functions of the system-provided objects called by the programming instructions to carry out the requested operation.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
A computer system and method uses script-based device drivers for operating hardware devices. The script-based driver architecture comprises a scripting driver, a script engine, and a driver script for a given hardware device, such as a scanner. The driver script is generally a text file containing a sequence of programming instructions defining the operational behavior of the hardware device. The scripting driver exports a set of objects whose functions can be called by the driver script to communicate with and control the device. When a request to operate the hardware device is received by the scripting driver, the script engine interprets the programming instructions in the driver script corresponding to the request and invokes the functions of the scripting driver objects called by the programming instructions to carry out the requested device operation.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable components for controlling a hardware device of a computer system, comprising:
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a scripting driver for interacting with, through a device driver interface, an application running on the computer system; and
a script engine for executing a driver script for the hardware device, the driver script containing a plurality of programming instructions defining behavior of the hardware device, the programming instructions calling functions of system-provided objects for communicating with and controlling the hardware device, the scripting driver programmed for receiving, through the device driver interface, a request from the application for a requested operation by the hardware device, and invoking the script engine to execute the driver script, the script engine interpreting the programming instructions in the driver script and invoking functions of the system-provided objects called by the programming instructions to carry out the requested operation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of controlling a hardware device connected to a computer system to perform operations in response to requests by an application running on the computer system, comprising:
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providing a driver script for the hardware device, the driver script containing a plurality of programming instructions defining operational behavior of the hardware device, the programming instructions calling functions of system-provided objects for communicating with and controlling the hardware device;
receiving, by a scripting driver, a request from the application for a requested operation by the hardware device;
invoking, by the scripting driver, a script engine to execute the driver script to perform the requested operation;
interpreting, by the script engine, programming instructions in the driver script pertaining to the requested operation; and
invoking, by the script engine, functions of the system-provided objects called by the programming instructions in the driver script pertaining to the requested operation to perform the requested operation. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer readable medium having computer-readable instructions for performing steps to control a hardware device connected to a computer system to perform operations in response to requests by an application running on the computer system, comprising:
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receiving a request from the application to perform a requested operation by the hardware device;
accessing a driver script for the hardware device, the driver script containing a plurality of programming instructions defining operational behavior of the hardware device, the programming instructions calling functions of system-provided objects for communicating with and controlling the hardware device;
interpreting programming instructions in the driver script pertaining to the requested operation; and
invoking functions of the system-provided objects called by the programming instructions in the driver script pertaining to the requested operation to perform the requested operation. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18)
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15. A computer system comprising:
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a hardware device; and
an operating system having a scripting driver, a scripting engine, and a driver script for the hardware device, the driver script containing a plurality of programming instructions defining operational behavior of the hardware device, the programming instructions calling functions of system-provided objects for communicating with and controlling the hardware device, the scripting driver programmed for receiving a request for a requested operation by the hardware device, and invoking the script engine to execute the driver script, the script engine programmed for interpreting the programming instructions in the driver script and invoking functions of the system-provided objects called by the programming instructions to carry out the requested operation.
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Specification