Printing of electronic documents
First Claim
1. A method of obtaining printed instances of a document, the method comprising:
- distributing copies of electronic document data to document processors via a non-transitory medium, the electronic document data containing printing instructions for printing each instance from a respective one of the document processors;
including a definition of a user data input field in the electronic document data, for receiving a user defined string of characters entered in said field;
including an embedded control program with processing instructions embedded in the electronic document data, the embedded control program with processing instructions being linked to the user data input field, the embedded control program with processing instructions being distributed in the copies of the electronic document data, the embedded control program with processing instructions comprising;
instructions instructing a processor to receive the user defined string of characters from the user data input field, instructions to control processing by the processor of the user defined string, instructions to derive a series of codewords from the characters in the user defined string from the linked user data input field, the embedded control program with processing instructions using the derived codewords to instruct the processor to generate commands to print geometrical elements of a bar code, the geometrical elements representing each codeword as a respective configuration of printed geometrical elements and their background in a respective area of the bar code.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic document is distributed for use as a form wherein users can fill in characters in selected fields. The electronic document contains an embedded program for printing a bar code that represents the characters entered in the fields. The embedded program generates commands for making a printer print basic geometrical elements (such as polygons) that form configurations that represent the characters (or compactions of characters etc.). Thus on one hand bar codes can be generated in the distributed document after the user has entered data and on the other hand the author of the document retains full control over how the entered characters will be converted into a bar code. Preferably, the embedded program has the capability to adapt the configuration of geometrical elements that is used to represent the characters dependent on factors other than the data values that can be decoded from the bar code.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method of obtaining printed instances of a document, the method comprising:
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distributing copies of electronic document data to document processors via a non-transitory medium, the electronic document data containing printing instructions for printing each instance from a respective one of the document processors; including a definition of a user data input field in the electronic document data, for receiving a user defined string of characters entered in said field; including an embedded control program with processing instructions embedded in the electronic document data, the embedded control program with processing instructions being linked to the user data input field, the embedded control program with processing instructions being distributed in the copies of the electronic document data, the embedded control program with processing instructions comprising; instructions instructing a processor to receive the user defined string of characters from the user data input field, instructions to control processing by the processor of the user defined string, instructions to derive a series of codewords from the characters in the user defined string from the linked user data input field, the embedded control program with processing instructions using the derived codewords to instruct the processor to generate commands to print geometrical elements of a bar code, the geometrical elements representing each codeword as a respective configuration of printed geometrical elements and their background in a respective area of the bar code. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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- 9. A electronic document processor, comprising a user data input device and a connection for a printer, the electronic document processor having a non-transitory loaded electronic form that contains a definition of a user data entry field for receiving a string of input characters from a user, the processor being arranged to extract and execute an embedded control program with instructions that the processor receives embedded in the document, the embedded control program being linked to the user data input field, instructions of the embedded control program instructing the processor to process a series of codewords from the string and to generate commands to print geometrical elements of a bar code in electronic document data, dependent on the derived codewords, the instructions causing the processor to represent as a configuration of printed geometrical elements and their background in a respective area of the bar code.
- 17. A non-transitory electronic form stored on a computer that contains a definition of a user data entry field for receiving a string of input characters from a user and an embedded control program with instructions embedded in the electronic form and linked to the user data input field, wherein the embedded control program with instructions is configured to instruct the computer to process a series of codewords from the characters in the string and generate commands to print geometrical elements of a bar code in electronic document data, dependent on the codewords, representing each codeword as a configuration of printed geometrical elements and their background in a respective area of the bar code.
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26. A method of authoring a non-transitory electronic document, the method comprising:
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including a definition of a field for entering a string of characters in the document; providing software building blocks for building a control program with instructions embedded in the electronic document, the embedded control program with instructions being configured to cause a processor to receive and control processing of the string of characters from said field to transform the characters into commands to print geometrical elements of a bar code in electronic document data, so that the generated bar code is decodable according to a predetermined standard; assembling the building blocks into the electronic document during authoring of the document, while adapting the embedded control program with instructions to make a visual aspect of the bar codes generated under control of the embedded control program with instructions specific to the document and/or the field, without affecting a result of decoding the bar code; distributing copies of the electronic document with the embedded control program with instructions for receiving and processing the string of characters under control of the embedded control program after distribution.
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27. A document authoring machine, for generating a non-transitory electronic document that includes a user input field for entering a string of characters and an embedded control program with instructions embedded in the electronic document and linked to the user input field, wherein the embedded control program with instructions is configured to cause a processor to receive and process the string of characters and to generate commands to print geometrical elements of a bar code, the machine comprising software building blocks for building the embedded control program with instructions so that the generated bar code is decodable according to a predetermined standard, and an editor for assembling the building blocks when the document is authored, the editor providing for adaption of the embedded control program with instructions to make a visual aspect of the bar codes generated under control of the embedded control program with instructions specific to the document and/or the user input field, without affecting a result of decoding the bar code.
Specification