Methods and systems for defining preflight profile rules

• US 8,484,557 B1
• Filed: 07/29/2008
• Issued: 07/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adobe Inc.
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: Cheng, Susan
• Primary Examiner(s): SYED, FARHAN M
• Application Number:
  US12/181,641
• Time in Patent Office: 1,806 Days
• US Class Current: 715/249
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1204 resulting in reduced user or operator actions, e.g. presetting, automatic actions, using hardware token storing data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1208 resulting in improved quality of the output result, e.g. print layout, colours, workflows, print preview
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1255 Settings incompatibility, e.g. constraints, user requirements vs. device capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1256 User feedback, e.g. print preview, test print, proofing, pre-flight checks

Abstract

A method includes defining preflight parameters for preflight rules using relationship information. A preflight rule may be associated with an attribute table which may include information about associated preflight parameters. The preflight parameters may be defined via an interface that enables a user to specify data type and parameter relationship information.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of defining preflight rules for preflight profiles, the method comprising:

defining a first parameter and a second parameter to be included in a preflight rule, the defining of the first parameter and the second parameter including defining a data type for each of the first parameter and the second parameter, the data type representing a format of the first or the second parameter;

creating a control interface based on at least one of the defined data types representing the format of the first or second parameter;

defining relationship information between the first parameter and the second parameter in the preflight rule, the relationship information placing constraints on parameter values for the first parameter and the second parameter in the preflight rule to maintain consistency between the first parameter and second parameter, the relationship information suitable for use by at least one handler to check for the consistency in the parameter values for the first parameter and the second parameter in the preflight rule;

storing the relationship information to a relationship table that is accessible by the at least one handler to check for the consistency in the parameter values for the first parameter and the second parameter in the preflight rule;

creating attribute information for the preflight rule, the attribute information comprising a summary of the first parameter and the second parameter; and

storing the attribute information for the preflight rule in an attribute table uniquely associated with the preflight rule.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the data type include a selection from one of a numeric data type, a character string data type, and a Boolean data type.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first parameter and the second parameter are defined using at least one created control interface.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the control interface includes at least one of a radio button, a check box, an input box, or a pull down list.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising creating a handler for the control interface.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the handler is to implement and manage interactions related to the control interface associated with the first parameter or the second parameter.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

enabling a value associated with the first parameter or the second parameter to be modified when the value is inconsistent with the relationship information between the first parameter and the second parameter.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein each data type is managed by a different handler.

8. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions that, when executed by processor, cause a machine to perform operations including:

creating and storing a first set of attribute information associated with a first preflight rule in an attribute table uniquely associated with the first preflight rule, the first set comprising a summary of at least a first parameter, a second parameter, and a data type of the first parameter and a data type of the second parameter, the data type of the first parameter and data type of the second parameter representing a format of the first parameter and a format of the second parameter;

defining relationship information between the first parameter and the second parameter in the preflight rule, the relationship information placing constraints on parameter values for the first parameter and the second parameter in the preflight rule to maintain consistency between the first parameter and second parameter in the preflight rule, the relationship information stored to a relationship table that is suitable for use by at least one handler to check for consistency between the parameter values for the first parameter and the second parameter in the preflight rule; and

responsive to receiving a request to modify the first preflight rule;

creating a control interface based on at least one of the defined data types representing the format of the first or the second parameter;

presenting the first parameter or the second parameter using the control interface;

receiving updated information related to at least one of the first parameter or the second parameter;

storing the updated information in the attribute table uniquely associated with the first preflight rule, the updated information including at least one of a parameter or a parameter value; and

generating an updated first set of attribute information using the received updated information.

9. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8, wherein each of the first parameter or the second parameter is defined based on a data type and a control interface.

10. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the first parameter and the second parameter are available to be included in a second preflight rule, and wherein the second preflight rule is associated with a second set of attribute information stored in a second attribute table.

11. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein said generating of the updated first set of attribute information does not affect the second set of attribute information.

12. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

defining a first parameter and a second parameter to be included in a preflight rule, the defining of the first parameter and the second parameter including defining a data type for each of the first parameter and the second parameter, the data type representing a format of the first or the second parameter;

creating a control interface based on at least one of the defined data types representing the format of the first or the second parameter;

receiving parameter values using the control interface;

creating and storing attribute information associated with the preflight rule into an attribute table uniquely associated with the preflight rule, the attribute information including a summary of the first parameter, the second parameter, and their corresponding data types and values;

defining relationship information between the first parameter and the second parameter in the preflight rule, the relationship information suitable for use by at least one handler to check for the consistency between parameter values of the first parameter and the second parameter in the preflight rule; and

responsive to receiving a request to view the preflight rule, retrieving the attribute information stored in the attribute table to present the first parameter and the second parameter.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein said request to view the preflight rule includes a request to modify the preflight rule.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the first parameter and the second parameter are defined using a dictionary-based approach.

15. A system, comprising:

means for defining preflight parameters based on data types representing respective formats of the preflight parameters;

means for creating a control interface for the preflight parameters based on at least one of the defined data types representing the respective formats of the preflight parameters;

means for defining relationship information among the preflight parameters, the relationship information placing constraints on parameter values for the preflight parameters in the preflight rule to maintain consistency between the preflight parameters, the relationship information being used by at least one handler to check for the consistency;

means for storing the relationship information to a relationship table that is accessible by the at least one handler to check for the consistency between parameter values of the first parameter and the second parameter in the preflight rule;

means for generating, using at least one processor, attribute information summarizing the preflight parameters, the data types, and parameter values associated with the preflight parameters; and

means for storing the attribute information for the preflight parameters in an attribute table uniquely associated with the preflight parameters from among a plurality of attribute tables.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein said means for defining the preflight parameters comprises means for defining the control interface associated with the data types.

17. The system of claim 15, further comprising means for managing interactions related to the control interface.

18. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

means for presenting the preflight parameters;

means for receiving updated preflight parameters; and

means for updating the attribute information based on said updated preflight parameters.