Hewlett-packard Company

Stephen T Gase

Craig R White

In a computer network system, data packets are transmitted to a designated network port. A port sharing protocol enables multiple applications to listen to the same port. Each interested application attempts to bind to the port. The first application to successfully bind to the port is deemed the &ldquo;primary&rdquo; application, and all remaining applications are deemed &ldquo;secondary&rdquo; applications. The secondary applications register themselves with the primary application by submitting their IP addresses and a port number of the port. The primary application adds the secondary applications to a distribution list. The primary application listens for incoming packets delivered over the port. When a packet is received, the primary application sends a copy of the packet to each secondary application on the distribution list. The primary and secondary applications are then free to consume the packets for their own purposes. As a result, multiple applications are able to receive the same data packets received over one port.

System and method for sharing a network port among multiple applications

The method of the invention enables remote control of a print queue in a network printer which receives print jobs over the Internet from plural client processors. The network printer includes a server procedure which enables transfer of files from the network printer over the network and a browser procedure which enables retrieval of files from client processors over the network. The method includes the steps of: establishing a queue of received print job identifiers; employing the server procedure to provide a first file to a client processor to enable the client processor to transmit a status request concerning the print queue; receiving a message including the status request and transmitting, in response, a second file with queue data to the client processor, the second file further including queue alteration choices; receiving a response message from the client processor with at least one queue alteration value; and altering the queue accordingly. The method further includes the step of responding to a received URL from a scanner, by employing the browser procedure to retrieve a text file identified by the URL.

Network printer with remote print queue control procedure

A network includes plural client processors, a file server and plural printers. Each client processor has memory that stores a printer driver procedure which enables the client processor to interface with at least one printer type. The file server includes memory for storing a most updated printer driver procedure for each printer type coupled to the file server. The file server is responsive to a print request from a client processor to assign a printer to the requesting client processor. The file server then in combination with the client processor determines if a printer driver procedure for the assigned printer in the client processor is identical to a most updated printer driver procedure stored in memory in the file server. If not, the file server enables alteration of the printer driver procedure in the client processor to bring it into coincidence with the most updated print driver procedure. A printer utility is also installed in each client processor and provides the means for automatically determining network status and for indicating to the user whether the network is available or unavailable, and a message indicating the reason for the unavailability.

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Boise, ID, United States of America

Stephen T Gase