The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 25, 2003
Filed:
Apr. 26, 1999
Elliot Lee Klosterman, Boise, ID (US);
John P. Daly, Eagle, ID (US);
Philip C. Verghese, Boise, ID (US);
Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
Printer driver architectures and methods of providing adaptable printer driver architectures are described. In one embodiment, a printer driver architecture includes a kernel which is configured to implement printer driver functionalities. At least one interface is provided into the kernel which is configured to permit addition and incorporation of at least one operation-specific functionality, which is not specifically provided by the kernel's printer driver functionalities. In another embodiment, a kernel is defined and configured to implement printer driver functionalities. A plurality of interfaces are defined in the kernel and are configured to permit addition and incorporation of various operation-specific functionalities which are not specifically provided by the kernel's printer driver functionalities. At least one operation-specific functionality is interfaced through at least one of the defined interfaces in the kernel to provide a printer driver functionality that the kernel would not otherwise have. In yet another embodiment, an abstract base class is defined which pertains to at least one operation-specific functionality of a printer driver. The abstract base class is used to define an abstract interface. The abstract interface is defined for a hierarchy of classes pertaining to the at least one operation-specific functionality. The abstract base class is capable of implementing at least some, but not all of the interface it defines. At least one class is derived from the base class which implements all unimplemented portions of the abstract interface.