Abstract:
In a network printing environment having a host computer and a plurality of printers, printer settings from the website of one printer are used to create a text file held in the host computer. The host computer adds a heading to the text file, and sends the text file as a print job to the IP address of a target printer. Software in the target printer recognizes the heading and then draws the data from the text file to populate the settings of the target printer.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0001]     The present application relates to digital printing over a network.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     With the increasing sophistication of office equipment, such as digital copiers, printers, facsimiles and scanners, as well as printers which combine many of these functions, individual machines (hereinafter described generically as “printers”) become more and more software intensive. Much of the functionality associated with a particular printer dwells in the software of the printer, and particular functionalities of a printer can be set, and thus made to cooperate with a larger network, by providing selected values for what can be called the “settings” of the printer. Examples of “printer settings” currently used in practical applications include values relating to connectivity, e-mail, authentication, and others which will be discussed below.  
         [0003]     A system administrator responsible for a large population of printers would like to establish the desired settings for various of the machines in an efficient manner. Typically, each printer on a network has associated therewith its own IP address and webpage, and the settings for the printer can be viewed and altered through the webpage. To manage a large number of printers in this way would require the administrator to access each webpage and manually check and change the settings on each page.  
         [0004]     The present disclosure relates to a way of managing printer settings for a large number of printers.  
       PRIOR ART  
       [0005]     U.S. Pat. No. 6,124,938 discloses sending software upgrade to a printer through a standard printer port.  
         [0006]     U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,260 provides a software method to maintain efficient/consistent control of available driver settings in a network printing context.  
         [0007]     US Published Patent Application 2002-0196451 discloses a system whereby configuration settings are noted from a template printer and then applied to a target printer.  
         [0008]     US Published Patent Application 2003-0233428 describes the ability for a client printer (PC) to auto update its printer printer settings, so that it can still print to the printer, in the event of changes, like installation of a new print server.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0009]     According to one aspect, there is provided a method of operating a digital printing system, comprising: providing a set of printer settings in a file; appending to the file a header; sending the file to a target printer as a print job; and the target printer populating a control system thereof with the settings.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]      FIG. 1  is a diagram showing a set of digital printers, along with a host computer, on a network.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is a flow-chart showing a method by which software resident on a host computer obtains settings from source printer and clones those settings to apply them to a target printer. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0012]      FIG. 1  is a diagram showing a set of digital printers, along with a host computer, connected on a network, as generally familiar in the prior art. Each printer can be a stand-alone printer, or a multifunction device with digital printer capabilities, including, in this embodiment, a website associated with the specific printer, through which data associated with the printer can be accessed. Of the printers shown, printer  10  can be considered a “source printer,” while printers  12  and  14  can be called “target printers,” as will be explained below. Also on the network is what is here called a “host computer”  20 , which can a computer of any type operated, in a practical application, by a system administrator (SA). The host computer  20  communicates with the printers through familiar network protocols. The illustrated host computer  20  and printers can of course represent a small portion of a world-wide network of equipment.  
         [0013]     In the following discussion, the source printer  10  is used to provide certain data known in the digital printing art as the “printer settings,” which are required to be established for the operation of either or both of the target printers  12  and  14 . First, source printer  10  is accessed via host computer  20  to determine certain printer settings thereof; this can be done through known means, typically by accessing the website resident on the controller of source printer  10 . In a current practical implementation, among the values associated with “settings” are:  
                                   Group   Component                   Connectivity Settings   1.1.1 Physical Connections           1.1.2 AppleTalk           1.1.3 NetWare           1.1.4 TCP/IP           1.1.5 SLP           1.1.6 SSDP           1.1.7 Microsoft Networking           1.1.8 LPR/LPD           1.1.9 RAW TCP/IP           1.1.10 HTTP           1.2.1 Scanning Repository Setup       Scan Settings   1.2.2 Default Repository Settings       (Optional Feature: Scan to File)   1.2.2 Alternate 1 Repository Settings           1.2.2 Alternate 2 Repository Settings           1.2.2 Alternate 3 Repository Settings           1.2.2 Alternate 4 Repository Settings           1.2.3 Template Pool       Printer Upgrade   1.3 Auto Upgrade Settings       Email   1.4 SMTP       (Optional Feature: Scan to Email)   1.5 Email Settings           1.6 LDAP Directory Settings       Authentication   1.7 Authentication Type       (Optional Feature: Scan to File,   1.7.1 SMB Authentication       Scan to Email, Ifax, or LAN   1.7.2 NDS Authentication       (Server) Fax)   1.7.3 Kerberos       Administration   1.8.1 Email Alerts           1.4 SMTP           1.8.2 SNMP       IFAX   1.9.1 POP3 Settings       (Optional Feature: IFax)   1.4 SMTP Settings           1.6 LDAP Directory Settings           1.9.2 IFax Settings       Fax   1.10.1 Fax Repository Settings       (Optional Feature:   1.10.2 Fax Setup       LAN (Server) Fax)       Job Management and Printer Setup   1.11.1 Job Management       Templates   N/A       (Optional Feature: Scan to File)                  
 
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is a flow-chart showing a method by which software (typically, but not necessarily) resident on a host computer  20  obtains settings from source printer  10  and clones those settings to apply them to a target printer such as  12 . First, a web browser on host computer  20  accesses a web page resident on source printer  10  (step  200 ). Through tools known in the art, the settings are in effect read from the web page of source printer  10  and copied onto a text file within host computer  20  (step  202 ). The text file is typically simple ASCII file which can be manifest as, for example a text document which is retained on the host computer just like any document, such as within a folder or on the virtual desktop. The text file bearing the settings further includes a “header,” a special code (which can have encryption aspects) which identifies other data in the text file as being associated with certain printer settings. The header is, in one possible embodiment, in DLM format; DLM headers can be processed using any kind of common print-submission tools, including tools which can send a single print file to multiple printers effectively simultaneously. To clone the settings of source printer  10  onto target printer  12 , the text file is simply sent to the IP address of the target printer  20 , exactly in the manner of any print job (step  204 ).  
         [0015]     The following steps are carried out by the target printer  12 , which has been pre-programmed with code that is sensitive to detect certain codes in the header of the incoming text file. When the text file is received at the IP address of the printer  12  (step  206 ), software at the printer is situated to detect whether the incoming print job is, in fact, a file for changing the settings, by checking a first predetermined number of characters in the text file to see if they are a suitable header (step  208 ). If no header code is found, the incoming file is treated as a conventional print job (step  210 ). If code for the header is found, however, subsequent code in the file is routed within printer  12  to populate the settings (step  212 ), using known tools. Techniques to make the printer port of target printer  12  sensitive to predetermined data strings in the header, as well as making a software pathway for the values in the file to set settings in the target printer, are generally known.  
         [0016]     The header placed in the text file may include a digital signature, which can be detected and understood by software at the printer. The digital signature is useful to prevent unauthorized changing of the printer settings.  
         [0017]     By causing the printer settings from the source printer  10  to form a text file which can be submitted as a print job, the process of setting printer settings for each of a large number of printers can be automated by the adaptation of known tools. For example, in order to provide settings to a plurality of printers, the text file having the desired settings can simply be sent as a print job to multiple printers at once. Standard print submission tools, such as LPR, can be used for this purpose. The sending of the print jobs can be scheduled to occur automatically at regular times. Most any scripting environment available on the host computer can be used to accomplish this.  
         [0018]     The claims, as originally presented and as they may be amended, encompass variations, alternatives, modifications, improvements, equivalents, and substantial equivalents of the embodiments and teachings disclosed herein, including those that are presently unforeseen or unappreciated, and that, for example, may arise from applicants/patentees and others.