Patent ID: 7268905

Claim:
A method of communicating processing data to ancillary printing processors, the method comprising the steps of: establishing a first communications link from a data source to a printer, wherein the first communications link carries printer control data in a first protocol, the first protocol defining at least one message containing finishing command data in at least one predetermined format, the at least one predetermined format corresponding to at least one format of finishing command data contained within at least one message defined by a second protocol, the second protocol being different from the first protocol; communicating finishing command data for at least one ancillary printing processor from the data source to the printer in a first message conforming to the first protocol, the finishing command data having a format defined by the at least one predetermined format; generating, at the printer, a second message conforming to the second protocol, the second message defined to contain the finishing command data in the at least one predetermined format; and communicating the finishing command data in the at least one predetermined format between the printer and the at least one ancillary printing processor in the second message conforming to the second protocol over a second communications link, wherein the first protocol is Intelligent Printer Data Stream and the second protocol is Universal Printer Pre- and Post-Processing Interface, wherein the Intelligent Printer Data Stream defines at least one message comprising finishing command data in the at least one predetermined format, and wherein the at least one predetermined format comprises a format for finishing command data that corresponds to a format of finishing command data within at least one message defined for the Universal Printer Pre- and Post-Processing Interface.