Patent ID: 7511845

Claim:
A system comprising: a data management system having a data manager for obtaining variable data from a database; a document production system for composing documents containing the variable data obtained from the database, the document production system including: a document input station configured to generate a soft document in accordance with an input document; a document composition engine being configured to generate a document layout in accordance with the soft document; a document designing station configured to enable proofing and modification of the document layout; a layout processor configured to generate at least one document in accordance with the document layout, the at least one document being populated with the variable data and being formatted for printing; and a printer configured to print the at least one document; and a message bridge for coupling the data management system to the document production system to enable the document production system and data management system to communicate data messages that enable the proofing of the document layout at the document designing station and generation of the at least one document populated with the variable data at the layout processor.