Patent ID: 8542381

Claim:
A print controller for a production printing system, the print controller comprising: a job storage system operable to receive print jobs from at least one host system, and to store the print jobs; a print data path from the job storage system to at least one print engine of the production printing system, the print data path includes components operable to process print jobs for imaging on the at least one print engine; and a control system operable to receive registrations from the components in the print data path for at least one of flush job messages or flush path messages, to receive a request to purge the print data path, to identify the print jobs being processed in the print data path, to transmit flush job messages to the components registering for the flush job messages for each of the identified print jobs in the print data path, wherein the flush job messages instruct the components to purge data for the identified print jobs, and to transmit a flush path message to the components registering for the flush path messages instructing the components to purge data for each of the print jobs being handled; wherein the control system is further operable to transmit a flush token over the print data path; and wait for a flush complete message from a component at the end of the print data path indicating that the purging of the print data path is complete.