Patent ID: 7177040

Claim:
A method for printing remotely generated interactive print jobs in a system including a workstation provided with a processor unit, a display screen, and operating means, a printer provided with a control unit, an operator control panel, a display and a local storage device for storing print files for printing, and a digital network to which the workstation and the printer are connected, wherein an interactive print job is for deferred processing, in which a print file corresponding to the interactive print job is stored in the local storage device of the printer upon reception and not printed, and is, upon an operator command, presented on the display of the operator control panel of the printer and, upon a second operator command, then printed, the method comprising: sending a print job to the printer and storing the print job as an interactive type in the local storage device of the printer; listing one or more interactive print jobs currently stored in the local storage device of the printer on the workstation display screen; and enabling an operator at the workstation side to use the workstation operating means for selecting one of the listed interactive print jobs currently stored in the local storage device of the printer and for giving a direct command to the printer for printing the selected job at the printer.