Abstract: A method and system for providing distributed printing is disclosed. The method and system include providing a plurality of printers, at least one print spooler, and at least one relational database coupled with the print spooler. The print spooler(s) are for managing printing operations. The relational database(s) are coupled with the print spooler. The relational database also includes a plurality of tables that store a plurality of print objects.

Abstract: A data compression and decompression technique compresses a binary stream of digital data into compressed form and decompresses a compressed data stream into decompressed form without any loss of fidelity. The techniques require very little processing time to permit compression and decompression of digital data quickly. Once the digital data is compressed into compressed form, the amount of memory required to store the compressed digital data is much less than the amount of memory required to store the corresponding data in uncompressed form.

Abstract: A system and method for efficiently utilizing the output devices of a computer system to perform output functions. The output devices are capable of bidirectional communication and are capable of generating information pertaining to static and dynamic attributes of the respective output devices. Responsive to the additional information pertaining to the static and dynamic attributes of the output devices, particular ones of the output devices are allocated to effectuate particular ones of the output functions.

Abstract: An ordered index file is created for archived report data wherein each index file contains a series of 4-byte offsets into the report data. Each offset points to a field within a row of the report data from archival storage. Upon later retrieval from the report data, a binary search is performed for a key(s) that is contained in a search query, using the index field offsets to determine the order in which to retrieve the report data fields. The binary search resolves each key in the search query to a range of index offsets corresponding to report rows that match the query. The search technique optimize final filtering of matches by using the search query that matched the smallest range as the controlling field for resolving overlap of fields in the search query. Since all of the offsets refer to the same report file, this optimization operation compares the offsets of the fields, rather than comparing the field values themselves.

Abstract: Instrumentation logic is provided to map object oriented protocols to efficient data management protocols to provide direct, keyed access to multiple data entries. An object oriented database is utilized to model a complex process since it is easily extended to include tables of transactions for each of the many process steps in a complex operation. The database is accessed through the Desktop Management Interface (DMI) with individual DMI commands issued to get or set each individual entry. An application requiring access to many entries would require detailed knowledge of the database and would need to generate many DMI commands. For such an application, instrumentation logic is provided and is accessed by the application through a normal DMI command. The instrumentation then generates all of the successive DMI commands needed to access multiple entries.