Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide a layered printer driver model in which, at the “bottom layer,” a rendering component provides rendering functionality to format information constituting a print job initiated according to a page description language that a printer device is designed to process, and one or more other components that provide configuration and/or user experience functionality may “sit atop” the bottom layer. Any or all of these higher-level components may support not just a single printer device, but a class of printer devices defined by one or more shared characteristics.

Abstract: Bidirectional (bidi) extension techniques for USB and/or other similar busses/connections are described in which an interface is provided to enable bidirectional communication with connected devices. The interface may be implemented as an operating system component to handle bidi communication for devices from multiple different independent hardware vendors (IHVs). Device drivers for different devices can be configured to include extension files in accordance with an established schema for bidi communication. The extension files describe supported bidi attributes, capabilities of the device, and how to make calls into the device. The interface operates to detect the extension files and set-up a corresponding device for bidi communication. Applications then interact through the interface to access, retrieve, and set configuration and status data for connected devices.

Abstract: In one or more embodiments, a print server can publish, to client devices, capabilities and configurations of one or more print devices utilizing a device-independent “personality.” Client devices can then use an associated device-independent print driver to select print job settings and record print job content for a particular print job, in a device-independent format, that is then to be sent to the print server. The print server can then process the device-independent format that describes the print job, and convert the print job into a print device-specific format that can be consumed by a particular specific print device. In at least some embodiments, the client device can cause a print job to be printed on a print device, via a print server, without downloading, utilizing or otherwise accessing a print driver that is specific to the print device.

Abstract: Some embodiments of the invention provide techniques whereby a printer driver may be modified and supplemented over time. For example, a framework may be provided which enables a printer driver's functionality to be supplemented over time to include new and/or enhanced features, such as features relating to the manner in which the capabilities of a printer are configured, print settings are manipulated, information is presented to users, print-related system events are handled, etc. In some embodiments, one or more components (which may be included in a print subsystem provided by an operating system of a computing device, in a printer driver, and/or some other system element) may be configured to automatically seek and acquire configuration data from any of various sources, including the printer device, one or more online sources, and/or other sources.

Abstract: Some embodiments of the invention provide a printer user interface (UI) component configured to handle presentation of information to a user during printing operations. The printer UI component may de-couple the rendering and configuration functionality provided by a printer driver from the presentation of information to end users, thereby reducing the risk that applications may crash or hang due to printer driver malfunction. In some embodiments, a registry of events upon which information should be presented to the user is established, and the printer UI component may be registered for some or all of these events, so that when the specified events occur the printer UI component may be invoked to cause information to be presented to the user.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide a layered printer driver model in which, at the “bottom layer,” a rendering component provides rendering functionality to format information constituting a print job initiated according to a page description language that a printer device is designed to process, and one or more other components that provide configuration and/or user experience functionality may “sit atop” the bottom layer. Any or all of these higher-level components may support not just a single printer device, but a class of printer devices defined by one or more shared characteristics.