AFP Document Stream Parsing for PDF Resource Reuse
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing document data streams, particularly those like PDF, are not exclusively structured per page, leading to high time costs in processing and output as the entire data stream must be read before parsing and rastering can be completed, hindering high-speed printing.
Innovation Solution
A method to generate and process document data streams that are serially structured per page, allowing for the embedding of document data from other formats like PDF, with a separate characteristic type mapping to indicate linked contiguous data, enabling faster processing and reuse of common resources and settings across pages.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If document data streams are structured per page with separate page commands, then processing speed is improved and pages can be processed immediately, but data format complexity increases and embedding other formats becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent embeds PDF data structures (objects, resources, content streams) within AFP data stream containers. The PDF document is treated as a nested object within the AFP page structure, allowing the AFP format's page-by-page processing capability to handle PDF's complex internal structure. This nesting enables the outer format (AFP) to control the processing flow while the inner format (PDF) maintains its structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary conversion process that translates PDF's object-oriented structure into AFP's page-command structure. The conversion system acts as a mediator that maps PDF objects to AFP page elements, PDF resources to AFP resources, and PDF content streams to AFP page content, thereby enabling compatibility between the two formats while preserving AFP's processing advantages.
2Reliability
If entire PDF files are rastered before output, then complete document control is achieved, but processing time increases significantly for large documents
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the PDF document into individual pages and processes each page independently through the AFP conversion pipeline. Instead of rastering the entire PDF file at once, the system converts each PDF page to an AFP page structure separately, allowing parallel processing and immediate output of completed pages. This segmentation transforms a monolithic processing task into multiple smaller, manageable units.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary conversion of PDF pages to AFP format before rastering. By converting PDF pages to AFP's page structure in advance, the system prepares the data in a format that can be rapidly rastered and printed without requiring complete document rastering beforehand. This preliminary action enables incremental processing where pages are converted, rastered, and printed in sequence rather than waiting for complete document processing.
3Stability of the object's composition
If PDF resources are loaded completely before processing, then resource consistency is ensured, but memory usage and processing overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent loads and processes PDF resources locally at the page level rather than globally for the entire document. Each PDF page's resources (fonts, images, colors) are loaded and made available only when that specific page is being converted to AFP format. This local resource loading ensures resource consistency for each page while avoiding the memory overhead of loading all resources for all pages simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a resource management strategy where PDF resources are loaded, used for conversion, and then discarded or recovered for reuse. As each PDF page is converted to AFP format, its associated resources are loaded into memory, processed, and then released. Resources that are reused across multiple pages are kept in memory, while page-specific resources are discarded after use, optimizing memory utilization throughout the conversion process.
Data Source
AI summary
In a method or system to generate a document data stream of a first format that is serially structured per page, document data of a second format that comprise multiple pages of a document are linked with the document data stream. In the document data stream of the first format a separate characteristic type mapping is provided that indicates that contiguous document data that comprise multiple pages are linked with the document data stream. In the first format a first page of the multipage document is completely and successfully run through a parsing process before document data of subsequent pages are run though the parsing process.