Automatic graphical layout printing system utilizing parsing and merging of data

摘要

An automatic graphical layout printing system is described. In a distributed client server computer network, a print generation system is employed to convert documents and data objects generated and managed in various different formats into a generic electronic form format for print output. The print generation system imports form and content data comprising a document or similar data object. The graphical layout information and content data are extracted from the document to produce a stripped document. Metadata comprising rules that define the data field coordinate and type information within the document is generated from the graphical layout information and content data. New content data to be included in the document is then merged with the stripped document and metadata. A printable document consisting of the merged stripped document, metadata and content data is then generated.