1. A method for creating a cloud storage object for storing data, the method comprising:
receiving, at one or more processors, programmer input in a programming language, the programmer input for creating an electronic storage object, the programmer input including a built-in function of the programming language, the built-in function corresponding to creating storage objects that are accessible on a network, wherein
the programmer input is received in a document, and
a computational application is configured to i) evaluate built-in functions of the programming language within the document, and ii) perform data processing operations on data in the document;
evaluating, at one or more processors, the programmer input with the computational application to generate one or more application programming interface (API) calls for requesting a server to create the electronic storage object so that the electronic storage object is made accessible via the network; and
responsive to the one or more API calls, receiving, at one or more processors, an identifier (ID) corresponding to the electronic storage object, the ID for enabling access to the electronic storage object via the network.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein:
the programmer input includes one or more parameters indicating how data subsequently sent to the server for storage in the electronic storage object is to be interpreted by the computational application; and
the one or more API calls are for requesting the server to create the electronic storage object so that the electronic storage object is configured according to the one or more parameters.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more parameters indicate one or more data types for the data subsequently sent to the server for storage in the electronic storage object, the one or more data types among a plurality of data types recognized by the computational application.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more parameters indicate that the server is to convert raw data subsequently received by the server for storage in the electronic storage object to data of the one or more data types indicated by the one or more parameters.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more or more parameters indicate a key-value association for at least some of the data subsequently sent to the server for storage in the electronic storage object.
6. The method of claim 2, wherein:
the one or more parameters are one or more first parameters;
the programmer input further includes one or more second parameters indicating a function to be performed by the server on the data subsequently sent to the server for storage in the electronic storage object.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein:
the programmer input is first programmer input;
the built-in function is a first built-in function; and
the method further comprises:
receiving, at one or more processors, second programmer input in the programming language, the second programmer input for retrieving data from the electronic storage object, the second programmer input including i) a second built-in function of the programming language, the second built-in function corresponding to retrieving data from electronic storage objects, and ii) a first parameter indicating the ID of the electronic storage object, wherein
the second programmer input is received in the document or another document, and
the computational application is configured to i) evaluate built-in functions of the computational application within the other document, and ii) perform data processing operations on data in the other document;
evaluating, at one or more processors, the second programmer input with the computational application to generate one or more second API calls for requesting the server to retrieve data from the electronic storage object;
sending, with one or more processors, the one or more second API calls to cause the server to retrieve data from the electronic storage object;
receiving, at the one or more processors, data retrieved from the electronic storage object by the server; and
making the retrieved data, with the one or more processors, available in the document for processing by the computational application, wherein the retrieved data is in a format recognized by the computational application.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein:
the second programmer input includes one or more or more second parameters that indicate which data within the electronic storage object are to be retrieved; and
the data received from the server corresponds to the data indicated by the one or more or more second parameters.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein:
the one or more or more second parameters indicate a range of entries within the electronic storage object that are to be retrieved; and
the data received from the server corresponds to the range of entries.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein:
the one or more or more second parameters include an integer indicating a number of entries in the range; and
the data received from the server corresponds to the integer number of entries.
11. The method of claim 9, wherein:
the one or more or more second parameters include one or more dates andor times corresponding to the range; and
the data received from the server corresponds to entries with timestamps falling with the range corresponding to the one or more dates andor times.
12. The method of claim 8, wherein:
data in the electronic storage object is categorized according to key-value associations;
the one or more or more second parameters indicate that data corresponding to one or more keys are to be retrieved; and
the data received from the server corresponds to the one or more keys indicated by the one or more second parameters.
13. The method of claim 7, wherein:
the computational application utilizes a uniform format in which i) a plurality of other data and ii) functions in the document are represented as symbolic expressions; and
the retrieved data are in the uniform format and represented as a symbolic expression.
14. A system, comprising:
a user interface device;
a network interface device configured to support communications via a communication network;
one or more processors coupled to the user interface device and the network interface device; and
one or more memory devices coupled to the one more processors, the one or more memory devices storing machine readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
receive programmer input in a programming language via the user interface device, the programmer input for creating an electronic storage object, the programmer input including a built-in function of the programming language, the built-in function corresponding to creating storage objects that are accessible on the communication network or another communication network, wherein
the programmer input is received in a document, and
a computational application is configured to i) evaluate built-in functions of the programming language within the document, and ii) perform data processing operations on data in the document;
wherein the one or more memory devices further store machine readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
evaluate the programmer input with the computational application to generate one or more application programming interface (API) calls for requesting a server to create the electronic storage object so that the electronic storage object is made accessible via the network,
cause the network interface device to send the one or more API calls to the server via the communication network, and
responsive to the one or more API calls, receive from the server an identifier (ID) corresponding to the electronic storage object, the ID for enabling access to the electronic storage object via the communication network or the other communication network, the ID received from the server via the network and via the network interface device.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein:
the programmer input includes one or more parameters indicating how data subsequently sent to the server for storage in the electronic storage object is to be interpreted by the computational application; and
the one or more API calls are for requesting the server to create the electronic storage object so that the electronic storage object is configured according to the one or more parameters.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the one or more parameters indicate one or more data types for the data subsequently sent to the server for storage in the electronic storage object, the one or more data types among a plurality of data types recognized by the computational application.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein the one or more parameters indicate that the server is to convert raw data subsequently received by the server for storage in the electronic storage object to data of the one or more data types indicated by the one or more parameters.
18. The system of claim 16, wherein the one or more or more parameters indicate a key-value association for at least some of the data subsequently sent to the server for storage in the electronic storage object.
19. The system of claim 15, wherein:
the one or more parameters are one or more first parameters;
the programmer input further includes one or more second parameters indicating a function to be performed by the server on the data subsequently sent to the server for storage in the electronic storage object.
20. The system of claim 14, wherein:
the programmer input is first programmer input;
the built-in function is a first built-in function;
the one or more API calls are one or more first API calls; and
the one or more memory devices further store machine readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
receive second programmer input in the programming language, the second programmer input for retrieving data from the electronic storage object, the second programmer input including i) a second built-in function of the programming language, the second built-in function corresponding to retrieving data from electronic storage objects, and ii) a first parameter indicating the ID of the electronic storage object, wherein
the second programmer input is received in the document or another document, and
the computational application is configured to i) evaluate built-in functions of the computational application within the other document, and ii) perform data processing operations on data in the other document;
evaluate the second programmer input with the computational application to generate one or more second API calls for requesting the server to retrieve data from the electronic storage object;
send the one or more second API calls to cause the server to retrieve data from the electronic storage object;
receive data retrieved from the electronic storage object by the server; and
make the retrieved data, with the one or more processors, available in the document for processing by the computational application, wherein the retrieved data is in a format recognized by the computational application.
21. The system of claim 20, wherein:
the second programmer input includes one or more or more second parameters that indicate which data within the electronic storage object are to be retrieved; and
the data received from the server corresponds to the data indicated by the one or more or more second parameters.
22. The system of claim 21, wherein:
the one or more or more second parameters indicate a range of entries within the electronic storage object that are to be retrieved; and
the data received from the server corresponds to the range of entries.
23. The system of claim 22, wherein:
the one or more or more second parameters include an integer indicating a number of entries in the range; and
the data received from the server corresponds to the integer number of entries.
24. The system of claim 22, wherein:
the one or more or more second parameters include one or more dates andor times corresponding to the range; and
the data received from the server corresponds to entries with timestamps falling with the range corresponding to the one or more dates andor times.
25. The system of claim 21, wherein:
data in the electronic storage object is categorized according to key-value associations;
the one or more or more second parameters indicate that data corresponding to one or more keys are to be retrieved; and
the data received from the server corresponds to the one or more keys indicated by the one or more second parameters.
26. The system of claim 20, wherein:
the computational application utilizes a uniform format in which i) a plurality of other data and ii) functions in the document are represented as symbolic expressions; and
the retrieved data are in the uniform format and represented as a symbolic expression.
27. A method for creating a cloud storage object for storing data, the method comprising:
receiving, at one or more processors, one or more application programming interface (API) calls requesting creation of an electronic storage object that is accessible on a network, the one or more API calls including i) an indication of the request to create the electronic storage object, and ii) one or more parameters indicating how data subsequently received by a server for storage in the electronic storage object is to be interpreted by a computational application; and
responsive to the one or more API calls, creating, with one or more processors, the electronic storage object so that the electronic storage object is accessible on the network, including:
storing metadata in the electronic storage object that indicates how the data subsequently received by the server for storage in the electronic storage object is to be interpreted by the computational application,
determining an identifier (ID) for the electronic storage object, and
associating the ID with a location of the electronic storage object in a database so that the electronic storage object can be located by the server using the ID; and
responsive to the one or more API calls, sending the ID to a sender of the one or more API calls.
28. The method of claim 27, wherein:
creating the electronic storage object includes creating an electronic file system structure corresponding to the electronic storage object, including creating one or more metadata files within the electronic file system structure; and
storing the metadata includes storing the metadata in the one or more metadata files.
29. The method of claim 28, wherein creating the electronic file system structure includes creating one or more data files within the electronic file system structure for storing data subsequently received by the server for storage in the electronic storage object.
30. The method of claim 27, wherein:
the one or more parameters indicate one or more data types for the data subsequently received by the server for storage in the electronic storage object, the one or more data types among a plurality of data types recognized by the computational application; and
storing metadata in the electronic storage object includes storing metadata that indicate the one or more data types for the data subsequently received by the server for storage in the electronic storage object.
31. The method of claim 30, wherein the metadata that indicate the one or more data types indicate that the server is to convert raw data subsequently received by the server for storage in the electronic storage object to data of the one or more data types indicated by the one or more parameters.
32. The method of claim 30, wherein:
the one or more or more parameters indicate a key-value association for at least some of the data subsequently received by the server for storage in the electronic storage object; and
storing metadata in the electronic storage object includes storing metadata that indicate the key-value association.
33. The method of claim 30, wherein the electronic storage object is created as a symbolic object corresponding to a data type among the plurality of data types recognized by the computational application.
34. The method of claim 27, wherein:
the one or more parameters are one or more first parameters;
the one or more API calls further include one or more second parameters indicating a function to be performed by the server on the data subsequently received by the server for storage in the electronic storage object; and
storing metadata in the electronic storage object includes storing metadata that indicate the function to be performed by the server.
35. The method of claim 27, wherein:
the one or more parameters are one or more first parameters;
the one or more API calls are one or more first API calls;
receiving, at one or more processors, one or more second API calls requesting access to data in the electronic storage object, the one or more second API calls including a second parameter specifying the electronic storage object; and
responsive to the one or more second API calls:
locating, at one or more processors, the electronic storage object in the database using the second parameter,
retrieving, at the one or more processors, data from the electronic storage object; and
forwarding, with the one or more processors, the retrieved data in a format recognized by the computational application, the retrieved data forwarded to a computer via the network or another network, wherein the computer executes the computational application.
36. The method of claim 35, wherein:
the one or more second API calls include one or more or more third parameters that indicate which data within the electronic storage object are to be retrieved;
the method further includes determining, at one or more processors, which data within the electronic storage object are to be retrieved using the one or more third parameters; and
retrieving data from the electronic storage object comprises retrieving the data within the electronic storage object determined using the one or more or more third parameters.
37. The method of claim 36, wherein:
the one or more or more third parameters indicate a range of entries within the electronic storage object that are to be retrieved; and
retrieving data from the electronic storage object comprises
identifying the indicated range of entries using the one or more or more third parameters, and
retrieving the identified data.
38. The method of claim 37, wherein:
the one or more or more third parameters include an integer indicating a number of entries in the range; and
retrieving data from the electronic storage object comprises
identifying the integer number of entries using the one or more or more third parameters, and
retrieving the identified entries.
39. The method of claim 37, wherein:
the one or more or more third parameters include one or more dates andor times corresponding to the range; and
retrieving data from the electronic storage object comprises
identifying entries falling with the range corresponding to the one or more dates andor times, and
retrieving the identified entries.
40. The method of claim 36, wherein:
data in the electronic storage object is categorized according to key-value associations;
the one or more or more third parameters indicate that data corresponding to one or more keys are to be retrieved; and
retrieving data from the electronic storage object comprises
identifying entries corresponding to the one or more keys, and
retrieving the identified entries.
41. The method of claim 35, wherein:
the computational application utilizes a uniform format in which i) a plurality of other data and ii) functions in the document are represented as symbolic expressions; and
the retrieved data forwarded to the computer are in the uniform format and represented as a symbolic expression.
42. A system, comprising:
a network interface device configured to support communications via a communication network;
a network-accessible computer storage system;
one or more processors coupled to the network interface device and the network-accessible computer storage system; and
one or more memory devices coupled to the one more processors, the one or more memory devices storing machine readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
receive, via the network interface device, one or more application programming interface (API) calls requesting creation of an electronic storage object that is accessible on the communication network or another communication network, the one or more API calls including i) an indication of the request to create the electronic storage object, and ii) one or more parameters indicating how data subsequently received by the system for storage in the electronic storage object is to be interpreted by a computational application;
wherein the one or more memory devices further store machine readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
responsive to the one or more API calls, create the electronic storage object in the network-accessible computer storage system so that the electronic storage object is accessible on the communication network or the other communication network, including:
storing metadata in the electronic storage object that indicates how the data subsequently received by the system for storage in the electronic storage object is to be interpreted by the computational application,
determining an identifier (ID) for the electronic storage object, and
associating the ID with a location of the electronic storage object in the network-accessible computer storage system so that the electronic storage object can be located by the server using the ID, and
responsive to the one or more API calls, sending the ID to a sender of the one or more API calls via the communication network and via the network interface device.
43. The system of claim 42, wherein:
creating the electronic storage object includes creating an electronic file system structure corresponding to the electronic storage object, including creating one or more metadata files within the electronic file system structure; and
storing the metadata includes storing the metadata in the one or more metadata files.
44. The system of claim 43, wherein creating the electronic file system structure includes creating one or more data files within the electronic file system structure for storing data subsequently received by the server for storage in the electronic storage object.
45. The system of claim 42, wherein:
the one or more parameters indicate one or more data types for the data subsequently received by the system for storage in the electronic storage object, the one or more data types among a plurality of data types recognized by the computational application; and
storing metadata in the electronic storage object includes storing metadata that indicate the one or more data types for the data subsequently received by the system for storage in the electronic storage object.
46. The system of claim 45, wherein the metadata that indicate the one or more data types indicate that the system is to convert raw data subsequently received by the system for storage in the electronic storage object to data of the one or more data types indicated by the one or more parameters.
47. The system of claim 45, wherein:
the one or more or more parameters indicate a key-value association for at least some of the data subsequently received by the server for storage in the electronic storage object; and
storing metadata in the electronic storage object includes storing metadata that indicate the key-value association.
48. The system of claim 45, wherein the electronic storage object is created as a symbolic object corresponding to a data type among the plurality of data types recognized by the computational application.
49. The system of claim 42, wherein:
the one or more parameters are one or more first parameters;
the one or more API calls further include one or more second parameters indicating a function to be performed by the system on the data subsequently received by the server for storage in the electronic storage object; and
storing metadata in the electronic storage object includes storing metadata that indicate the function to be performed by the system.
50. The system of claim 42, wherein:
the one or more parameters are one or more first parameters;
the one or more API calls are one or more first API calls;
the one or more memory devices store machine readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
receive or more second API calls requesting access to data in the electronic storage object, the one or more second API calls including a second parameter specifying the electronic storage object, and
responsive to the one or more second API calls:
locate the electronic storage object in the database using the second parameter,
retrieve data from the electronic storage object, and
forward the retrieved data in a format recognized by the computational application, the retrieved data forwarded to a computer.
51. The system of claim 50, wherein:
the one or more second API calls include one or more or more third parameters that indicate which data within the electronic storage object are to be retrieved;
the one or more memory devices store machine readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
determine which data within the electronic storage object are to be retrieved using the one or more third parameters, and
retrieve the data within the electronic storage object determined using the one or more or more third parameters.
52. The system of claim 51, wherein:
the one or more or more third parameters indicate a range of entries within the electronic storage object that are to be retrieved; and
the one or more memory devices store machine readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
identify the indicated range of entries using the one or more or more third parameters, and
retrieve the identified data.
53. The system of claim 52, wherein:
the one or more or more third parameters include an integer indicating a number of entries in the range; and
the one or more memory devices store machine readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
identify the integer number of entries using the one or more or more third parameters, and
retrieve the identified entries.
54. The system of claim 52, wherein:
the one or more or more third parameters include one or more dates andor times corresponding to the range; and
the one or more memory devices store machine readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
identify entries falling with the range corresponding to the one or more dates andor times, and
retrieve the identified entries.
55. The system of claim 51, wherein:
data in the electronic storage object is categorized according to key-value associations;
the one or more or more third parameters indicate that data corresponding to one or more keys are to be retrieved; and
the one or more memory devices store machine readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
identify entries corresponding to the one or more keys, and
retrieve the identified entries.
56. The system of claim 50, wherein:
the computational application utilizes a uniform format in which i) a plurality of other data and ii) functions in the document are represented as symbolic expressions; and
the retrieved data forwarded to the computer are in the uniform format and represented as a symbolic expression.
57-163. (canceled)
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
What is claimed is:
1. An ink-jet printing apparatus for printing a visible image on a print medium by discharging ink from a plurality of ink ejection print elements, comprising:
means for storing a first table indicating a correspondence between a plurality of inks and gray scale values of print pixels;
means for storing a second table indicating combinations of density distribution patterns of print pixels and the ink ejection print elements in correspondence with the gray scale values;
designation means for designating a region consisting of a predetermined number of neighboring pixels from pixels that forms an input image;
selection means for selecting the pixel density distribution pattern for the designated region; and
control means for controlling ink ejectionnon-ejection of ink from the plurality of ink ejection print elements by looking up the first and second tables in accordance with the pixel density distribution pattern and a gray scale value thereof.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control means looks up the first and second tables on the basis of a value near a value obtained by dividing a sum total of gray scale values of pixels which forms the region by the predetermined number of pixels.
3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said selection means selects the pixel density distribution pattern on the basis of a difference between a value of a pixel of interest of the pixels that form the region, and an average value of gray scale values of all pixels which form the region.
4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of combinations of density distribution patterns of the print pixel and ink ejection print elements are prepared for a single gray scale value, and said control means sequentially or randomly selects these combinations.
5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control means adopts an ink-jet printing method of discharging double ink droplets onto at least a single unit pixel, and prints the visible image by discharging one or plurality of ink droplets onto the unit pixel.
6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control means adopts an ink-jet printing method of discharging ink droplets having at least two different dot sizes, and prints the visible image by discharging one or plurality of ink droplets onto a unit pixel.
7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control means adopts an ink-jet printing method of discharging at least two multi-density ink droplets for the same hue, and prints the visible image by discharging one or plurality of ink droplets onto a unit pixel.
8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of ink ejection print elements are integrated and line up, and express a halftone image by controlling a plurality of ink dots to land on substantially a single print pixel on a print medium when they are scanned a plurality of number of times in a direction different from the line-up direction while being moved relative to a print medium by a predetermined width in a direction different from the scan direction.
9. An ink-jet printing method for printing a visible image on a print medium by discharging ink from a plurality of ink ejection print elements, comprising:
the designation step of designating a region consisting of a predetermined number of neighboring pixels from pixels that forms an input image;
the selection step of selecting a pixel density distribution pattern for the designated region; and
the control step of controlling ink ejectionnon-ejection of ink from the plurality of ink ejection print elements by looking up a first table indicating a correspondence between a plurality of inks and gray scale values of print pixels and a second table indicating combinations of density distribution patterns of print pixels and the ink ejection print elements in correspondence with the gray scale values in accordance with the pixel density distribution pattern and a gray scale value thereof.
10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the control step includes the step of looking up the first and second tables on the basis of a value near a value obtained by dividing a sum total of gray scale values of pixels which forms the region by the predetermined number of pixels.
11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the selection step includes the step of selecting the pixel density distribution pattern on the basis of a difference between a value of a pixel of interest of the pixels that form the region, and an average value of gray scale values of all pixels which form the region.
12. The method according to claim 9, wherein a plurality of combinations of density distribution patterns of the print pixel and ink ejection print elements are prepared for a single gray scale value, and the control step includes the step of sequentially or randomly selecting these combinations.
13. A computer readable memory that stores a program code of an ink-jet print process for printing a visible image on a print medium by discharging ink from a plurality of ink ejection print elements, comprising:
a program code of the designation step of designating a region consisting of a predetermined number of neighboring pixels from pixels that forms an input image;
a program code of the selection step of selecting a pixel density distribution pattern for the designated region; and
a program code of the control step of controlling ink ejectionnon-ejection of ink from the plurality of ink ejection print elements by looking up a first table indicating a correspondence between a plurality of inks and gray scale values of print pixels and a second table indicating combinations of density distribution patterns of print pixels and the ink ejection print elements in correspondence with the gray scale values in accordance with the pixel density distribution pattern and a gray scale value thereof.