JPH11321041A - Programmable message memory system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a UI(user interface) message display system that can reconstruct a state message easily. SOLUTION: This programmable message memory system for storing a plurality of messages has a database that can be configured to form a plurality of message identifiers corresponding to the plurality of messages in a table, and a plurality of code sets corresponding to the plurality of message identifiers respectively for controlling a display method on a display screen for the corresponding message. For changing a method whereby the message corresponding to at least one of the plurality of code sets is displayed as a reconstruction function in response to a user input, at least one of the plurality of code sets can be programmed by the user so that at least one of the plurality of code sets can be reconstructed within the database.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates generally to a user interface ("U") for a multi-function printing system.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a UI management method for controlling a method of delivering a pre-coded information message to a UI to display a selected message on the UI. Priority is set forth in US Provisional Application No. 60, filed March 2, 1998 by the present inventor and assignee.
/ 076,433.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Hower et al. U.S. Pat.
No. 1,958 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,434 (issued on January 1, 1995
Typical UI as disclosed on January 14)
Will include predetermined state information regarding the selected operational information for the corresponding printing device. For example, the dialog shown in FIG. 4 of US Pat. No. 5,467,434 tells when the system is "scan enabled" and / or "print enabled". As further shown in the above two patents, the control information is shown in one section and the dialogue screen is divided so that the state information is shown in another section, while the state information is generally associated with the control information. Provided. Generally, when control and status information are presented together, the amount of space devoted to status information is relatively small. This does not pose a problem, assuming that the amount of state information is relatively small. However, if the amount of state information is relatively large, fitting a significant amount of control and state information on a single screen can be an effort.

[0003]

When using a multi-function printing device having a large number of services and a relatively small display screen, it is not possible to fit all state information together with accompanying control information on the display screen. Will. In one example, this condition is handled by rotating the status message in a timed manner. That is, one status message is displayed for one time interval and another status message is displayed for another time interval. This can be annoying to the user, and the user may not be able to monitor the status message currently being displayed, but rather concentrate on programming the control-related attributes. If missed, it can even be counterproductive.

[0004] In addition, multifunction printing devices can possess a number of services, such as, for example, print, copy, fax and filing services, and therefore generate a variety of disturbing status messages. For example, (often
The set of messages associated with the print service (which is network-oriented) will be largely independent of the set of messages associated with the copy service (which is often local-oriented). Thus, displaying messages out of order can be very confusing. For example, it is not optimal to display status messages for one service while programming with another service. Many problems associated with making the full meaning of status messages easy and uncomplicated to be understood are organized so that the particular message being displayed is logically associated with the control information being displayed together. It is believed that this can be alleviated by providing a status message display system that displays status messages in a manner.

Finally, reconfiguring the status message system can be a very difficult task in terms of how to develop a typical UI message display system. Generally, code is written to provide various status messages, and the code is then compiled. In this way U
When an I-message display system is set up, it is necessary to modify existing code and then recompile them to add, delete or modify messages. This is not a task accessible to a typical machine owner. It would be desirable to provide a UI message display system that allows a machine owner to easily reconfigure status messages to accommodate changes in system requirements.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the presently disclosed invention, there is provided a programmable message storage system for a multi-function printing system that includes a printing device for producing prints from stored electronic documents. The printing device includes a user interface having a display screen on which one or more of a plurality of messages may be displayed to provide status information about the printing system to a user. A programmable message storage system in which a plurality of messages are stored comprises a configurable database for tabulating a plurality of message identifiers respectively corresponding to the plurality of messages, and a plurality of message identifiers respectively corresponding to the plurality of message identifiers. A plurality of code sets, each code set controlling a display method of a corresponding message on a display screen, wherein a message corresponding to at least one of the plurality of code sets in response to a user input is a function of reconstruction. At least one of the plurality of code sets is programmable by a user such that at least one of the plurality of code sets is reconfigured in the database to change the manner of being displayed as.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a digital printing device of the type suitable for use in the preferred embodiment is designated by the numeral 10. As shown,
The system operates (and displays) with document feeder 2
And a user interface (“UI”) 3. With the assistance of appropriate display, after desired conditions are input on the operation panel 3, the document feeder 2 carries the document to a predetermined reading position on the image reading device 4, and after the document is read, the reading position. From the original. The image reading device 4 irradiates light to a document sent to a reading position of the device. The reflection from the original is converted into a corresponding electric signal, that is, an image signal by a solid-state image device such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor. The image forming apparatus 5 forms an image represented by an image signal on plain paper or thermal paper by an electrophotographic, thermal, thermal transfer, ink jet, or similar conventional system.

When a sheet is fed from any one of the plurality of sheet cassettes 8 to the image forming apparatus 5, the image forming apparatus 5
Forms an image on one side of the paper. The double-sided copying unit 6 is configured to turn over a sheet holding an image on one side and feed the sheet to the image forming apparatus 5 again. As a result, an image is formed on the other side of the sheet, completing double-sided copying. The duplex unit 6 is conventionally designed to re-feed the paper immediately or to continuously re-feed a plurality of stacked papers in order from the bottom paper to the top paper. I have. The paper dispensed from the image forming apparatus 5 or the double-sided copied paper is sorted by the paper discharge device 7 continuously in page order or per page.

An application indicated by reference numeral 9 is a document feeder 2, an operation panel 3, an image reading device 4, an image forming device 5, a two-sided copying unit 6, and a paper discharging device, which are resources constructed in the copying system. 7
And the paper cassette 8 are commonly used. As will be shown later, the applications are a copy application, a printer (IOT) application, a facsimile (Fa).
x) Including applications and other applications. Further, the digital copying system is connected to a network via a conventional network connection unit 11.

Referring to FIG. 2, a versatile network enabled printing system is indicated by the reference numeral 10. The printing system 10 includes a printing device 12 operatively connected to a network service module 14. The printing device 12 includes a scanner 18 and a printer 2.
It includes an electronic subsystem 16 called a video control module (VCM) that communicates with the C.O. In one example, the VCM 16 described in detail in Salgado US Pat. No. 5,579,447, the specification of which is incorporated herein by reference, controls the operation of scanners and printers in digital copiers. In a digital copier, a scanner 18 (also called an image input terminal (IIT)) reads an image on a document by using a full width array of CCDs and converts the collected analog video signals to digital signals. Next, an image processing system (not shown) coupled to the scanner 18 performs signal correction and the like, and converts the corrected signal to a multi-level signal (eg, 2
Value signal), compress the multi-level signal,
Preferably electronic precolla
Option) (not shown).

Referring still to FIG. 2, printer 20 (also referred to as an image output terminal (IOT)) preferably includes an electrophotographic print engine. In one example, the print engine can be a synchronous data source (eg, a laser raster output scanning device) or an asynchronous data source (eg, L
It has a multi-pitch belt (not shown) written by an image forming source such as an ED print bar. For print execution, the multilevel image data is read from the EPC memory and the image forming source is turned on / off according to the image data to form a latent image on the photoreceptor. Next, the latent image is developed by, for example, a hybrid jumping development technique or the like, and is transferred to a print medium sheet. Once the resulting print is fixed, the print media sheet is turned over for duplex copying or simply ejected. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that printers can assume other forms than the electrophotographic print engine without changing the underlying concepts of the disclosed embodiments. For example, the printing system 10 can be implemented with a thermal ink jet printer or a particle radiographic printer.

Referring to FIG. 3, the network service module 14 will be described in more detail. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the structure of the network service module is similar to the structure of the well-known “PC clone”.
More specifically, in one example, a SPA manufactured by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
A controller 44 in the form of an RC (spark) processor is coupled to the standard S bus 72. FIG. 3 illustrated
In the preferred embodiment, a host memory 74, preferably in the form of a DRAM, and a scagi (SCSI) disk drive 76 are operatively coupled to the S bus 72. Although not shown in FIG. 3, a storage device or an input / output device may be connected to the S bus by an appropriate interface chip.
As further shown in FIG. 3, the S-bus is connected to a network 78 via a suitable network interface 80. In one example, the network interface includes all the hardware and software necessary to couple the hardware / software elements of controller 44 with the hardware / software elements of network 78. For example, network service module 1
To interface the various protocols between 4 and network 78, the network interface is:
Among the various software, Novell Corp. NetWare (registered trademark)
Can be provided.

In one example, network 78 includes a client machine, such as a workstation 82 having an emitter or driver 84. When performing an operation, a user may create a job that includes a plurality of electronic pages and a set of processing instructions. The job is then converted by the emitter to a notation written in a page description language such as PostScript. The job is then transmitted to the controller 44, where the job is interpreted by a decomposer (interpretation program) such as a product provided by Adobe Corporation.

Referring to FIG. 7, a system for managing a method of displaying information or status messages on UI 3 (FIG. 1) is described. As shown in FIG.
Includes a display screen 300 that includes display portions 302 and 304. It should be appreciated that control data, ie, information regarding how the job should be processed by a particular word processing service (eg, fax service) is displayed in section 302 and information regarding system status is displayed in section 304. With particular reference to portion 304, the status information is preferably displayed in multiple lines, and thus this information, including the message to the user, is referred to below as a "line message". Those of skill in the art will understand that "users" include a wide range of people who access the printing system 10. These people may include advanced users, such as code developers or system administrators, or general users, such as walk-up users for copy jobs. Further, "line message manager" will be used below as a synonym for the disclosed information management system. Portion 304 is shown to include three lines,
It will be appreciated that more or less rows can be displayed in portion 304 without affecting the underlying principles of the preferred embodiment.

Briefly, the message management system of the preferred embodiment can be summarized as follows.

Overview: Line messages are intended to convey information about the status of each service, the job status of a running job, and the overall machine status. The line message is a message that is preferably displayed in part 304 of the user interface screen 3 (FIGS. 1 and 7). Line message management is needed to control potential inconsistencies when the system attempts to display more than one message on the same line at the same time. The operation of line messages is controlled by assigning a message ID to each message. The message ID includes a set of embedded codes (ie, indicators) that identify the route, line, priority, and length of time the message is displayed.

To supplement this overview, reference is made to the following exemplary description of the concepts underlying message composition. Each message is given a unique set of codes or indicators that serve to define the desired service type, message type, message priority and category. The message algorithm (further details are described below) decodes the message and, at the appropriate time, (part 30
4) on the appropriate line and on the appropriate screen. For example, the message “Starting up the network / print controller” (FIG. 7) may have the code “ESS, indicating where and when to display the corresponding message.
2, 30, N, 1 ".

These codes or indicators are defined as follows. ESS ("Electronic Subsystem")-This is a combination of service type codes. This means that this message is displayed for services that require ESS or network service module 14 (FIG. 3). Thus, this message is displayed when viewing the print queue, network scan and media print screens, but not when displaying the copy or fax screen. 2-This message is grouped with a similar message type always displayed on the second line. 30-This message has a priority of 30. If two message types are sent simultaneously to the user interface, the one with the lower number will be displayed and any message with the higher number will be stored. When a small number of messages are removed, a larger number of messages will be displayed automatically. Further, message priorities determine whether dynamic messages (messages displayed during the execution of a job) are static messages (the machine can execute those jobs before the user initiates the job). (A message of the machine state type shown to the user). N-Not a timed message. 1-All messages for the network / print controller are in the message category so that all messages in the corresponding group can be removed from the user interface screen by a single command or displayed on the user interface screen Can be grouped.

A typical set of messages, along with their corresponding identifiers and codes, are shown in Table 1 below.

[Table 1]

Preferably, the message identifier (“I
D)), the message “Copy Executable” in the copy path is set as the non-timed message “Status”
A line message manager (ie, an application or program used to control the transfer of messages to / from the UI display) to display messages in priority and without grouping by category
Used to convey to.

As is well known to those skilled in the art, the information in Table 1 can be conveniently stored in a conventional database configured, for example, in memory 74 (FIG. 3). FIG.
Reference is made to an exemplary technique for developing Table 1 in a database. More specifically, step 20
0 initiates the code assignment routine, step 202
Provides the ID of the current message. I displayed
All indicators associated with D, ie, those corresponding to paths, rows, timers ("T"), priorities ("Pr"), and categories ("Cat"), are then populated into the database by step 204. . The ID of the current message is then stored with its corresponding indicator for later use (step 20).
6) A check is performed at step 208 to determine whether additional message IDs are programmed.
Assuming that more message IDs are to be programmed, the programmer scrolls to the next row in the database table; otherwise, the routine ends.

A more comprehensive understanding of the objects defined by Table 1 can be obtained from the following description of the corresponding items.

Message ID: The message ID is associated with the message text and an embedded set of codes containing information about the message display parameters (path, line, timer, priority and category).

The function that sends the message ID to the line message manager to display the message is called. The line message manager then decodes the message ID and displays the message text on the user interface with the appropriate path, line, timer, category and priority.

A function is called that sends the message ID to the row message manager to remove the message. The line message manager then decodes the message ID and removes the message text from the user interface.

Path: This code controls the display path. The message can appear on a single pass or multiple passes. The message encoded with the copy path will be displayed when the user interface is displaying a copy-related screen. Messages coded in the IOT pass will be displayed when the user interface is displaying a copy, print queue or media print screen.

A number of possible code controls are given in Table 2 below.
It is described in.

[Table 2]

Lines: An example of a code listing for a line, which controls which line a given message is displayed on, is shown in Table 3 below.

[Table 3]

Timer: This code is on (T) if the message is displayed for a predetermined length of time and then automatically removed by the on-line message manager. The length of the timer is programmable so that it can be adjusted for different languages on demand.

If message removal is driven by time, the software is preferably designed to remove a given message in one of the following ways. -Eliminate single messages (including timed messages). -Remove all messages with the same priority. -Remove all messages with the same path (state (ST) messages will not be removed with this command). Or-remove all messages with the same category.

Priority: This code controls the priority of one message relative to other messages. A possible set of general rules for labeling is as follows: -User action drives immediate message display. -When the status is updated, display the new status immediately and delete the old status. -Dynamic messages temporarily overwrite static messages. -The priority of line messages will be understood by considering the following rules in conjunction with the flowcharts of FIGS.

Non-timed message: When a new message is sent to the line message manager: decode the message ID to determine path, line, priority and timing. -Save messages on the stack based on path, line and priority. -If a message with the same path, line and priority exists on the stack: a) The first or third line replaces the old message with the new message. b) The second line stores the new message at the top of the old message.

Timed messages: When a new message is sent to the line message manager: Decode the message ID to determine path, line, priority and timing. -If the message path is not displayed, delete the new timed message. -If there is no message on that line,
Display the new timed message. -If a message with the same path, line and higher priority exists on the stack, delete the new timed message. -If a message with the same path, line and lower priority is on the stack and the old message is non-timed, display a new timed message.

Message display: When a higher priority message is removed: a) The first or third line displays the next message from the top of the stack based on path and priority. b) The second line displays the next message from the top of the stack based on path, priority and last in first out (LIFO).

Fault Messages: If a fault occurs, the message manager saves the non-timed message, deletes the timed message, and removes any messages on the first and second lines. -When the fault is cleared, the message manager redisplays the stored message on the first and second lines.

Route change: When the screen route is changed by the user:-Delete any timed messages displayed on the old route. -Save all non-timed messages currently displayed on the old route. -Display only messages with display codes that are valid for the new route. -When the screen route returns to the old route, the old message is displayed again.

Clear All: Pressed once-Clears (removes) all messages in the displayed path except for status (ST) messages. Press twice-Clear all messages on all routes except status (ST) messages.

Automatic clear all: Clears all messages in all routes except the status (ST) message.

Category: This code groups all related messages into a single category. This allows messages in that category to be removed by a single command. For example, during a fault, multiple line messages will be displayed as part of the fault clearing procedure. When the fault is removed, all messages belonging to the fault category can be cleared with one command.
A typical set of categories is shown in Table 4 below.

[Table 4]

Referring to FIG. 5, a flowchart is provided that highlights some key principles in the preferred embodiment. Referring specifically to step 212, the message manager application of the preferred embodiment is enabled and the service type of the interactive screen currently displayed on the UI display (FIG. 9) is read in step 214. For ease of discussion, it is assumed that the manager has knowledge of which service type was being displayed at the selected time before performing the reading of step 214. The manager then uses this knowledge about the previous service type at step 216 to compare with the current service type. If the service type has not changed (see step 218), a read is performed again (after the selected time interval) at step 214.

Assuming that the service type has changed,
The manager checks at step 220 to see which information is no longer needed on the screen. In one example,
The predetermined status information associated with the fax service is removed when the service type changes to copy service. For any status information that is no longer relevant, the manager causes such irrelevant information to be removed from the display screen at step 222. As already understood, the manager knows which status information or message should be removed by referring to the indicators in Table 1. Further insight into steps 220 and 222 will be gained by reference to the examples provided below.

Following the removal of information from the screen, the manager scans the database indicators (step 2).
24) Determine which messages should be displayed on the display screen. Under certain circumstances, the manager may indicate that not all messages relating to the current service type must be displayed on the screen and / or the message currently displayed corresponding to the current service type (ie, , The message that was on the screen prior to performing step 214) is to be at least temporarily removed from the screen. According to the above discussion, inconsistencies can be resolved at step 224 by referencing various codes in the database, such as a priority code. However, it must be recognized that inconsistencies in the message display will not necessarily be resolvable by referencing only the priority code. For example, a first message may have a lower priority than a second message, but due to a line assignment (ie, “L”), the second message may not be displayable, May be displayed.

By taking into account step 224, the manager at step 226 allows as many messages as possible to be displayed on the UI screen. Subsequently, a check is performed (at step 230) to determine if the interaction screen change for the service type has occurred again. If there is a change in service type, the process loops back to step 220 where it changes the screen for status messages over the required range,
The above steps are performed again.

However, even if the switching of the interactive screen does not occur, the selected information is removed from the screen and / or another information is arranged on the screen (step 2).
32 and 234) may be necessary. In one example, the expiration of that time may require the removal of the timed message. In another example, message removal may be required because a condition has been met (eg, a fault has been removed). In yet another example, a message may need to be placed on the screen in order for a new condition to occur (eg, a fault has occurred or the toner level has dropped below a preselected threshold). The execution of steps 232 and 234 has been described in more detail above in connection with FIGS.

A further understanding of the preferred embodiment may be had by reference to the following example.

Example 1: The printing apparatus 10 (FIGS. 1 and 2) is powered on and the network / print controller is started. -When the user views the print queue screen (FIG. 7), the information necessary for the user to complete their print queue job is displayed. -If the user switches immediately to see the copy screen (FIG. 8), the information necessary for the user to complete their copy job is displayed. Since the copy job does not require a network / print controller, no information is displayed on the copy screen. Since both print and copy jobs require a copy / print cartridge status, the information is displayed on both screens. -When the user subsequently switches to view the fax screen (Figure 9), the information required for the user to complete their fax is displayed. Fax jobs do not require a network / print controller,
No information is displayed on the fax screen. Since fax jobs do not require copy / print cartridge status, no information is displayed on the fax screen.

Example 2: The user switches to the copy screen, loads the document, and presses the start button. -The executable message is updated on the first line (Fig. 10). The document size message is displayed on the second line, and the copy execution message is displayed on the third line. As discussed in one embodiment, only the information necessary for the user to complete their copy job is displayed. Since the copy job does not require a network / print controller, no information is displayed on the copy screen. Copy jobs require copy / print cartridge status,
Temporarily suppressed by higher priority job status messages. After the copy job is completed, the (stored) copy / print cartridge status message is automatically redisplayed. -When the user switches to view the fax screen (FIG. 11), the information required for the user to complete their fax job is displayed. The document size message is displayed on the second line, and the copy execution set message is not displayed on the third line because it is not associated with a fax job. Since the fax job does not require a network / print controller, no information is displayed on the fax screen. No information is displayed on the fax screen because fax jobs do not require copy / print cartridge status. -If the user subsequently switches to see the print queue screen (FIG. 12), the information necessary for the user to complete their print queue job is displayed. The document size message is not displayed on the second line because it is not associated with a print queue job. The copy execution set message is not displayed on the third line because it is not associated with a print queue job. Since print queue jobs require a network / print controller,
Information is displayed. Information is displayed because the print queue job requires a copy / print cartridge status.

Example 3: A user can customize existing messages and make those messages unique according to the user's machine, location, country, etc. -Sales, service and key operators or customers can supply special information to the database (see Table 1 above), such as telephone numbers, which can be used when ordering supplies. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, the telephone number for ordering supplies is added to the existing message. As discussed herein, the special information is provided using another code in the database.

Many features of the above-described print media sheet tray controller will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

In the first embodiment, the status message is linked to the service so that the status message can be selectively displayed. This concatenation is achieved by concatenating each status message with a code set. The displayed status messages have a meaningful relationship with the other information displayed with them, with the proper configuration of the code set. Further, the code set can be configured to ensure that status messages are properly "weighted." This way, the most important messages can be displayed before the less important messages,
Can be displayed.

In another embodiment, a message storage system having a configurable database is provided. Each message in the database is
Corresponds to a code set, which controls how the message corresponding to that code set is displayed. In response to user input, a given set of codes can be changed or a new set can be added. This ability to change code sets or add new code sets provides the UI with a high degree of flexibility and allows machine owners to adapt to changes in system requirements. In addition, the use of a configurable database allows the text portion of the message to be changed to a message customized for the specific needs of the user. Finally,
The code set design itself greatly facilitates the operation of any printing device associated with the code set. Code sets can be used to quickly resolve display conflicts and to associate specific messages with the services to which they logically belong. Code sets can also be used to control the placement of corresponding messages on the display screen and to concatenate messages together. By linking the messages together, the transfer of related messages to / from the display screen can be easily controlled.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a network-compatible printing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a multifunctional network-adaptive printing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a network controller for the printing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary technique for developing a configurable database used to store messages to be displayed on a display screen of a user interface.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a technique for displaying a message with reference to a database developed by the technique of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a technique for displaying a message with reference to a database developed by the technique of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a screen including a set of status information and attribute-related information corresponding to a print queue service.

FIG. 8 is a front view of a screen including a set of status information and attribute-related information corresponding to a copy service.

FIG. 9 is a front view of a screen including a set of status information and attribute-related information corresponding to a fax service.

FIG. 10 is a front view of a screen including a set of status information and attribute-related information corresponding to a copy service.

FIG. 11 is a front view of a screen including a set of status information and attribute-related information corresponding to a fax service.

FIG. 12 is a front view of a screen including a set of state information and attribute-related information corresponding to a print queue service.

FIG. 13 is a front view of a screen including a set of status information and attribute-related information corresponding to a copy service.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating selected functionality of a line message manager.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating selected functionality of a line message manager.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 User Interface 10 Printing System 12 Printing Device 74 Memory 300 Display Screen 304 Line Message

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A method for generating a print from a stored electronic document, comprising: a user interface having a display screen on which one or more of a plurality of messages may be displayed to provide status information about a printing system to a user. A programmable message storage system for storing said plurality of messages in a multi-function printing system including a printing device, wherein said programmable message storage system is configurable to tabulate a plurality of message identifiers respectively corresponding to said plurality of messages. A database, and a plurality of code sets each corresponding to the plurality of message identifiers, wherein each code set controls a method of displaying a corresponding message on the display screen. In response to the plurality The plurality of code sets being reconfigured in the database to change the manner in which the message corresponding to at least one of the code sets is displayed as a function of the reconstruction. A programmable message storage system wherein at least one of the code sets is programmable by a user. 2. A method for generating a print from a stored electronic document, comprising: a user interface having a display screen on which one or more of a plurality of messages may be displayed to provide status information about a printing system to a user. A programmable message storage system for storing one or more of the plurality of messages in a multi-function printing system including a printing device, wherein a plurality of message identifiers respectively corresponding to the plurality of messages are tabulated. A configurable database, a plurality of code sets each corresponding to the plurality of message identifiers, each code set controlling a manner in which a corresponding message is displayed on the display screen, And where you Responsive to the input, wherein at least one of the plurality of code sets is removed from the database such that the message corresponding to at least one of the plurality of code sets is no longer displayable on the user interface. A programmable message storage system, wherein at least one of the plurality of code sets is removable from the database. 3. A method for generating a print from a stored electronic document comprising a user interface having a display screen on which one or more of a plurality of messages may be displayed to provide status information about a printing system to a user. A programmable message storage system for storing one or more of the plurality of messages in a multi-function printing system including a printing device, wherein a plurality of message identifiers respectively corresponding to the plurality of messages are tabulated. A configurable database, a plurality of code sets each corresponding to the plurality of message identifiers, each code set controlling a manner in which a corresponding message is displayed on the display screen, And where you Responsive to the input, a new code set can be added to the database such that a message corresponding to the new code set can be displayed on the user interface when the new code set is added to the database. Possible message storage system.