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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2600.0" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=2>Although there was no official UPDF meeting scheduled for Portland, Mark Hamzy, Jim Sommer and I joined parts of the PSI meeting and the full-day plenary to represent our interests.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>However we took the time to meet on Wednesday afternoon (6 hours) and Thursday evening (two hours) to discuss some open issues we could not resolve in emails and phone calls.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>These were the major issues:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><U><STRONG>1. ICC profiles</STRONG></U></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>We will add an element References under 'PrintCapabilities' like 'Features' and 'Objects.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>The only element underneath will be 'ICC_Profiles'. That way we can list as many profiles as we want and can select them with dependencies like features and objects.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Expect to hear more the next days.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><STRONG><U>2. Hardware margins</U></STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>We have added an attribute 'Orientation' to 'HardwareMargins' and could now save an extra margins element for landscape. It's easier to implement it this way on the host.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><STRONG><U>3. Dependencies</U></STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>We shortened the term 'Interdependencies' to 'Dependencies'.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>The structure was changed as well. We do not support the definitions of 'OR' conditions any more. It is too complex to write a parser, which would understand all possible varieties of conditions. And we want to encourage people to read the xml on-the-fly.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Now it is necessary to split previous 'OR' conditions into separate conditions. On the other hand we have a simpler structure. It is still possible to combine as many features as you want in one condition. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>And the complete action section is more or less unchanged.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>The attribute 'Relation' is now constrained to 'equal' and 'not-equal', as we did not find any sample where 'less' and 'larger' really was needed.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>More details to come for the interested expert.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><STRONG><U>4. Classifying identifyers</U></STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>In general we are intending to consistently work with Predefined_ID/Proprietary_ID attributes wherever possible. You will see a number of related changes. This eases the host implementation as well.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><STRONG><U>5. Syntax problems</U></STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>We were discussing some global syntax problems for some time, but we could solve all of them.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>One major change to accomplish that is to allow IHV to add their own namespace to UPDF if needed.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>The cases where useful of needed will be rare, but it provides for a consistent syntax all over the place when it comes to command sequences and parameters referenced within them.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>See samples coming up.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><STRONG><U>6. Common PWG Semantic Model</U></STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>The PWG declared the IPP concept the base for the common Semantic Model and defined a set of schemas to document that.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>We will check, how close UPDF already is to these structures and discuss open issues with them.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>That will be one of our main activities the next weeks.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><STRONG><U>7. UPDF as common base for device capabilities under IBM Linux solutions.</U></STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>There is some discussion going on in a Linux forum, where the PWG and IBM are actively contributing.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>One option is to take UPDF as their common format to store driver capabilities by using it.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>This is a very interesting approach and proves that the UPDF standard is on an excellent level.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>This is another activity we will persue in the near future.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><STRONG><U>8. Print Services</U></STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>As many may know there is a new group in the PWG community called Print Services.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>They are checking UPDF and probably may use some of the functionality to accomplish some of their targets.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Another field where the hard work we did over the last years will pay out.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>We are supporting them as much as we can, as we consider that activity very close to a driver.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><STRONG><U>9. We invite all IHV to start some UPDF implementations</U></STRONG>, as we have the host implementations under MS Windows and IBM Linux working to quite a good level. Now it's the time to get device descriptions checked.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>So start writing them and let us know, if you need help.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>We will send another note through the PWG reflector to get the message around.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>You see we could cover a lot of bases in two very effective meetings. We do not plan to meet in Santa Fe, but most likely we will meet in New Orleans. In the meantime we will continue with the host implementation and finish the UPDF design for level 1 section by section.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Regards</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Norbert Schade<BR>69 Prescott Drive<BR>North Chelmsford, MA 01863<BR>978-251-1017<BR><A href="mailto:norbertschade@attbi.com">norbertschade@attbi.com</A></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>