The objective of using a 'standard' driver for a new printer is often
voiced, but seldom realized if the full capabilities of the printer
are to be accessible to the user. My understanding of scenario agrees
with Bob's, although I have concerns about how the driver will be
obtained. Storing in the printer may be a memory problem; setting up a
site driver-server may be an installation problem; accessing a remote
site may be an access problem (not all IP addresses will have internet
access). But I suggest that this is an implementation detail to be
worked out by the manufacturer, and if his printer can use some
standard driver that already is in the workstation, all the better.
Carl-uno's suggestion appears to be that there will be some common
printer language/minimum set of attributes associated with IPP, and I
find that of concern. It opens a very difficult area which I do not
think is critical to the general IPP objective. The reference to FAX
must also point out that one of the difficulties the IETF-FAX group
must face is setting a minimum universal capabilities (or providing
for feature negotiation). The features for FAX are much fewer than for
printers, and still it is a substantial problem. I suggest that IPP
concentrate on delivery and monitoring and not get into the specifics
of the print job format, at least not as a primary objective.
Bill Wagner, DPI, Division of Osicom Technologies
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: IPP> RE: Printer Instance Creation/Installation
Author: Carl-Uno Manros <cmanros at cp10.es.xerox.com> at Internet
Date: 12/17/96 6:29 PM
Bob,
if I recall correctly, one of our user requirements was that we would
like to avoid having a separate print driver to install for every new network
printer that a user may want to use. Compare this to fax today - you do
not expect the user to download a new piece of software for every new
fax address he/she wants to use. My hope would be that the "IPP print driver"
is a generic piece of software, which can be used for many different printers
in combination with a relatively short list of capabilities and options for a
particular printer. This list could be stored locally or downloaded every
time.
Am I too optimistic here?
BTW, this kind of thing is what I mean with the need to start producing use
scenarios, as everybody usually has a favorite implicit scenario in mind
when discussing a subject, but everybody's scenario can of course be quite
different. As long as we haven't written them down, we risk speaking past
each other.
Carl-Uno
At 05:25 PM 12/17/96 PST, Robert Herriot wrote:
>After reading Peter Zehler's document, I think that we have different
>understandings of how IPP will work on a PC. I have assumed that the
>procedure that a user follows for finding a printer is separate from
>the print operation.
>>For printer browsing, I would expect there would be some separate
>application possibly initiated through a web browser which would allow
>a user to specify printer characteristics and get back a list of
>printers. A user could then add one or more of these printers to the
>desktop. The operation of adding such a printer would install any
>necessary drivers to the PC, like any other add printer operation except
>that the drivers should come over the network and not request that the
>user insert the CD-rom.
>>When a user wishes to print from an application, I would expect that
>the list of available printers might include some IPP printers, but the
>application not need be aware of this difference. The same GDI
>API's would be supported by the IPP driver.
>>What do others think? Do you agree with my understanding or do you
>see things the way Peter does?
>>Bob Herriot
>>>>>> From jkm at underscore.com Sat Dec 14 17:06:47 1996
>> Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 20:06:49 -0500
>> From: JK Martin <jkm at underscore.com>
>> Organization: Underscore, Inc.
>> X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.0 (Win95; U)
>> MIME-Version: 1.0
>> To: IPP redirector <IPP at pwg.org>
>> Subject: Re: IPP> RE: Printer Instance Creation/Installation
>> References:
<"<E078B13281E2667C>E078B13281E2667C at X-WB-0311-MS3.XEROX"@-SMF->
>> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>> Sender: ipp-owner at pwg.org>> X-Lines: 22
>>>> Zehler,Peter wrote:
>> >
>> > All,
>> > I have placed a document that discusses these issues in the
>> > "contributions for discussion directory". I have an MS Word and
>> > a postscript version of the document. I need to convert the document
>> > to the Acrobat format. I need help with this since I do not have an
>> > Acrobat writer.
>>>> An Adobe PDF file now exists for the file(s) described above:
>>>>ftp://ftp.pwg.org/pub/pwg/ipp/contributions-for-discussion/IPP-driver-issue.
pdf
>>>> ...jay
>>>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> -- JK Martin | Email: jkm at underscore.com --
>> -- Underscore, Inc. | Voice: (603) 889-7000 --
>> -- 41C Sagamore Park Road | Fax: (603) 889-2699 --
>> -- Hudson, NH 03015-4915 | Web: http://www.underscore.com --
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>