All,
The first TES teleconference was held. Here is the notes I took.
Participants:
Steve Gebert
Xavier Riley
Ira McDonald
Lee Farrell
Rick Yardumiun
Patrick Powell
Peter Zehler
We began by talking about what we are working on and (at a high level)
our approach. All who participated have some type of client to get the
bits on the wire. The objective of these clients is to drive the
development of the IPP Printer. One approach is to have a server-based
IPP Printer implemented as a JAVA servlet. Another approach is an
embedded IPP Printer. This printer is bound tightly to the device and
its native print system/MIB implementation. HTTP protocols are provided
by an embedded web server. Another approach is a gateway to LPD. This
gateway is in PEARL.
We also discussed what is required to move from an Internet Draft to a
Proposed Standard. It is my understanding that we need 2 interoperable
implementations. This would mean 2 clients and 2 IPP Printers that
interoperate with each other. The implementations should be on a
product tract. This is the part that is not very clear. Hopefully the
area director will make the requirements explicit for moving from
Internet Draft to Proposed Standard. I expect the area director to
specify what proof of interoperability must be supplied.
We discussed the availability of IPP clients. It is not clear when a
Microsoft IPP redirector or Netscape IPP component will be available.
In order to provide interopeable IPP Printer implementations the
availability of a public domain UNIX based IPP client was discussed.
It was suggested that a TCP port be allocated for IPP(516 was
suggested). Some of us use 3rd party embedded HTTP servers. We need to
find out from these companies is supporting IPP on a port other than
port 80 is a problem. Ira will check with SpyGlass and I will see if I
can get input from other vendors. This issue will be brought to the
full IPP group.
We discussed pairwise and blanket IPP interop testing. An IPP Bakeoff
would have to be arranged to handle the blanket test. We are not ready
for this at this time. (How much lead time will we need to prepare?)
Pairwise testing seem to be a sticky point.
1) Can an implementer place his IPP Printer on the public side of
their firewall?
2) Are we worried about security issues for initial tests?
3) Would a proxy server using SSL or TLS help security?
4) Can we work with a firewall vendor to prototype modifications
necessary for IPP support?
5) Would a publicly available IPP client make the across the
Internet pairwise testing unnecessary?
The way it stands right now is that any two individuals are encouraged
to arrange a pairwise test. Groupwide IPP pairwise testing is not ruled
out. We still have obstacles in the way.
There are two main roadblocks to the IPP TES group. One is the IPP
JobId/JobURI issue. The next is the security issue. These issues will
be passed on to the IPP chair