> We have heard PWG people say things like:
>> "You can put your IPP printer URL on your business card!"
>> But what does this really mean? That is, how (and when and where)
> would a user enter an IPP printer URL? We have long come to
> admit that it won't be applicable to mainstream browsers (one
> of the top three reasons we wanted to use HTTP in the first
> place, since fallen by the wayside in terms of IPP benefits).
>> From what I can tell, IPP URLs are effectively hidden from
> end users; instead, the end user's local printing system will
> front-end any/all IPP interaction.
>> Is this an accurate depiction?
from UNIX, I'd expect to be able to do
% setenv PRINTER ipp://spot.cs.utk.edu/slug
% lpr filename.pdf
(much like I do now)
>From a GUI interface, I'd expect to be able to pull-down a File menu
and select a Print option which would pop up a dialog box that gave
me the option of entering an ipp: URL as an alternative to choosing one of
the preconfigured printers. (similar to the option that lets me type
in a network printer accessed by SMB)
In an really nice world, the printer chooser would then talk to the
printer and figure out what kind of driver it needed to print.
If the driver were not already installed, the dialog box would then
give me the option of either installing a driver from disk, downloading
one from the net (hopefully with adequate authenticity/integrity
protection), or using a generic driver to talk to the printer.
(assuming my system already has a driver for common PDLs)
Of course, the IPP group can't dictate OS vendors' user interfaces,
but I see no reason why the IPP protocol cannot be used in this way.
Keith