Preliminary agenda for the UPDF meeting in Boston on Friday, Sep 27th 2000.
After having finished the printer resident fonts (mainly in San Fransciso)
and even constraints (mainly in Chicago) it is time to come back to the
bigger picture again with a hopefully larger group to discuss satisfaction
with the current level of the spec, open requirements and scenarios of
implementation.
1. So I will most likely start with a wrap-up of the current overall level
of the spec.
2. The main item of the day will be paper handling with the current spec on
constraints in mind.
I will send this spec out within the next one or two days and I would very
much appreciate that all attendees have a clear understanding of it at the
meeting, as the constraints are one of the strong columns this concept is
based on.
It is only quite a small section. So the study will not be very time
consuming. I will prepare more samples to easy understanding. I expect you
to ask me questions concerning the constraints spec via email, if there are
any.
We will review the paper handling section the next weeks to prepare the
meeting. I will share the status with the whole UPDF group.
3. Event handlers
If there is time to prepare it more in detail and time in the meeting, Event
handlers will be another item.
Event handlers are considered another strong column of the concept. They are
designed to describe the assembly of a print file.
There will be a number of global events like JobStart, JobEnd, PageStart,
PageEnd plus some specific events, where it might be important to define the
exact order of commands to be sent (I could imagine that font download is a
sample for such a section).
The UPDF developer is supposed to be able to create something like an
ordered list. Each element of the list can be selected out of all fields of
any feature, which have to do with printer commands.
Each Event handler will have a section for PreConditions, Actions and
PostConditions.
The idea is to be able to tell that certain settings are to be ensured
before the event, then do the defined actions (work on the ordered list) and
eventually knowing what settings have been changed by sending all these
commands, if this is important.
I would appreciate some feedback before the conference to get a feeling, how
important you consider a flexible code-independent description of the print
file structure.
If this is considered a minor target, we can drop it. But expect me to fight
for it.
4. Predefined variable names
The Parameter Converter is already specified on the current level as the
first of the three strong columns (a forth one may be added). To specify
printer command sequences you need some predefined variable names, which you
will use in your formulas. The driver will set them to certain values and it
will basically be the input parameters of the function.
Example: You need a parameter COPIES to specify any useful formula for copy
handling.
We have to define a list of those variable names, which any driver/client
has to know about.
5. Overall architecture
We have to make some decisions on file naming, file structure and other
things.
We also will review the overall UPDF structure in this session to check for
consistency and wholes.
Concerning the overall driver/client architecture I still see UPDF taking
over where IPP stops. Although UPDF is not exclusively designed to work with
IPP, it is leaning heavily towards it to ensure the best possible
cooperation between these two concepts.
So we like to get some more input from the IPP group, where they see
requirements.
We consider Boston a major event for the UPDF group and think the spec has
grown to a certain level, which provides a much better base for a
sophisticated validation than at the beginning of the year. This will and
shall affect the way the spec will go heavily.
It would be nice to get a head count, who from the group of UPDF attendees
in Boston will be available on Thursday and/or Friday night AFTER work.
Simple email will do.
Regards
Norbert Schade
Oak Technology, Inc.
Imaging Group
10 Presidential Way
Woburn, MA 01801-1041
USA
phone: 1-781-638-7614
fax: 1-781-638-7555
email: norbertschade@oaktech.com
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