IPP Mail Archive: Re: IPP> Media Standardized Names

Re: IPP> Media Standardized Names

From: Harry Lewis (harryl@us.ibm.com)
Date: Fri Apr 20 2001 - 10:44:23 EDT

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    Then, what we're really building is a "Media Name Registry" which can
    later become part of a fully described syntax. In that case I think the
    registry is overly complicated with dot parsing rules and tricky prefix
    overloading. Why not just assign OIDs?
    ----------------------------------------------
    Harry Lewis
    IBM Printing Systems
    ----------------------------------------------

    don@lexmark.com
    Sent by: owner-ipp@pwg.org
    04/20/2001 06:05 AM

     
            To: ipp@pwg.org
            cc:
            Subject: IPP> Media Standardized Names

     

    Whoaaa...

    I think we are once again forgetting the intent and purpose of this
    standard and
    attempting to make it all things for all people (or drivers or whatever.)

    The original purpose of this standard was to create a list of media NAMES
    that
    would easily be parsed and the relevant information presented to the user.
     So
    when the printer told the system it had:

    na-letter.8500-11000

    the system could tell the user there was

    Letter (8.5 X 11)

    available.

    Or, if was a CAD application, it would know that the user would want to
    see that
    presented as

    A Size (8.5 X 11)

    because the CAD application has a TABLE that matched the
    na-letter.8500-11000 to
    a name its users preferred called "A Size"

    A list of standarized names is simply that.... a list. It helps us
    printer
    geeks know what the media is and translate it for the user to whatever
    format
    the user expects. (I seriously doubt is any "normal" user would want to
    know
    that the media loaded was:

    tw-letter.12240-15840

    (assumimg tw to be the abbreviation of twips))

    We could just have easily standardized the names to not include the
    dimensions
    but we chose to standardize the name to include the natural and normal
    units and
    dimensions that piece of media is know by (to most people.) Conversions
    to
    other units are OUTSIDE the scope of this standard and are to be handled
    internally by any application using the NAMES. Remember, it is only a
    NAME.
    Your NAME doesn't include information that completely describes you.... it
    is
    simple a short-hand way of talking about a complete person. That is all
    this
    is. Sorry if is doesn't provided infinite amounts of information or an
    infinite
    number of ways of encoding the same information but it is just a NAME.

    Harry and others are of course free to create an XML encoding that
    COMPLETELY
    describes EVERY characterisic of media (and I do mean every) but this
    standard
    was not intended to do that.

    **********************************************
    * Don Wright don@lexmark.com *
    * Chair, Printer Working Group *
    * Chair, IEEE MSC *
    * *
    * Director, Alliances & Standards *
    * Lexmark International *
    * 740 New Circle Rd *
    * Lexington, Ky 40550 *
    * 859-825-4808 (phone) 603-963-8352 (fax) *
    **********************************************



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