Subject: SDP> SDP and start sheets - TIPSI/IPP questions/requirements

From: Tom Hastings <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 08:21:15 PDT

ISSUE:  For SDP, how are start and end sheets supported?

There seem to be two alternatives:

1. The server generates the start sheet and end sheets contents using
one of the PDLs in the device.

2. The device generates the start sheet and end sheets as requested by
the server (which has the option of asking for start, start and end,
and none).  The server has to furnish the data to the device to put
on the start and end sheet.

3. Both the server and the device have the capability, and the
customer adminstrator setup up each to use either:

 (1) the server's start/end sheet capability in which case the device's 
 start/end sheet capability isn't used (because the server says it doesn't 
 want start/end sheets to the device.

 (2) the device's start/end sheet capability in which case the server
 passes the data on to the device in the protocol.

perhaps depending on the device (some devices having acceptable start/end
sheet capabilities and other devices not being acceptable to the
administrator).

Approach 1 seems the simplest and generates uniform start/end sheets
across all printers from all vendors.

However, approach 1 requires that the device implement multiple-documents
in one job in IPP parlance (multiple jobs in one session in TIP/SI
parlance.  Each document in an IPP job (jobs in a TIPSI session) must be 
able to be in a specific PDL, since the server has to generate the start/end 
sheet in one of the PDLs supported by the printer, which need not be the PDL 
that the end-user document is in.

Also approach 1 requires that the finishing must be able to be specified
for combinations of documents in a job (jobs in a session) independently,
so that the start and end sheets can be included or not included in the
stapling, for example.

Thus I think that a requirement for a device implementing a Server
to Device Protocol (TIPSI or IPP) is that it must support multiple
documents in an IPP job (multiple jobs in a single session in TIPSI 
parlance).

This is a differennce from the Model conformance requirements, but
Create-Job and Send-Document are well-defined operations in the Model 
document.

Tom

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 16:35:43 -0400

I can't even imagine this being in scope for a server to device protocol.

Don

To:   [email-masked]
cc:    (bcc: Don Wright)
bcc:  Don Wright
Subject:  SDP> SDP and start sheets - TIPSI/IPP questions/requirements

able to be in a specific PDL, since the server has to generate the
start/end
sheet in one of the PDLs supported by the printer, which need not be the
PDL

---

From: Tom Hastings <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 16:33:38 PDT

>I can't even imagine this being in scope for a server to device protocol.

Don,

I'm not sure what you mean by "this".

Do you mean that you can't imagine that a device understands start sheets
and end sheets?  That a server formats any start and end sheets, if the
user or administrator wants or requires them?

We happen to have a low end device that supports LPD that does banner
sheets.  Do any other vendors have the same?

This seems like a good requirements issue for SDP:

Should SDP provide for optional support of start/end/banner sheets in
the device?

If we don't, then the finishing specification gets more complex,
since the user may or may not want the start/end/banner sheets stapled
with the document(s).  So finishing has to be specified per document.

Thanks,
Tom