Intelligent Printer Data Stream (IPDS) is InfoPrint Solution Company's
Systems Application Architecture host-to-printer data stream for
Advanced Function Presentation subsystems. It provides an attachment-independent interface for controlling and managing
all points addressable (APA) printers that allows the presentation of pages containing an architecturally unlimited mixture of different data types, including text, image, graphics, bar code and object container. It is used by a variety of InfoPrint and
OEM print servers that drive all points addressable (APA) page printers. Generally these printers are at the medium to high end of the print speed and volume spectrum.
"One of the strengths of IPDS is that independent applications can create source data for each data block. The output of these independent applications is merged at the printer to create an integrated mixed data page."
The IPDS architecture allows for both spooled data and print job management to flow bidirectionally between the print server (or print driver) and the Printer Controller.
Examples of print job management controls are:
* Printer resolution
* Media jam
* Pre- or post-processor exceptions
* Storage usage
* Paper tray capabilities
* Duplexing capabilities
Examples of spooled data can be:
* Positioning Information for locating objects within the page
*
Fonts
* Text
* Images
*
Bar codes
* Electronic overlays
IPDS data streams are purely used to carry print information and data. This is above the network transport layer (typically
TCP/IP or
SNA
SNA or Sna may refer to:
Organizations
* Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency), Bulgaria's largest English-language news provider
* Shanni Nationalities Army
* Singapore National Academy, a school in Surabaya, Indonesia
* Sky News Australia, an Austra ...
) and the supporting hardware
LAN
Lan or LAN may also refer to:
Science and technology
* Local asymptotic normality, a fundamental property of regular models in statistics
* Longitude of the ascending node, one of the orbital elements used to specify the orbit of an object in sp ...
s, channels and network controllers.
IPDS carries data and instructions from the print server to the printer in structured fields. The printer controller processes these IPDS commands and returns acknowledgment back to the print server.
Similar to
PPDS, IPDS uses binary encoded commands and parameters, but IPDS is not compatible with PPDS.
"IPDS is the 'online' way being used to print AFP (
Advanced Function Presentation) documents. They can also be printed using the AFPDS format 'offline'."
Printers
A number of printers support IPDS directly.
* Compuprint—"Heavy Duty IPDS Desktop Matrix Printers in speeds of up to 1100 CPS"
*
HP—various printers using a plug-in
Flash memory
Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both us ...
device.
* IBM—IBM no longer manufactures printers.
*
Printronix—"IPDS Matrix Line Printers in speeds of 500 LPM, 1000 LPM, 1500 LPM and 2000 LPM"
*
Ricoh—"IPDS Matrix Line Printers in speeds of 500 LPM, 1000 LPM, 1500 LPM and 2000 LPM. Heavy Duty IPDS Desktop Matrix Printers in speeds of up to 1100 CPS"
*
Tally-Dascom—Heavy Duty IPDS Desktop Matrix Printers in speeds of up to 1000 CPS
*
Zebra—Thermal & Thermal Transfer Printers for Printing Labels and Bar Codes
A number of print servers are available from companies such as MPITech, IPDS Printing Solutions, IOCorp,
Xerox, and
Microsoft.
See also
*
MO:DCA, Mixed Object Document Content Architecture
References
External links
Intelligent Printer Data Stream ReferenceRicoh IPDS printers (2013)IBM IPDS printers (2009)
{Dead link, date=January 2020 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes
Advanced Function Presentation
Page description languages
Intelligent Printer Data Stream