Re: what ever happened to npp?

[Brad Clements <[e-mail]>]

>I recently got asked some questions in this space (the standard
>stuff- how do I spool lpr data to a diskless printer), and wondered
>what the output of this group was. Is there a draft RFC? Is there
>an archive?

>bvs
>Bill VerSteeg
>[e-mail]

Bill,

this list has been pretty quiet during the past few months. 

By NPP, do you mean NPA perhaps? (Network Printing Alliance)

In any case, several items have been discussed thus far, the extensions
to the LPR protocol were worked out some time ago, and may offer some
insight into the `diskless print device and LPR' question. I'm not sure
if the spec made it into RFC status (anyone know?)

CPAP (Common Printing Access Protocol, a spec from DEC) was proposed 
(by DEC, I assume) as a possible basis for future work.

The last I knew, the big open question was `what protocol are we
supposed to be defining?'

Consider three or four possibilities:

  client ----> server/spooler  ---> server/spooler ---> printdevice --> printer

Protocol     		 Is

Client to Server/Spool	Communication between client (PC, process, etc) to spooler
			or other server device

Server/Spooler to same	Possible spoolers forwarding to another spooler

Server/Spooler to printdev   Perhaps defining how a spooler/server should 
			     communicate with a smart print device, ie:
			     an HP Lan Card, Microplex box, etc

Printdevice to printer		Something like the NPA spec, or NPA itself

---

There are four possible protocol challenges shown above (not counting
Client to Printdevice, bypassing spooler). 

Which protocol (or all) are we supposed to be working on?

Brad Clements, CCP             [e-mail]               [phone]
NLMs Galore - free demos: ftp.msen.com:pub/vendor/murkworks    [phone] Fax