IPDS Glossary & Definitions

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AFP | IPDS Printing Software | IPDS Printer | IPDS | IPDS DIMM | MO:DCA | Port | SAA | TCP/IP

IPDS Background

In 1984 IBM® created a primary set of standards and rules known as Systems Application Architecture (SAA). SAA was created to give programmers and system designers an easier way to link data applications with any IBM platform. Intelligent Printer Data Stream™ (IPDS™) is the host-to-printer data stream used by SAA for Advanced Function Printing™ (AFP™).

IPDS provides the interface for identifying, monitoring, and controlling all-points-addressable (APA) printers, enabling the presentation of pages with combinations of various data types, including text, vector graphics, images, and bar codes. IPDS allows these data types, often produced by independent applications, to be merged at print time.

IPDS also offers two-way printer communication. This collaborative interaction provides detailed exception reporting and allows IPDS to adapt to specific printer resources and deal with real-time errors.

ExcelliPrint® preserves the advantages of IPDS, including two-way communication and complex printing abilities, but frees the user from purchasing and maintaining costly IPDS printing environments. ExcelliPrint bridges the gap between advanced printing and output device choice with print-to-file and Windows printer capabilities.

AFP Advanced Function Printing (or Presentation) IBM's object-oriented architecture covers a wide range of text, graphics, and color and black-and-white printing.

IPDS Printing Software Software is designed to run on a Windows PC, receiving IPDS spool files and printing to any Windows-based printer. This eliminates the need to purchase a special IPDS printer. (IPDS software for Windows)

IPDS Printer A printer that supports the common IPDS printer interface.

IPDS Intelligent Printer Data Stream IBM's host-to-printer data stream contains data and data presentation controls.

IPDS DIMM An IPDS DIMM (Dual In-line Memory Module) is similar to a memory module.

MO:DCA Mixed Object Document Content Architecture. A device-independent data stream for interchanging documents.

Port In TCP/IP, a 16-bit number used to communicate between TCP and a higher-level protocol or application. Some protocols, such as the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) use the same port number in all TCP/IP implementations.

SAA  Systems Application Architecture; a set of rules and guidelines developed by IBM in 1984.

TCP/IP  Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.

Advanced Function Printing

Advanced Function Printing (AFP) Also developed by IBM, AFP is a print management architecture that uses IPDS to interact with printers. Unlike IPDS, which is device-dependent, AFP is device-independent and object-oriented. AFP uses the Mixed Object Document Content Architecture (MO:DCA) to define a document's presentation. MO:DCA allows various data types, including text, images, graphics, and bar codes, to be incorporated into the final print job. When a job is ready for printing, AFP incorporates the MO:DCA elements, and then the AFP data stream is converted into an IPDS data stream by the Print Service Facility (PSF): the IBM software product that drives IPDS printers. Even though the AFP data stream is device-independent, it becomes device-dependent when converted to IPDS.

IBM, AFP, Advanced Function Printing, IPDS, and Intelligent Printer Data Stream are IBM trademarks