CURRENT_MEETING_REPORT_ Reported by Glenn Trewitt/DEC NPP Minutes We reviewed the goals of the Working Group (problems to be solved) and looked at how the problem could be partitioned into smaller subproblems. Three subproblems stood out: 1. Wire Protocol There is an immediate need among some vendors (notably those who make terminal servers) to have a standard that they can implement that provides the capability to create a TCP connection to one (of many) hardware ``byte-stream'' interfaces (either serial or parallel). The path must be capable of being 8-bit clean. It would be a good thing for the protocol to provide a mechanism for supporting ``rotary groups'' for groups of printers. 2. Printer Access Communication to a printer that has some sort of direct network connection. Presumably, the printer has its own IP address. The source of the print job is unspecified -- it might just be someone's PC, or a full-blown print manager and spooler. There are many requirements here: authentication, accounting, capability negotiation (what page description languages are supported, paper sizes, special features, etc.), etc. 3. Job Submission Communication from someone who has a document to be printed to a printing manager/spooler. The current popular example of this is the lpr/lpd protocol, which most people seem to feel is inadaquate for more complex printing environments. Decisions and Action Items We quickly decided that problem (1), the wire protocol, deserved a general solution in a broader context, since there are a number of other applications that require it, such as data collection, modem pools, and ``milking-machine'' concentrators. Russ Hobby agreed, and suggested that we take that protocol project to the Telnet Working Group. Bill Westfield (cisco) agreed to do this. In response to problem (2), Ajay Kachrani (DEC) proposed that we adopt the ``Printer Access Protocol''. This is the protocol used to communicate with Digital's networked PostScript printers. He handed out a description of it, which I will make available via anonymous FTP. Richard Hart (DEC) has proposed that we address problem (3) by adopting the Palladium printing archictecture, developed at MIT's project Athena. I suggested that we contact Adobe Systems, to see what input they could 1 provide about printing architectures. I have since talked to Carl Orthlieb and Sherri Nichols at Adobe. They will be providing four documents about Adobe's model of printing architecture, and will participate in our activities as well. I will shortly be setting up a directory (accessible via anonymous FTP) containing the Adobe documents, some relevant DEC Western Research Lab technical notes, as well as the documents about the two proposals (PAP and Palladium). Other Activities Leo McLaughlin and Robert Knight finished RFC 1179, documenting the Berkeley Line Printer Daemon Protocol. Attendees Philip Budne phil@shiva.com Anthony Chung anthony@hls.com Richard Hart hart@decvax.dec.com Russell Hobby rdhobby@ucdavis.edu Ajay Kachrani kachrani%regent.dec@decwrl.dec.com Stuart Lynne sl@wimsey.bc.ca Robert Morgan morgan@jessica.stanford.edu Glenn Trewitt trewitt@nsl.dec.com Bill Westfield billw@cisco.com 2