Based on feedback, it would appear that a number of the printers out
there are designed more for mobile printing than desktop printing. This
is indicated by the document formats they support. Typically, such
printers return a supported document format list similar to the following:

application/vnd.hp-PCL: this is HP’s Printer Control Language. It is
text with escape sequences although binary data can be included when
graphics are involved.

image/jpeg: a standard JPEG file

application/PCLm: contrary to its name, PCLm has nothing to do with PCL.
It is a subset of PDF, basically the raster functions of PDF. Any PDF
viewer can view PCLm files, the reverse is not true.

image/urf: This is Apple’s raster format. This is what AirPrint uses.
Any file to be printed is converted to a raster and sent to the printer.

image/pwg-raster: This is the Printer Working Group’s raster format.
Probably similar to Apple’s but documented and free to use. This
format, along with PCLm, is used by Mopria for printing from Android phones.

Some of these printers have also been known to accept text or postscript
but some of the ones I've received feedback on do not.

Until VMS gets a rasterising utility, it can't really print much to such
printers. At least not directly. There is, however, a work-around.

CUPS has a number of x-to-raster filters included with it and CUPS is
also an IPP server. Thus, if you have unix type system, such as a Mac,
Raspberry Pi, Linux, etc. configured to talk to your printer, you can
use the IPP utility I posted to print files through that system.

For example, here are the file types supported directly by my printer:

application/octet-stream, image/urf, image/pwg-raster, application/pdf,
image/jpeg, application/postscript, application/vnd.hp-PCL, text/plain

But here are the file types supported when printing through my Mac:

application/octet-stream,
application/pc-eps, application/pdf,
application/postscript,
application/vnd.apple-postscript,
application/vnd.cups-banner,
application/vnd.cups-pdf,
application/vnd.cups-postscript,
application/vnd.cups-raster,
application/vnd.cups-raw,
application/x-cshell, application/x-csource,
application/x-perl, application/x-shell,
image/fuji-raw, image/gif, image/imageio,
image/jp2, image/jpeg, image/minolta-raw,
image/openexr, image/pict, image/png,
image/pwg-raster, image/rad, image/tiff,
image/urf, image/x-alias, image/x-bitmap,
image/x-bmp, image/x-ico,
image/x-icon, image/x-photocd,
image/x-portable-anymap,
image/x-portable-bitmap, image/x-portable-graymap,
image/x-portable-pixmap, image/x-psd,
image/x-qtif, image/x-sgi-rgb,
image/x-sun-raster, image/x-tga,
image/x-xbitmap, image/x-xpixmap,
text/plain

An updated version of my IPP utility is available at
https://theberrymans.com/php_kits/ipp.zip

Among other things, this version adds the /device_url switch to the show
command so that one can query a CUPS server. It also no longer requires
privilege to run. See the included readme file for details.

Mark Berryman

On 04/05/2021 19:14, Mark Berryman wrote:
> Based on feedback, it would appear that a number of the printers out
> there are designed more for mobile printing than desktop printing.  This
> is indicated by the document formats they support.  Typically, such
> printers return a supported document format list similar to the following:
>
> application/vnd.hp-PCL: this is HP’s Printer Control Language.  It is
> text with escape sequences although binary data can be included when
> graphics are involved.
>
> image/jpeg: a standard JPEG file
>
> application/PCLm: contrary to its name, PCLm has nothing to do with PCL.
> It is a subset of PDF, basically the raster functions of PDF.  Any PDF
> viewer can view PCLm files, the reverse is not true.
>
> image/urf: This is Apple’s raster format.  This is what AirPrint uses.
> Any file to be printed is converted to a raster and sent to the printer.
>
> image/pwg-raster: This is the Printer Working Group’s raster format.
> Probably similar to Apple’s but documented and free to use.  This
> format, along with PCLm, is used by Mopria for printing from Android
> phones.
>
> Some of these printers have also been known to accept text or postscript
> but some of the ones I've received feedback on do not.
>
> Until VMS gets a rasterising utility, it can't really print much to such
> printers.  At least not directly.  There is, however, a work-around.
>
> CUPS has a number of x-to-raster filters included with it and CUPS is
> also an IPP server.  Thus, if you have unix type system, such as a Mac,
> Raspberry Pi, Linux, etc. configured to talk to your printer, you can
> use the IPP utility I posted to print files through that system.
>
> For example, here are the file types supported directly by my printer:
>
> application/octet-stream, image/urf, image/pwg-raster, application/pdf,
> image/jpeg, application/postscript, application/vnd.hp-PCL, text/plain
>
> But here are the file types supported when printing through my Mac:
>
> application/octet-stream, application/pc-eps, application/pdf,
> application/postscript, application/vnd.apple-postscript,
> application/vnd.cups-banner, application/vnd.cups-pdf,
> application/vnd.cups-postscript, application/vnd.cups-raster,
> application/vnd.cups-raw, application/x-cshell, application/x-csource,
>      application/x-perl, application/x-shell,           image/fuji-raw,
> image/gif, image/imageio,                 image/jp2, image/jpeg,
> image/minolta-raw,                       image/openexr, image/pict,
> image/png,                         image/pwg-raster, image/rad,
> image/tiff,                              image/urf, image/x-alias,
> image/x-bitmap,                                    image/x-bmp,
> image/x-ico, image/x-icon,
> image/x-photocd, image/x-portable-anymap, image/x-portable-bitmap,
> image/x-portable-graymap,              image/x-portable-pixmap,
> image/x-psd,                image/x-qtif, image/x-sgi-rgb,
> image/x-sun-raster, image/x-tga,        image/x-xbitmap,
> image/x-xpixmap,      text/plain
>
> An updated version of my IPP utility is available at
> https://theberrymans.com/php_kits/ipp.zip
>
> Among other things, this version adds the /device_url switch to the show
> command so that one can query a CUPS server.  It also no longer requires
> privilege to run.  See the included readme file for details.
>

Mark, many thanks for your work on this.

I failed to get mine to print with a PCL wrapper, and have only just
finished reconfiguring the printer from Windows (it lost colour!) and
the Pi, as that one wasn't working.

Have now printed successfully from my AXP emulator. Will now try it from
my physical alpha...

--
Chris Townley

In article <s6s2ue$ogj$1@dont-email.me>, Mark Berryman
<mark@theberrymans.com> writes:

> An updated version of my IPP utility is available at
> https://theberrymans.com/php_kits/ipp.zip
>
> Among other things, this version adds the /device_url switch to the show
> command so that one can query a CUPS server. It also no longer requires
> privilege to run. See the included readme file for details.

Thanks very much for this. I'll definitely investigate it more in the
future and will probably find that you've already solved some of my
problems. :-)

On 04/05/2021 21:09, Phillip Helbig (undress to reply) wrote:
> In article <s6s2ue$ogj$1@dont-email.me>, Mark Berryman
> <mark@theberrymans.com> writes:
>
>> An updated version of my IPP utility is available at
>> https://theberrymans.com/php_kits/ipp.zip
>>
>> Among other things, this version adds the /device_url switch to the show
>> command so that one can query a CUPS server. It also no longer requires
>> privilege to run. See the included readme file for details.
>
> Thanks very much for this. I'll definitely investigate it more in the
> future and will probably find that you've already solved some of my
> problems. :-)
>

So Phillip it gives you the chance to get a Raspberry Pi running Linux
to have a play with...

:)

--
Chris

On 2021-05-04, Mark Berryman <mark@theberrymans.com> wrote:
> Based on feedback, it would appear that a number of the printers out
> there are designed more for mobile printing than desktop printing. This
> is indicated by the document formats they support. Typically, such
> printers return a supported document format list similar to the following:
>
> application/vnd.hp-PCL: this is HP?s Printer Control Language. It is
> text with escape sequences although binary data can be included when
> graphics are involved.
>

Just for completion, there are multiple PCL versions around.

Is there any indication of which PCL version(s) this covers ?

Simon.

--
Simon Clubley, clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.

On 5/4/21 2:49 PM, Simon Clubley wrote:
> On 2021-05-04, Mark Berryman <mark@theberrymans.com> wrote:
>> Based on feedback, it would appear that a number of the printers out
>> there are designed more for mobile printing than desktop printing. This
>> is indicated by the document formats they support. Typically, such
>> printers return a supported document format list similar to the following:
>>
>> application/vnd.hp-PCL: this is HP?s Printer Control Language. It is
>> text with escape sequences although binary data can be included when
>> graphics are involved.
>>
>
> Just for completion, there are multiple PCL versions around.
>
> Is there any indication of which PCL version(s) this covers ?

Yes. Each printer will have some attribute indicating which version of
the various protocols it supports. Mine, for example, claims PCL 6 support.

Mark

On 5/5/2021 10:19 AM, Mark Berryman wrote:
> On 5/4/21 2:49 PM, Simon Clubley wrote:
>> On 2021-05-04, Mark Berryman <mark@theberrymans.com> wrote:
>>> Based on feedback, it would appear that a number of the printers out
>>> there are designed more for mobile printing than desktop printing. 
>>> This
>>> is indicated by the document formats they support.  Typically, such
>>> printers return a supported document format list similar to the
>>> following:
>>>
>>> application/vnd.hp-PCL: this is HP?s Printer Control Language.  It is
>>> text with escape sequences although binary data can be included when
>>> graphics are involved.
>>>
>>
>> Just for completion, there are multiple PCL versions around.
>>
>> Is there any indication of which PCL version(s) this covers ?
>
> Yes.  Each printer will have some attribute indicating which version
> of the various protocols it supports.  Mine, for example, claims PCL 6
> support.
>

FWIW:

PCL 5, to my knowledge, is a superset of PCL 4, which is a superset of
PCL 3, and so on. PCL 6 (also known as PCL XL) is very different.

I haven't seen any glaring inaccuracies in the Wikipedia entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_Command_Language#PCL_levels_1_through_5_overview

(I worked on embedded PCL 5 and PCL 6 interpreters about twenty years ago.)

Louis

On 5/5/21 1:49 PM, Louis Krupp wrote:
> On 5/5/2021 10:19 AM, Mark Berryman wrote:
>> On 5/4/21 2:49 PM, Simon Clubley wrote:
>>> On 2021-05-04, Mark Berryman <mark@theberrymans.com> wrote:
>>>> Based on feedback, it would appear that a number of the printers out
>>>> there are designed more for mobile printing than desktop printing. This
>>>> is indicated by the document formats they support.  Typically, such
>>>> printers return a supported document format list similar to the
>>>> following:
>>>>
>>>> application/vnd.hp-PCL: this is HP?s Printer Control Language.  It is
>>>> text with escape sequences although binary data can be included when
>>>> graphics are involved.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Just for completion, there are multiple PCL versions around.
>>>
>>> Is there any indication of which PCL version(s) this covers ?
>>
>> Yes.  Each printer will have some attribute indicating which version
>> of the various protocols it supports.  Mine, for example, claims PCL 6
>> support.
>>
>
> FWIW:
>
> PCL 5, to my knowledge, is a superset of PCL 4, which is a superset of
> PCL 3, and so on. PCL 6 (also known as PCL XL) is very different.
>
> I haven't seen any glaring inaccuracies in the Wikipedia entry:
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_Command_Language#PCL_levels_1_through_5_overview
>
>
> (I worked on embedded PCL 5 and PCL 6 interpreters about twenty years ago.)

As far as I know, PCL 6 "enhanced" is PCL XL. PCL 6 "standard",
frequently written as simply PCL 6, is the same as PCL 5e (or PCL 5c if
color).

As an example, my printer claims PCL 6, and has properly printed every
PCL file I've thrown at it, most of which were PCL 3.

Mark Berryman

Mark Berryman <mark@theberrymans.com> wrote:
>On 5/4/21 2:49 PM, Simon Clubley wrote:
>> On 2021-05-04, Mark Berryman <mark@theberrymans.com> wrote:
>>> Based on feedback, it would appear that a number of the printers out
>>> there are designed more for mobile printing than desktop printing. This
>>> is indicated by the document formats they support. Typically, such
>>> printers return a supported document format list similar to the following:
>>>
>>> application/vnd.hp-PCL: this is HP?s Printer Control Language. It is
>>> text with escape sequences although binary data can be included when
>>> graphics are involved.
>>>
>>
>> Just for completion, there are multiple PCL versions around.
>>
>> Is there any indication of which PCL version(s) this covers ?
>
>Yes. Each printer will have some attribute indicating which version of
>the various protocols it supports. Mine, for example, claims PCL 6 support.

If you don't know, run the self test page on the printer and it will likely
say.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On 5/5/2021 3:20 PM, Mark Berryman wrote:
> On 5/5/21 1:49 PM, Louis Krupp wrote:
>> On 5/5/2021 10:19 AM, Mark Berryman wrote:
>>> On 5/4/21 2:49 PM, Simon Clubley wrote:
>>>> On 2021-05-04, Mark Berryman <mark@theberrymans.com> wrote:
>>>>> Based on feedback, it would appear that a number of the printers out
>>>>> there are designed more for mobile printing than desktop printing.
>>>>> This
>>>>> is indicated by the document formats they support. Typically, such
>>>>> printers return a supported document format list similar to the
>>>>> following:
>>>>>
>>>>> application/vnd.hp-PCL: this is HP?s Printer Control Language.  It is
>>>>> text with escape sequences although binary data can be included when
>>>>> graphics are involved.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Just for completion, there are multiple PCL versions around.
>>>>
>>>> Is there any indication of which PCL version(s) this covers ?
>>>
>>> Yes.  Each printer will have some attribute indicating which version
>>> of the various protocols it supports.  Mine, for example, claims PCL
>>> 6 support.
>>>
>>
>> FWIW:
>>
>> PCL 5, to my knowledge, is a superset of PCL 4, which is a superset
>> of PCL 3, and so on. PCL 6 (also known as PCL XL) is very different.
>>
>> I haven't seen any glaring inaccuracies in the Wikipedia entry:
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_Command_Language#PCL_levels_1_through_5_overview
>>
>>
>> (I worked on embedded PCL 5 and PCL 6 interpreters about twenty years
>> ago.)
>
> As far as I know, PCL 6 "enhanced" is PCL XL.  PCL 6 "standard",
> frequently written as simply PCL 6, is the same as PCL 5e (or PCL 5c
> if color).
>
> As an example, my printer claims PCL 6, and has properly printed every
> PCL file I've thrown at it, most of which were PCL 3.
>

Basically, PCL 6 *is* PCL XL.

I also have a printer that claims PCL 6 support. When I printed a Word
document and selected "Print to file," I got this:

%-12345X@PJL JOB
@PJL SET JOBATTR "OS =Windows"
@PJL SET JOBATTR "OS Version = Windows 8.1 6.3.9600.1"
@PJL SET JOBATTR "Render Type = InOS"
@PJL SET JOBATTR "Render Name = HP PCL6 Class Driver"
@PJL SET JOBATTR "Render Version=6.3.4.1"
@PJL SET COPIES=1
@PJL SET QTY=1
@PJL SET RESOLUTION=600
@PJL ENTER LANGUAGE=PCLXL
) HP-PCL XL;2;0;Comment Copyright(c) 1999-2011 Hewlett-Packard Corporation
<stuff in binary>LETTER

The first few lines are in PJL, or Printer Job Language. The stuff in
binary looks like this when run through the Linux octal dump (od)
command with the flags "-a -A none":

    C   o   r   p   o   r   a   t   i   o   n  nl   Q   X stx   X
 stx   x  ht   @ nul   x ack   @ etx   x  si   A   @ nul   x  bs
   @ soh   x stx   H   @ soh   x   &   @ nul   x   (   @ nul   x
   4   @ nul   x   (   H   @ ack   L   E   T   T   E   R   x   %
   C   U nul nul nul   ? nul nul nul   ?   x   +   w   @ soh   x
   G   q   @ soh   x   H   r   @ soh   x etx   j   @ nul   x   -
   x   @ nul   x   -   |   a   H   @ stx   F   0   x   (   @ nul
   x   )   O   A   &   8   x   '   P   z   &   8 nul nul nul nul

It's mostly binary, glorious binary. There are none of the escape
sequences that characterize PCLn (where n <= 5), like this file I found
online:

esc   &   l   3   A esc   &   l   0   o   0   l   6   d 3   E
 esc   *   p   0   Y esc   *   v   0   t   0   n   0   O esc   (
   8   U esc   (   s   0   p   1   0   h   1   2   v   0   s   0
   b   3   T esc   *   p   2   9   9   x   7   0   Y   D   S   I
  sp   T   E   S   T  sp   L   E   N   D   E   R  sp   F   O   R

I'm having a hard time finding a PCL6 reference manual online.

Two things about your printer:

1. I'm sure your printer supports PCL6. It also supports PCL5 and its
ancestors.

2. PCL6 support might or might not even matter. It might be there
because printer manufacturers believe that the more page description
languages (like PCL5, PCL6, XPS) the printer supports and the more of
them are listed on the box, the more likely you are to buy the printer.
I worked for a company that built PDF support into some of its printers;
if the driver could send a PDF file to the printer, the printer could
print it. This required the printer to have its own disk drive so it
could spool the PDF file; if you've worked with PDF internals, you'll
know that you might be able to print the first page right away, but to
print anything else, you have to read the directory that's at the *end*
of the file. I've never had a problem with opening a file with Adobe
Acrobat Reader and letting it talk to the printer, but I'm sure that in
some situations, it's good to bypass that.

Louis

Op dinsdag 4 mei 2021 om 20:14:42 UTC+2 schreef Mark Berryman:
> Based on feedback, it would appear that a number of the printers out
> there are designed more for mobile printing than desktop printing. This
> is indicated by the document formats they support. Typically, such
> printers return a supported document format list similar to the following:
>
[snip]
>
> An updated version of my IPP utility is available at
> https://theberrymans.com/php_kits/ipp.zip
>
[snip]
>
> Mark Berryman

Thanks Mark, I just came across this.

Any chance that it will compile on VAX 7.3 ?

/Wilm

On 3/20/22 4:02 AM, Wilm Boerhout wrote:
> Op dinsdag 4 mei 2021 om 20:14:42 UTC+2 schreef Mark Berryman:
>> Based on feedback, it would appear that a number of the printers out
>> there are designed more for mobile printing than desktop printing. This
>> is indicated by the document formats they support. Typically, such
>> printers return a supported document format list similar to the following:
>>
> [snip]
>>
>> An updated version of my IPP utility is available at
>> https://theberrymans.com/php_kits/ipp.zip
>>
> [snip]
>>
>> Mark Berryman
>
> Thanks Mark, I just came across this.
>
> Any chance that it will compile on VAX 7.3 ?

Not very likely. It has some 64-bit references and likely has some
constructs that won't compile using VAX C.

Mark Berryman