IPDS Background

In 1984 IBM® created a set of standards 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, an interface that enables the presentation of pages with combinations of various data types including text, vector graphics, images, and bar codes. IPDS allows these different 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 to deal with errors in real time.

IPDS and ExcelliPrint

ExcelliPrint maintains IPDS’s strengths, such as complex printing abilities and two-way communication, but allows users to break from expensive IPDS printing environments. ExcelliPrint, with its Windows®-based printer and print-to-file capabilities, brings the advantages of IPDS to common print environments.