Inside JDF: Capabilities Craig Benson Senior Computer Scientist II Adobe Systems, Inc.

Page 2 It’s all about Interoperability!! If you don’t know about capabilities, you won’t be able to interoperate…

Page 3 It’s all about Interoperability!! But if you do, you can use the right tools…

Page 4 What are Capabilities? zCapabilities allow actors in the workflow to determine what some other actor can do

Page 5 What are Capabilities? Of course, there’s no requirement that any of the actors actually be people…

Page 6 Who are the actors? zJob submission utilities (both to a print shop and within the print shop) zPrint shops zMIS systems zPrepress workflow managers zApplications zIndividual pieces of equipment zOperators of offline equipment zAnd the list goes on…

Page 7 What can Capabilities be used For? zDetermining what products a print shop could produce. zAllows the creation of JDF Intent (product descriptions). zDetermining what equipment is available in a shop. zAllows MIS systems to take JDF Intent and determine production steps to produce job. zCreating a UI to allow configuration of job processing for a piece of equipment or application. zPreflighting a JDF before processing by a JDF consumer.

Page 8 An example workflow Prepress Workflow Controller RIP Trap Color Adjust Impose

Page 9 An example workflow Prepress Workflow Controller RIP Trap Color Adjust Impose Ask for capabilities

Page 10 An example workflow Prepress Workflow Controller RIP Trap Color Adjust Impose Capabilities File

Page 11 Configuration UI for jobs An example workflow Prepress Workflow Controller RIP Trap Color Adjust Impose The UI is created from the capabilities file!

Page 12 An example workflow Prepress Workflow Controller RIP Trap Color Adjust Impose The JDF+PDF

Page 13 Official Warning Details Ahead!!

Page 14 What about PPDs and Schemas? zPPDs zProvide basic capabilities information about a printer zAllow printer options to be configured by specifying PostScript snippets zProvide a simple constraints mechanism for UI zAllow controls to be localized (but typically just for the “advanced” dialog)

Page 15 What about PPDs and Schemas? zSchemas zDescribe the aggregated capabilities of JDF (processes & resources) zDo not support constraints definitions zDo not support localizations zDo not allow a device to specify a subset of the aggregated capabilities

Page 16 So what are Capabilities? zXML-based zOf course… zThe capabilities description directly reflects the structure of the JDF itself. zConstrains a device implementation against the schema zEither the JDF schema or an extension schema zDoes not require the schema to be used to work Remember, the schema only specifies the aggregated capabilities of JDF

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Page 18 Capabilities Overview zConstraints zJDF 1.1 – simple definitions of constraints (verbose) zJDF 1.2 – allows a specification of a boolean expression to specify constraints if (val1 > 50) and (val2 = RGB) and (val3 < 100) then fail

Page 19 Capabilities Overview zFeature macros (JDF 1.2) zAllows a set of multiple JDF controls to be represented by a single abstract control in a user interface. ScannerQuality: (draft, good, best) sets resolution, color mode, …

Page 20 Capabilities Overview zLocalizations (JDF 1.2) zFeature names and individual values can be localized (even true and false) zAlso used with constraints to provide localized descriptions (for UI) of the error described when the constraint test fails

Page 21 Capabilities Overview zFeature availability (JDF 1.2) zThe feature is installed on the device and is available for use. zThe feature has not been installed on the device. zThe feature has been installed on the device, but may not be used until licensed. zThe feature is installed and licensed on the device, but has been disabled.

Page 22 Capabilities Overview zUI hints (JDF 1.2) zFeature grouping zUnit type zAngle, length, weight,… zWhether a feature should be displayed zThe feature should be displayed. zThe feature should not be displayed. zThe feature should be displayed only for administrators. zThe feature should be conditionally displayed. zThe feature should be displayed only in vendor support situations. zIcons to represent the device

Page 23 Capabilities Overview zJMF (Job Messaging Format) capabilities zWhich JMF messages are supported zSpecifics for each message

Page 24 Capabilities Overview zPerformance data zMinimum/Maximum/Average setup time zMinimum/Maximum/Average cleanup time zAverage/Worst case run rate

Page 25 Capabilities Link the Workflow Together!

Page 26 Contact Information zSpeaker: Craig Benson zModerator: Stephan Jaeggi zMore Information at: zWWW.CIP4.ORGWWW.CIP4.ORG zWWW.SEYBOLD365.COM