List of printing protocols
A printing protocol is a protocol for communication between client devices (computers, mobile phones, tablets, etc.) and printers (or print servers). It allows clients to submit one or more print jobs to the printer or print server, and perform tasks such as querying the status of a printer, obtaining the status of print jobs, or cancelling individual print jobs.
A variety of protocols have been developed to communicate with printers across the network. Some protocols are specific for printing, others are generic protocols that connect to a networked device and exchange files and status information. These protocols put the printer as similar class to remote disks, scanners and multimedia devices. This is especially true for multi-function printers, that also produce image files (scans and faxes) and send them back through the network.
Dedicated protocols
- The Line Printer Daemon protocol/Line Printer Remote protocol (or LPD, LPR) is a network protocol for submitting print jobs to a remote printer. The original implementation of LPD was in the Berkeley printing system in the 2.10 BSD UNIX operating system in 1988; the LPRng project also supports that protocol. The LPD Protocol Specification is documented in RFC 1179.[1]
- HP JetDirect printing protocol is one of the most widely used for network printers. It supports bidirectional communication as the Queue status, Job status, and page status.
- AppSocket, also known as Port 9100, RAW, or Windows TCPmon is a protocol that was developed by Tektronix that is very similar to HP Jetdirect.[2][3] It is considered as 'the simplest, fastest, and generally the most reliable network protocol used for printers' though 'it also offers no security and is often an attack vector with printers'.[3]
- The Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) is an Internet protocol for communication between client devices (computers, mobile phones, tablets, etc.) and printers (or print servers). IPP can run locally or over the Internet. Unlike other printing protocols, IPP also supports access control, authentication, and encryption, making it a much more capable and secure printing mechanism than older ones. IPP is supported by over 98% of printers sold today.
Generic protocols
- Telnet is based on simply transferring data safely to/from TCP ports that are now being used for printing purposes. This approach is sometimes called raw TCP/IP, Stream, or direct sockets printing.
- Bonjour is Apple's implementation of zero-configuration networking (zeroconf), a group of technologies that includes service discovery, address assignment, and hostname resolution. Bonjour locates devices such as printers, other computers, and the services that those devices offer on a local network using multicast Domain Name System (mDNS) service records.
- Server Message Block (SMB) is an application-layer network protocol for file and printer sharing originally developed by IBM in the mid-80s. It is the default method used by Windows based computers to share files and printers [4].
- Web Services for Devices or Web Services on Devices (WSD), is a Microsoft API to enable programming connections to web service enabled devices, such as printers, scanners and file shares.[5]
Wireless protocols
- AirPrint is a feature in Apple Inc.'s macOS and iOS operating systems for printing via a wireless LAN (Wi-Fi),[6][7] either directly to AirPrint-compatible printers, or to non-compatible shared printers by way of a computer running Microsoft Windows, Linux,[8] or macOS.[7][9][10] AirPrint is based on mDNS (Bonjour more specifically] and Internet Printing Protocol (IPP). It was originally intended for iOS devices and connected via a Wi-Fi network only, and thus required a Wi-Fi access point. However, with the introduction of AirPrint to the macOS desktop platform in 2012, Macs connected to the network via ethernet connection could also print using the AirPrint protocol—not just those connected via Wi-Fi.
- Mopria Alliance provides a protocol which is adopted by Android and available in Windows 10. It uses mDNS for service discovery and Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) for printing, just like AirPrint.
See also
References
- ^ RFC1179 Line Printer Daemon Protocol, August 1990, edited by L. McLaughlin III.
- ^ "AppSocket TCP/IP Protocol". LPRng Reference Manual. 26 Nov 2010. Retrieved 2017-09-06.
- ^ a b "Using Network Printers". cups.org. Retrieved 2017-09-06.
- ^ Common Internet File System, Microsoft TechNet Library
- ^ Web Services on Devices Overview
- ^ "Software update", iPad, UK: Apple
- ^ a b "AirPrint" (Press release). UK: Apple. September 15, 2010.
- ^ Finnie, Ryan (November 13, 2010). "AirPrint & GNU/Linux" (how-to). Retrieved November 2, 2013.
- ^ AirPrint: how to make it work for shared printers, TUAW, November 11, 2010
- ^ "Printing from iPad AirPrint via Cups" (how-to). CC: Rho. Retrieved November 2, 2013.