IPDS is IBM's host-to-printer data stream for AFP subsystems. IPDS provides an independent interface for controlling and managing all-point-addressable printers. IPDS allows the presentation of pages containing an unlimited mixture of data types like text, image, graphics and bar code. The IPDS data stream is generated for the attached printer type and is therefore printer-specific.
IPDS printers are printers that support the common IPDS printer interface. These printers can be attached to several different system or subsystem environments via one or more communication protocols.
IS/3 – Interchange Set 3 – is a subset of IPDS which is specified by the AFP Consortium. This set is selected to guarantee the interoperability of AFP/IPDS printers from different vendors. An IS/3 compliant printer must always be able to print an IPDS IS/3 compliant data stream in a consistent way, but the printer can reject or ignore other IPDS commands which are outside of the IS/3 set. varioPRINT 6000 series supports this standard.
Communication between host and an IPDS device involves two logical parts: a carrying-protocol session and an IPDS dialogue.
The carrying-protocol session can be established using any connection and a protocol that allows bi-directional communication to flow. For IPDS printers, IBM has developed the "IPDS over TCP/IP" bi-directional communication protocol.