Most of the finishers which are sold today - as well as the major part of the installed finisher base - are compatible with the DFD-1 interface.
Unlike Xerox DFA interface, DFD can be parameterized and adjusted on several issues for use with a large variety of finishers, without the need to adapt the printers or finishers software.
Status feedback from finisher to printer is limited. Only an error, a full or an offline situation is communicated to the printer without any further details. In case of an error f.i. the printer only knows there is an error in the finisher. Without knowing what or where the error exactly occurred it is impossible to give the user detailed information on what to do. Detailed information has to be given by the finisher itself.
Sheet and set recovery support is poor. Although sheet and set recovery mechanisms are supported in the interface and do work correctly in most situations, we cannot guarantee correct recovery of sheets/sets in all situations.
No communication of settings from printer to finisher, like settings for papersize, number of holes/staples etc. They all need to be adjusted twice/separately on printer and finisher. This leads for instance to more error situations (papersize mismatches) or unwanted output.
No communication of dynamic constraints from finisher to printer, like required inter sheet/set delays etc. They all need to be preset in the printer by means of parameters. This leads for instance to less productive printer/finisher situations.
No integration possibility of user interface functionality for printer and finisher. As a direct consequence of the previous bullets both printer and finisher require their own user interface. Integration of user interface and a single point of operation concept are not possible with DFD-1.
DFD-1 only supports the uses of one finisher at a time behind a printer.