Understanding Printer Agents
Before a printer can be incorporated into a NDPS printing environment, it must be represented by a Printer Agent. No Printer Agent can represent more than one printer, and no printer can be represented by more than one Printer Agent.
The Printer Agent lies at the heart of NDPS, combining the functions previously performed by a printer, print queue, print server, and spooler into one intelligent and simplified entity.
The Printer Agent can be any of the following:
- A software entity running on a server that represents a printer attached to a server or workstation.
- A software entity running on a server that represents a network-attached printer.
- An entity embedded within a network-attached printer.
A Printer Agent provides the following services:
- It manages the processing of print jobs and many operations performed by the printer itself.
- It answers queries from network clients about a print job or document, or about the attributes of the printer.
- It generates event notification so that interested parties can be notified of job completion, printing problems, errors, or changes in the status of a print job, document, or printer.
For information about other major NDPS components, see the following:
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