Subject: PWG-ANNOUNCE> MFD "Counters"

From: "Wagner,William" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 23:07:04 -0400

In building the substructure for Web Based imaging management, many aspects of more general interest are being developed. This has prompted several requests at the PWG Plenary and the WBMM face to face, including a broadening of scope, a change of name, stronger efforts to co-ordinate with CIM, and  more general dissemination of product. There will be more on this in subsequent messages. 
 
One of the new products is a set of read-only management objects representing usage information  for a multi-function device. Peter Zehler has gathered a comprehensive table of objects suitable for accounting/billing, loading statistics, remaining life estimation etc. With the working group, this list has been edited to a basic set from which, we believe, all typical variations on usage parameters may be derived. (An example  variation is whether or not sheet sides that run through a marking engine but have  no colorant deposited are counted as printed pages as well as blank pages). Peter checked as many other manufacturers' equipments as feasible and  intends to provide a cross-correlation table showing how  variations of the defined parameters may be derived. However, we request that each member organization review the table
  ftp://ftp.pwg.org/pub/pwg/wbmm/white/PWG-UsageCountersTable-0.11.pdf 
and determine whether all of the critical usage parameters used to describe their equipment is included in the list, or can be derived from the parameters in the list.
 
The parameters in this table form the set of usage reporting objects that will be expressed in various management information  formats  (Ira has already formulated a MIB and will shortly have a XML schema representation).  <ftp://ftp.pwg.org/pub/pwg/wbmm/white/counter-mib-20040405.txt> ftp://ftp.pwg.org/pub/pwg/wbmm/white/counter-mib-20040405.txt  We believe that this summary set will be standardized  and will find wide application. We wish to  ensure that it addresses as broad a range of manufacturer's products as is feasible.  Please review the table. Direct any comments, additions or questions to Peter or to me.

Many thanks! 

Bill Wagner /NetSilicon, A Digi International Company