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Posted to fop-users@xmlgraphics.apache.org by Rich <rt...@sbcma.com> on 2009/04/07 19:55:11 UTC
JRE and AWT
Hello,
I am investigating FOP as an XSL-FO. My background in Java is a bit dated.
An appealing way to print resulting documents would be use the -print option, which I understand would engage java print support (via AWT) and would have all the operating system recognized fonts at its disposal, including barcode fonts.
Another option would be to use -pcl, since all our customer printers are PCL printers. (I have had success with my preliminary tests of -pcl.)
Could anyone explain the relative performance difference between -pcl and -print?
Is full Java necessary to use -print? What precisely is needed for AWT support for printing?
Thanks,
Rich Filoramo
Re: JRE and AWT
Posted by Rich <rt...@sbcma.com>.
Thank you Jeremias.
I would assume that TrueType barcode fonts would fall into the custom font
category.
Rich Filoramo
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeremias Maerki" <de...@jeremias-maerki.ch>
To: <fo...@xmlgraphics.apache.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 4:48 PM
Subject: Re: JRE and AWT
On 07.04.2009 20:26:31 Andreas Delmelle wrote:
> On 07 Apr 2009, at 19:55, Rich wrote:
>
> Hi
>
> Good to see you've figured out the correct mail-address!
> I was just typing a response to your post that came through via fop-
> users-owner@ as I noticed this one.
>
> > I am investigating FOP as an XSL-FO. My background in Java is a
> > bit dated.
> >
> > An appealing way to print resulting documents would be use the -
> > print option, which I understand would engage java print support
> > (via AWT) and would have all the operating system recognized fonts
> > at its disposal, including barcode fonts.
>
> That should indeed be the case.
>
> > Another option would be to use -pcl, since all our customer
> > printers are PCL printers. (I have had success with my preliminary
> > tests of -pcl.)
>
> One thing to beware of are limitations of FOP's support for either
> format. I cannot immediately judge which of the two renderers is more
> actively maintained...
Java2D/AWT/Print: all visual features available, recently identified a
serious performance problem concerning font usage/switching which I
haven't looked at, yet. So there is room for considerable performance
improvement.
PCL: Pretty much all visual features available depending on the config
settings. When using just Base 14 fonts and only solid borders on speed
setting, then PCL should be very fast, but it can also get very slow
when custom fonts are used which are currently painted as bitmaps via
the Java2D renderer which in turn has performance issues as indicated
above.
> That said, we do get occasional questions about their usage and small
> patches for improvement.
>
> > Could anyone explain the relative performance difference between -
> > pcl and -print?
>
> Not sure... Do you mean you have compared, and noticed a difference,
> or are you just asking whether there is any at all? In the latter
> case, I haven't run comparative benchmarks myself lately, but I'd
> expect PCL to be slightly faster and more light-weight (more direct?)
See above.
> The downside is obviously that you're stuck to one single output
> format. Java AWT Print will support whatever printer is registered
> with the OS (aside from the usual driver-quirks for exotic models),
> while the target device for PCL must of course be capable to
> understand it... Suppose your customer decides to throw HP out of the
> window at one point...? Luckily, it is rather easy to tell FOP to
> render to another format, like PostScript which is also understood by
> a wide range of printers.
Exactly. If possible, go for PostScript. Most larger PCL printers support
PostScript, too.
> > Is full Java necessary to use -print?
> > What precisely is needed for AWT support for printing?
A good J2SE, that's all. IKVM or GCJ probably aren't good enough. Not
sure about OpenJDK, but Sun and IBM JDKs should work fine.
> I'm not up to speed as to the exact requirements.
> Do you have a specific target environment in mind with certain
> limitations? (A headless server, for example? Should be no problem,
> IIRC.)
>
>
> Regards
>
> Andreas
>
Jeremias Maerki
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Re: JRE and AWT
Posted by Jeremias Maerki <de...@jeremias-maerki.ch>.
On 07.04.2009 20:26:31 Andreas Delmelle wrote:
> On 07 Apr 2009, at 19:55, Rich wrote:
>
> Hi
>
> Good to see you've figured out the correct mail-address!
> I was just typing a response to your post that came through via fop-
> users-owner@ as I noticed this one.
>
> > I am investigating FOP as an XSL-FO. My background in Java is a
> > bit dated.
> >
> > An appealing way to print resulting documents would be use the -
> > print option, which I understand would engage java print support
> > (via AWT) and would have all the operating system recognized fonts
> > at its disposal, including barcode fonts.
>
> That should indeed be the case.
>
> > Another option would be to use -pcl, since all our customer
> > printers are PCL printers. (I have had success with my preliminary
> > tests of -pcl.)
>
> One thing to beware of are limitations of FOP's support for either
> format. I cannot immediately judge which of the two renderers is more
> actively maintained...
Java2D/AWT/Print: all visual features available, recently identified a
serious performance problem concerning font usage/switching which I
haven't looked at, yet. So there is room for considerable performance
improvement.
PCL: Pretty much all visual features available depending on the config
settings. When using just Base 14 fonts and only solid borders on speed
setting, then PCL should be very fast, but it can also get very slow
when custom fonts are used which are currently painted as bitmaps via
the Java2D renderer which in turn has performance issues as indicated
above.
> That said, we do get occasional questions about their usage and small
> patches for improvement.
>
> > Could anyone explain the relative performance difference between -
> > pcl and -print?
>
> Not sure... Do you mean you have compared, and noticed a difference,
> or are you just asking whether there is any at all? In the latter
> case, I haven't run comparative benchmarks myself lately, but I'd
> expect PCL to be slightly faster and more light-weight (more direct?)
See above.
> The downside is obviously that you're stuck to one single output
> format. Java AWT Print will support whatever printer is registered
> with the OS (aside from the usual driver-quirks for exotic models),
> while the target device for PCL must of course be capable to
> understand it... Suppose your customer decides to throw HP out of the
> window at one point...? Luckily, it is rather easy to tell FOP to
> render to another format, like PostScript which is also understood by
> a wide range of printers.
Exactly. If possible, go for PostScript. Most larger PCL printers support
PostScript, too.
> > Is full Java necessary to use -print?
> > What precisely is needed for AWT support for printing?
A good J2SE, that's all. IKVM or GCJ probably aren't good enough. Not
sure about OpenJDK, but Sun and IBM JDKs should work fine.
> I'm not up to speed as to the exact requirements.
> Do you have a specific target environment in mind with certain
> limitations? (A headless server, for example? Should be no problem,
> IIRC.)
>
>
> Regards
>
> Andreas
>
Jeremias Maerki
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Re: JRE and AWT
Posted by Rich <rt...@sbcma.com>.
Thank you for your reply, Andreas.
Let me respond to your questions...
>> Could anyone explain the relative performance difference between - pcl
>> and -print?
>
> Not sure... Do you mean you have compared, and noticed a difference, or
> are you just asking whether there is any at all? In the latter case, I
> haven't run comparative benchmarks myself lately, but I'd expect PCL to
> be slightly faster and more light-weight (more direct?)
So far I have only loaded the JRE and tested (rudimentally) the -pcl option.
My question is based on a concern about a full Java startup for each print
request and how that might affect the print speed.
It is hard to replicate in development the printing demands our customers
make, so I would like to get a better understanding of the "demands" made on
the Java environment when the -print option is used vs say the -pcl option.
>> Is full Java necessary to use -print?
>> What precisely is needed for AWT support for printing?
>
> I'm not up to speed as to the exact requirements.
> Do you have a specific target environment in mind with certain
> limitations? (A headless server, for example? Should be no problem,
> IIRC.)
Our customers run on single processor Dell servers running Windows Server
2003. Not the fastest nor the most robust of operating systems, but
definitely in our customers' affordability range. Demands like Terminal
Services are often added on top of the demands of our own application.
Thanks again,
Rich Filoramo
----- Original Message -----
From: "Andreas Delmelle" <an...@telenet.be>
To: <fo...@xmlgraphics.apache.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 2:26 PM
Subject: Re: JRE and AWT
> On 07 Apr 2009, at 19:55, Rich wrote:
>
> Hi
>
> Good to see you've figured out the correct mail-address!
> I was just typing a response to your post that came through via fop-
> users-owner@ as I noticed this one.
>
>> I am investigating FOP as an XSL-FO. My background in Java is a bit
>> dated.
>>
>> An appealing way to print resulting documents would be use the - print
>> option, which I understand would engage java print support (via AWT) and
>> would have all the operating system recognized fonts at its disposal,
>> including barcode fonts.
>
> That should indeed be the case.
>
>> Another option would be to use -pcl, since all our customer printers
>> are PCL printers. (I have had success with my preliminary tests
>> of -pcl.)
>
> One thing to beware of are limitations of FOP's support for either
> format. I cannot immediately judge which of the two renderers is more
> actively maintained...
> That said, we do get occasional questions about their usage and small
> patches for improvement.
>
>> Could anyone explain the relative performance difference between - pcl
>> and -print?
>
> Not sure... Do you mean you have compared, and noticed a difference, or
> are you just asking whether there is any at all? In the latter case, I
> haven't run comparative benchmarks myself lately, but I'd expect PCL to
> be slightly faster and more light-weight (more direct?)
> The downside is obviously that you're stuck to one single output format.
> Java AWT Print will support whatever printer is registered with the OS
> (aside from the usual driver-quirks for exotic models), while the target
> device for PCL must of course be capable to understand it... Suppose your
> customer decides to throw HP out of the window at one point...? Luckily,
> it is rather easy to tell FOP to render to another format, like
> PostScript which is also understood by a wide range of printers.
>
>> Is full Java necessary to use -print?
>> What precisely is needed for AWT support for printing?
>
> I'm not up to speed as to the exact requirements.
> Do you have a specific target environment in mind with certain
> limitations? (A headless server, for example? Should be no problem,
> IIRC.)
>
>
> Regards
>
> Andreas
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: fop-users-unsubscribe@xmlgraphics.apache.org
> For additional commands, e-mail: fop-users-help@xmlgraphics.apache.org
>
>
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Re: JRE and AWT
Posted by Andreas Delmelle <an...@telenet.be>.
On 07 Apr 2009, at 19:55, Rich wrote:
Hi
Good to see you've figured out the correct mail-address!
I was just typing a response to your post that came through via fop-
users-owner@ as I noticed this one.
> I am investigating FOP as an XSL-FO. My background in Java is a
> bit dated.
>
> An appealing way to print resulting documents would be use the -
> print option, which I understand would engage java print support
> (via AWT) and would have all the operating system recognized fonts
> at its disposal, including barcode fonts.
That should indeed be the case.
> Another option would be to use -pcl, since all our customer
> printers are PCL printers. (I have had success with my preliminary
> tests of -pcl.)
One thing to beware of are limitations of FOP's support for either
format. I cannot immediately judge which of the two renderers is more
actively maintained...
That said, we do get occasional questions about their usage and small
patches for improvement.
> Could anyone explain the relative performance difference between -
> pcl and -print?
Not sure... Do you mean you have compared, and noticed a difference,
or are you just asking whether there is any at all? In the latter
case, I haven't run comparative benchmarks myself lately, but I'd
expect PCL to be slightly faster and more light-weight (more direct?)
The downside is obviously that you're stuck to one single output
format. Java AWT Print will support whatever printer is registered
with the OS (aside from the usual driver-quirks for exotic models),
while the target device for PCL must of course be capable to
understand it... Suppose your customer decides to throw HP out of the
window at one point...? Luckily, it is rather easy to tell FOP to
render to another format, like PostScript which is also understood by
a wide range of printers.
> Is full Java necessary to use -print?
> What precisely is needed for AWT support for printing?
I'm not up to speed as to the exact requirements.
Do you have a specific target environment in mind with certain
limitations? (A headless server, for example? Should be no problem,
IIRC.)
Regards
Andreas
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