AFPResources

Resources related to the AFP Renderer

IBMs Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) has been described as “a document architecture, a printer dialog and datastream, and a process for fully system managing printing.” Unfortunately that doesn't tell much and seems to be typical marketing language. When it comes to the FOP AFP Renderer it only deals with creating documents conforming to the AFP document architecture. This architecure is called MO:DCA (Mixed Object Document Content Architecture). The following text is taken from:

Data Stream & Object Architectures: MO:DCA Reference (SC31-6802-06)

Begin Quote
A mixed object document is the collection of data objects that comprise the document's content, and the resources and formatting specifications that dictate the processing functions to be performed on the content. The term Mixed in the MO:DCA architecture refers both to the mixture of data objects and the mixture of document constructs that comprise the document's components. A MO:DCA document can contain a mixture of presentation data objects. Each data object type has unique processing requirements. An Object Content Architecture (OCA) has been established for each IBM data object to define its respective syntax and semantics. MO:DCA documents can contain data and data objects governed by the following OCAs:

• Bar Code Object Content Architecture (BCOCA), which is used to describe and generate bar code symbols.

• Font Object Content Architecture (FOCA), which is used to support the digital presentation of character shapes by defining their attributes, such as shape definitions, shape dimensions, and positioning information. Unlike the other OCAs, font objects are not carried inside the MO:DCA data stream. However, the MO:DCA architecture does provide and carry references to external font objects.

• Graphics Object Content Architecture (GOCA), which is used to represent pictures generated by a computer, commonly referred to as computer graphics.

• Image Object Content Architecture (IOCA), which is used to represent image information such as scanned pictures.

• Presentation Text Object Content Architecture (PTOCA), which is used to define text information. End Quote

To generate MO:DCA documents (datastreams in IBM language) one needs the relevant specifications. Here is how to get them:

• Goto http://www.elink.ibmlink.ibm.com/public/applications/publications/cgibin/pbi.cgi

• Select your Country

• Click on Search for publications

• Enter "MO:DCA" in the Search On box, or enter publication reference SBOF-6179-00 for all of the AFP Architecture Manuals (IPDS, BCOCA, FOCA, GOCA, IOCA, PTOCA, MODCA) and click GO.

• The first document listed should be the most recent MO:DCA reference which is downloadable in PDF format.

From there its easy to get the rest. Open the PDF and in the section Related Publications the other relevant specifications are listed. Search for them on the above mentioned web site by Order Number and download them one by one.

For those who don't have access to an IBM AFP environment it is very difficult to verify the correctness of any generated MO:DCA document. Two free tools are available to help.

• The AFP Viewer Internet Explorer plug-in allows viewing of .afp in your browser. It can be found by going to http://www.ibm.com and then enter "AFP Viewer" into the Search box at the top. The first returned result should point to a page from where the viewer can be downloaded.

• The AFP Datastream Analyzer is a command line program that decodes AFP datastreams. It can be found by going to http://www.ibm.com and then enter "afpan" into the Search box at the top. The first returned result should point to a page from where the analyzer can be downloaded. This is really a IBM Mainframe type program and runs best when called from REXX. So you may want to download Open Object REXX from http://www.oorexx.org/.