Interop Basics

Owned by Rainer Prosi
Dec 18, 2024
3 min read

Apart the CIP4 phone conferences in our virtual meeting rooms,  there are Face-to-Face meetings at least twice a year. These InterOp meetings are organized worldwide and are split into two distinct phases:

  • The first phase, which typically lasts from Monday to Wednesday is the actual technical interoperability testing phase, where anyone can bring their JDF, PrintTalk or XJDF enabled products and test their interoperability with other matching products. Prototypes are welcome.

  • The second phase lasts from Wednesday to Friday and consists or meetings of the respective technical work groups. Topics of discussion range from new features for the next specification version to over interpretation of individual attributes to philosophical debates about the value of namespace URIs in XML.

Interops are designed as learning opportunities where failure is an option and the goal is to improve products. It is therefore strongly discouraged to publish Interop results or use Interop results in any marketing related manner. Nonetheless there is NO FORMAL NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT in place and all discussions are legally treated as public.

All CIP4 members may participate and participation is free of charge. You are welcome to participate in the entire interop but staying only for the parts of the interop that are of interest to you is acceptable. We welcome your contributions to the CIP4 specifications and strive to improved interoperability in the printing industry.

The next CIP4 InterOp

Host

Imprint

Details

#46: Cambridge

Date

April 7-11 2025

[List of all Meetings]

Interop Matrix Form

The form for adding entries to the jdf-integration-matrix the can be found at https://cip4.org/jdfwork/jdf-integration-matrix/jdf-matrix-application.html

Further information

The participants of an interop should note their names and the name of the product (during the first phase) that they intend to test in the following Product & Participant Information Links. To test a given product, just walk up to the person who is entered in the list and get a time slot. Prior reservation is generally not required. Note that it is good practice to test any JDF or JMF that you write for syntactic correctness prior to testing at an interop. Those tools have been migrated to our GitHub library at:

Working group meetings are open to all members of CIP4. 

 A breakout room with network access is provided for those who do not want to participate in a given meeting.

 

Networking

CIP4 provides wireless Networking + routers with a very limited number of wired network access cables. Please bring your own network cables and maybe a small network switch if you do not have wireless. All Networking is done on one subnet. The external Bandwidth is 6 M DSL or more.  

Power Cords

CIP4 provides extension cords in the local voltage using local plugs. Make sure that you bring along the respective adaptors.  Note to hosts: make sure the meeting facilities are aware that everyone has a laptop and needs power.

See http://kropla.com/electric2.htm for information on what type of power sockets are used in various countries.

Printer

A small network printer and paper is sometimes provided.

Name Tags

CIP4 provides Name tags and also encourages participants to bring their own and to wear them. There are many new faces at the interops and it is quite useful to know who you are talking to and to be able to find partners for tests.

Food and Drink

Coffee, Soda, Water and light snacks are provided close to the meeting rooms. Sometimes  a light continental breakfast is also provided. Lunch is typically on your own.

Meeting schedule

Meetings tend to start at 9.00 and finish at 17.00 or 18.00. We attempt to accomodate workaholics who enjoy staying later.

Social Event

Traditionally, there has been one social event that is sponsored or co-sponsored by the host company. Note that this is a voluntary tradition rather than a requirement. It is generally scheduled on the Wednesday evening so that the maximum number of interop attendees can attend.

Dinner and Evening Entertainment are not organized by CIP4. People tend to meet in open groups at some reasonable time in the hotel lobby in an attempt to swamp restaurants with 30+ guests without a reservation. After this has failed, the groups split up into smaller groups separated by taste for sushi. After dinner, we tend to congregate at the closest Irish pub where we swap war stories of JDF and dilbertesque management accomplishments.

Spouses and Family of CIP4 members are welcome to accompany participants. Most events are located at interesting places in the world so there are generally many things to see and do.  CIP4 does not formally organize an official spouses program.

Attire

Casual attire is worn at all occasions.

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