QUESTION: What is IPDS?
ANSWER: IPDS stands for "Intelligent Printer Data Stream." It is the format of the host-to-printer data stream used by IBM's System Application Architecture (SAA) for Advanced Function Printing (AFP). It is a language that contains the information necessary to identify, monitor, and control the functions of certain kinds of printers that are used in mainframe environments. This information includes the characteristics of the printer, its resolution, what resources it has, whether it has sufficient memory, and whether it receives and prints a job.
IPDS supports all-points-addressable printing on a wide range of low-end to high-end printers.
IPDS was invented by IBM.