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<B><FONT SIZE=+3>H</FONT>YLA<FONT SIZE=+1>FAX</FONT> <FONT SIZE=+2>4.0</FONT> <FONT SIZE=+2>I</FONT>NFORMATION</B>
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This note describes the features and changes expected to be part
of of HylaFAX Version 4.0.
The first public beta version of HylaFAX v4.0
is planned for late February or early March, 1996.
As usual the announcement of its availability will be posted to the
<KBD>flexfax-announce@sgi.com</KBD> mailing list (which is also fed to the
<KBD>flexfax@sgi.com</KBD> list).
Information on subscribing to these mailing lists is available
<A HREF="mailing-lists.html">here</A>.
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<B><FONT SIZE=+2>N</FONT>EW <FONT SIZE=+2>F</FONT>UNCTIONALITY</B>
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The following is an abbreviated list of new functionality that
is to be part of the released version of HylaFAX 4.0.
All items not marked as incomplete will be present in the first
beta distribution.
<UL>
<LI>Completely redesigned client-server protocol with full
support for submitting, managing, and querying the status of
outbound facsimile jobs and notification, administration, and retrieval
of received facsimile
<LI>Optional support for the old client-server protocol (configurable
at build time and at runtime) for use with old HylaFAX- and FlexFAX-compatible
clients
<LI>Revised and more flexible security measures for controlling client
access to server systems
<LI>Extended job queueing model whereby outbound jobs that terminate
are not immediately purged from the server (or their documents)
for the purpose of job archival and/or job resubmission
<LI>Hooks for automatically archiving outbound jobs on the server
system (full support is not planned)
<LI>Rearchitecture of the client and server software to simplify the
support of multiple transport protocols
<LI>Server support for transcoding of inbound and outbound TIFF
(e.g. it is possible to store all received facsimile MMR-encoded
to minimize space)
<LI>Server support for automatically truncating trailing whitespace
in outbound facsimile
<LI>Support for SUB (SUbAddress), SEP (SElectivePolling), and PWD (Password)
frames in the Class 1 driver and in future ITU T.Class2-compliant modems
</UL>
Folks interested in reviewing the new client-server protocol
should contact me by electronic mail at
<A HREF="mailto:sam@engr.sgi.com">sam@engr.sgi.com</A>.
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<B><FONT SIZE=+2>N</FONT>EW <FONT SIZE=+2>C</FONT>LIENT-SERVER <FONT SIZE=+2>P</FONT>ROTOCOL</B>
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HylaFAX 4.0 is a significant rearchitecture of the v3.0 software.
Most importantly, the client-server protocol has been totally redone using
elements of the ITU T.611 specification for the ``APPLI/COM'' Programming
Communication Interface (PCI) and the Internet File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
This new protocol is intended to provide a strong framework in which
fax-aware client applications can make use of fax services in a network
environment.
The protocol is intended to be both sufficient and reasonably complete;
no additional services are required such as a network file access protocol
(as required by T.611).
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An effect of the new client-server protocol is a change in the model
for handling outbound jobs and document resources.
In the past jobs and documents submitted to a server were assumed to
reside on the server only so long as a job was actively being scheduled
and/or processed.
Under the new system the server can be considered a repository for
documents, and jobs are treated as more long-lived objects whose
scheduling can be controlled on a more fine-grained basis.
Specifically, documents and jobs may persist after the time that
a job has terminated and documents may reside on a server independent
of any association with a job.
These changes make it possible for clients to do things like resubmit
failed jobs using previously transferred documents; forward received
facsimile without transferring documents through a client's system;
and implement job archival mechanisms.
The more fine-grained scheduling control of jobs permits clients to
more easily manage and control submitted jobs; it is now possible for
a client to suspend a job, alter its contents in some complex way, and
then resubmit it to the scheduler.
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<B><FONT SIZE=+2>D</FONT>ISTRIBUTION <FONT SIZE=+2>P</FONT>LANS</B>
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HylaFAX 4.0 will be distributed in source and binary form by public
ftp on the Internet.
Full binary distributions for all ``<EM>supported platforms</EM>''
are intended to be available at the same time as the source distribution.
Source distributions that are built with the GNU gcc compiler
<STRONG>must use gcc version 2.6.1 or later</STRONG>.
As noted above, availability of distributions will be posted to the
<KBD>flexfax-announce</KBD> and <KBD>flexfax</KBD> mailing lists.
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<A HREF="toc.html"><IMG SRC="icons/back.gif" ALT="(TOC)"> HylaFAX
table of contents</A>.<BR>
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<ADDRESS>
<A HREF="sam.html">Sam Leffler</A> / <A HREF="mailto:sam@engr.sgi.com">sam@engr.sgi.com</A>.
Last updated: $Date: 1998/10/12 20:47:51 $
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