Created attachment 66261 [details]
Xerox PPD using JCL options

JCL Options from PPD does not show in Print -> Properties -> Device

This makes it impossible to use all features on a Xerox 7545, in particular it is not possible to select black&white or color at
printing.

Steps to reproduce:
1. Install a printer in Cups with a PPD that users JCL options (see below)
2. Start Libreoffice, new text document, and type a few characters
3. Go to File -> Print and select the printer from (1)
4. Open the 'Properties' tab
5. Open the 'Device' tab
6. Locate the JCL options

Current behavior
JCL options can not be found

Expected result
JCL options should be found somewhere

Platform:
Fedora 17, x86_64 fully updated 20012-08-27
Libreoffice 3.5.6.2-1.fc17 x86_64

Printer:
Xerox 7545 with PPD "Xerox Global Printer Driver PS3", "XRX7675.PPD",
http://print.chalmers.se/drivers/tme-i-2345-laser1.ppd
as recommended by Xerox

This file uses JCL to select color correction mode 
(color/blackwhite/cmyk/..) for the printer.

Snippet from the PPD:
*%                              Color Correction

*JCLOpenUI *JCLColorCorrection/Color Correction: PickOne 
*OrderDependency: 10.7 JCLSetup *JCLColorCorrection 
*DefaultJCLColorCorrection: Auto
*JCLColorCorrection Auto/Automatic: "@PJL COMMENT OID_ATT_COLOR_MODE OID_VAL_COLOR_MODE_AUTOMATIC<0A>" 
*JCLColorCorrection sRGB/sRGB Display: "@PJL COMMENT OID_ATT_COLOR_MODE OID_VAL_COLOR_MODE_SRGB_DISPLAY<0A>" 
*JCLColorCorrection BlackWhite/Black & White: "@PJL COMMENT OID_ATT_COLOR_MODE OID_VAL_COLOR_MODE_BLACK_WHITE<0A>" 
*JCLColorCorrection PressMatch/Press Match: "@PJL COMMENT OID_ATT_COLOR_MODE OID_VAL_COLOR_MODE_CMYKSimulation<0A>"
*JCLColorCorrection None/None: "@PJL COMMENT OID_ATT_COLOR_MODE OID_VAL_COLOR_MODE_NONE<0A>" 
*JCLCloseUI: *JCLColorCorrection

End snippet

This ppd uses JCL for a lot of other stuff also, but the problem is the same.

Background: 
In order to get a color printout, the generated file (PS or PDF)
must be in color, AND the printer must accept to print color.
To get a black output the generated file must be black OR the
printer must deny printing in color.
Easy? Not!

Now what happens if an application that is in popular use always outputs
in color, resulting in an excessive amount of color printouts, which could 
have been printed in black at a much lower cost? 

Then the only way to get black is by forcing the printer to deny color.

Most of the printouts should be black, so the good default value for the
printer is deny color, and that has to be set in the printer itself. To get 
color, go into the properties tag at printout, and select color when color 
printing is needed.

This of course is possible only if there is a possibility to change the 
value. It is possible in many applications. but does not work in Libreoffice!
Why? Because on this printer that option is handled by JCL, and Libreoffice 
ignores JCLoptions in the ppd. 

Firefox works correctly.

What application can be that stupid that it does not give the users a 
color/black choice? Acrobat Reader om Windows! 

Remember that the printers are shared between many different OS, 
applications and users. We need to have consistent default values, and
consistent handling of options across all these.

As I can see, there is a very limited number of solutions:
* Drop Acrobat Reader (And all other Adobe programs) Probably not accepted
  by the users, but I would like to. 
* Do not use Xerox printers until the problem is solved (Hello Xerox 
  marketing, we buy 100 printers every year!!!!)
* Stop using LibreOffice until this bug is corrected. This is a very 
  unpleasant way, but we may be forced take that direction.

This is not new. There is an old bug report from 2007-05-02 in the openSUSE
Bugzilla. https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=270479
OpenOffice ignores PPD options in JCLOpenUI/JCLCloseUI

The status is "resolved", but I can not find any traces of that
in Openoffice/Libreoffice/Apacheoffice. The problem is still in current
version, waiting for a resolution.

To show that I am not alone having problems with color/black printing, 
a quote from https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=47278

|The pdf export always produces a color-mode pdf, even when the document being
|exported is all black text. This is a serious problem when you are using a
|leased printer that is billed per impression, when color impressions are
|literally ten times more expensive than greyscale impressions.

Yes, this is about PDF output, my point is that color printout cost more money.
It has to be very easy to use color only when needed, and black anytime else.
If it is too cumbersome to get color, the user will put color as default, and
then the cost will go to the sky.

I have a small installation, and we print approx 22 million pages every year.
Our cost for 22M black is 150.000 USD, for 22M color 1.700.000 USD 
Color is expensive, and i would hate to be forced to use MS Office in order
to reduce cost.

And no, exporting as PDF, and using a separate application to do the real 
printing is not an usable workaround.

The only acceptable workaround is to in some way have the output piped 
through some other program, maybe an PDF-reader, but then it has to be 
integrated so the user dont have to know or see all the nasty details.


//Bse

Börje Sennung
System Administrator
Chalmers universiyu of technology
bse@chalmers.se
+46 31 772 6736