HP 5961-0509 manual PCL Printer Language Architecture, 2Introduction to HP PCL

PCL Printer Language Architecture

PCL printer language structure has been useful to guide language functionality growth and command syntax definition. The PCL printer language has evolved through five major levels of functionality driven by the combination of printer technology developments, changing user needs, and application software improvements. The five phases of the PCL printer language evolution are:

PCL 1	Print and Space functionality is the base set of
	functions provided for simple, convenient, single-user
	workstation output.
PCL 2	EDP (Electronic Data Processing) /Transaction
	functionality is a superset of PCL 1. Functions were
	added for general purpose, multi-user system printing.
PCL 3	Office Word Processing functionality is a superset of
	PCL 2. Functions were added for high-quality, office
	document production.
PCL 4	Page Formatting functionality is a superset of PCL 3.
	Functions were added for new page printing
	capabilities.
PCL 5	Office Publishing functionality is a superset of PCL 4.
	New publishing capabilities include font scaling and
	HP-GL/2 graphics.

The PCL printer language model succeeds because the following points are observed:

zAll HP LaserJet printers implement PCL printer language features consistently.

zHP printers implement the above language feature groups in very cost-effective formatters.

zHP printers have the ability to ignore most unsupported commands.

1-2Introduction to HP PCL EN