Printer Discovery

Discovery is provider-based. The initial workspace supports operating-system queues, manually configured raw TCP printers, and virtual printers. Optional platform providers can be compiled when their implementation is available.

Stable identity

No hardware attribute is universal. MAC addresses may be absent, randomized, shared behind a print server, or unrelated to a USB queue. Discovery therefore builds a fingerprint from the metadata a provider can actually observe:

• queue and driver name
• device URI
• host and port
• USB vendor and product IDs
• serial number
• MAC address when available

OPPA assigns its own stable local printer ID and persists the binding between that ID and the best available fingerprint.

Normalization

The discovery manager executes enabled providers independently, normalizes descriptors, and deduplicates likely duplicates while retaining provider metadata. A provider failure is reported in diagnostics and does not crash other discovery work.

Inventory

An inventory entry includes a concrete local ID, display name, connection details, available capabilities, enabled state, and availability state. The integrating platform may attach that ID to its own logical routing model.

Manual network printers

A manually configured printer records a validated host and port. Raw TCP submission normally uses port 9100, but the port is explicit. Discovery does not imply reachability; the spooler applies a bounded connection and write timeout for each submission.