IBM Mainframe and AS400 AFP/IPDS filter for CUPS 2/2

[Marco Willemse]

I hope to have managed to explain the reason for the question at the top of my previous message.

So, here comes my idea.
The Mainframe application produces the AFPDS spool file and puts it into an inactive print queue.
Somehow (using spool APIs or just by scanning the content of the spool) a Mainframe program (virtual printers requester)
notices that there is a file in the inactive print queue, ready to be printed to a PCL printer. Using TCP/IP it connects to a
deamon on a Linux box (virtual printers controller), and sends all the information that are not sent via IPDS (printer name,
jobname, username, printing parameters). The deamon sends back either a busy message or the ID of one of the Mainframe
Printing System defined "virtual printers" that are nothing more than a small number (depending on the cuncurrent need) of
deamons(virtual printers), running on the same Linux platform, that listen to the IP ports defined on the Mainframe. Of course
 the "virtual printers" need to "talk" to the Mainframe Printing Subsystem as if they where IPDS printers. When the output has
 been received (and printed to a local file) the "virtual printer" tells the "virutal printer controller" that everything went well so that
 it can know that that "virtual printer" is now free and run the next step in the document preparation.
The next step is running the IPDS CUPS pre-filter: a new filter for CUPS that gets the informations from the "Virtual printer controller"
and interprets the IPDS file transforming it into postscript to be put in the CUPS system as if it was originated from any other *nix application program.

OK, this was more or less how I see it. My idea is full of black spots. So I wanted your comments about it and know if other organizations have the same starting problem.

Reference book are available here:
http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/zos/bkserv/zswpdf/206.html