manual.txt

MULTIFUNCTION PRINTING UNIT VERSION 1 REVISION 2
SETUP AND OPERATIONS MANUAL
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This manual can be obtained by issuing a command 
USERGUIDE on the digiline channel the MFU is 
listening on.

GENERAL INFORMATION
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The MFU combines a photocopier, a networking 
printer, and a binding machine. It accepts both 
empty books and loose paper sheets as the input 
materials. The input inventory has 9 slots and is
located on the left. If no books are supplied, the
machine will attempt to make books out of paper. 
The output inventory has 16 slots and is located 
to the right. Under the inventories there is a 
form for providing the name of the digiline channel
the MFU should listen on. The button "Save" sets 
the channel, and "Exit" discards changes. Empty 
the field and press Save to disable networking.

SETUP
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The machine can be connected to a digiline cable 
at all sides. It can also connect to plastic pipes,
except from the top and the front. It needs no 
additional electrical power.

COPYING
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In order to make copies, place a master copy in 
the master slot of the machine. The MFU will begin
making copies untill the master copy is removed, 
or the output is filled, or no source materials 
are left. In the last two cases, it will resume 
operations once new supplies are provided and the 
output is emptied respectively. The books are 
marked with "(copy)" and are not subject to 
further alteration.

NETWORK PRINTING
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The machine accepts commands in a form of a table.
The table must contain the field "command" and may
contain optional fields. The printed documents are
marked with "(printed)" after tha author's name. 
Not subject to alteration. If the machine is 
copying, the printing will take priority and the 
MFU will try to fulfill as many printing jobs as 
possible. However, given the limited output size 
reserve, it is best to avoid such situations. The 
printed materials will be brochured and truncated
according to same limitations as for handwritten 
books. 

The following is a summary of available commands 
and responses. Both the command and the response 
are transmitted over the same digiline channel, 
and are differentiated by presence of "command" 
field (or presence of "STATUS" field for the 
response).

[1] Printing:
{
  command = "PRINT",
  copies = n,       // number of copies to print
  author = "...",
  title = "...",
  text = "...",
  watermark = "..." // e.g. for authenticity control
}
Response:
{
  STATUS = "OK/NO PAPER/OUTPUT FULL",
  COUNT = n,   // number of printed copies
  DROPPED = k  // number of copies that could not be printed
}

[2] Status query:
{
  command = "STATUS"
}
Response:
{
  STATUS = "NO PAPER/OUTPUT FULL/COPYING/IDLE"
}

[3] Supplies query:
{
  command = "SUPPLIES"
}
Response:
{
  STATUS = "OK",
  FREE = n,   // in slots
  PAPER = p,  // in sheets
  BOOKS = b,  // in units
  COPIES = c  // for all supplies combined, p/3+b
}

[4] Eject from the output inventory into tubes:
{
  command = "EJECT"
}
Response:
{
  STATUS = "NOT CONNECTED/MALFUNCTION/OK",
  COUNT = n   // items ejected
}

[5] Print the user manual:
{
  command = "USERGUIDE"
}
or simply "USERGUIDE" as a string.
Response:
{
  STATUS = "OK/OUTPUT FULL"
}

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HAPPY PRINTING!
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