Abstract: Printer systems and associated ink cartridges can have specialized inksets and alternative fluids for use in printing. In such systems and cartridges, the inkset of a unique cartridge may be deliberately limited relative to traditional inksets that seek to have a wide color gamut such that chemistries having greater durability may be employed. Still further, such cartridges may include one or more functional inks that have a purpose other than merely coloration. Particularly in compact printers, for which space is limited, the system can be designed to accept various unique cartridges based on the intended printing application and print based on the characteristics of the received cartridge. Beyond this, the system may advise the user when a different cartridge is necessary and/or may be beneficially used for a particular application.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for debugging a forward-chaining (rule-based) expert system are disclosed. A single STEP command controls the expert system and automatically presents prefire and postfire displays for observing the system's performance. The debugger alternates between prefire and postfire states. In the prefire state, before the selected rule is fired, the conflict set of rules eligible to be fired, the selected rule to be fired, and the data for that rule are displayed in separate windows. Entry of the STEP command fires the rule and changes the debugger's state to postfire. In the postfire state, the just-fired rule and data updated thereby are displayed. Entry of the STEP command in the postfire state changes the state to prefire and automatically presents the prefire display for the next selected rule.

Abstract: A high speed display processing unit (DPU) for displaying vectors on a cathode ray tube is disclosed. Each vector to be displayed is classified as to whether it is virtual, visible or both. If the displayed vector is partially visible, a digital section of the DPU calculates the length of the visible portion of the vector. Prior to drawing the vector, the digital section determines the major axis of the vector and its tangent. Each of the above values is provided to an analog section of the DPU which then draws at a constant velocity the visible vector. The DPU also includes circuitry for scaling, offset calculations and light pen hits.