tools to compare PPDs?

[Vincent McIntyre <vincent.mcintyre@csiro.au>]

Hello,

first let me offer my thanks for your work, I was impressed by the
number of bug squashes in the list archives.

I have been setting up a print server (on Squeeze) and ran into the
problem of trying to decide between 6 different PPD files.

# lpinfo --make-and-model 'HP Color LaserJet 5500' -m
gutenprint.5.2://hp-clj_5500/expert HP Color LaserJet 5500 - CUPS+Gutenprint v5.2.6
foomatic:HP-Color_LaserJet_5500-Postscript.ppd HP Color LaserJet 5500 Foomatic/Postscript
foomatic:HP-Color_LaserJet_5500-pxlcolor.ppd HP Color LaserJet 5500 Foomatic/pxlcolor
drv:///hpijs.drv/hp-color_laserjet_5500-hpijs-pcl3.ppd HP Color LaserJet 5500 hpijs pcl3, 3.10.6
lsb/usr/hplip/HP/hp-color_laserjet_5500-hpijs-pcl3.ppd HP Color LaserJet 5500 hpijs pcl3, 3.10.6.15
drv:///hpcups.drv/hp-color_laserjet_5500-pcl3.ppd HP Color LaserJet 5500 pcl3, hpcups 3.10.6

My question is - are there tools available to compare the capabilities
offered by different PPD files, so I can make an informed choice?
I can't find all the PPD files shown above on disk - presumably some are
autogenerated by lpadmin when you ask for them to be used?

Also, some PPDs are listed by lpinfo as (recommended) - though not
in this case.
How is that bit of metadata incorporated into the printing system?

Kind regards,
Vince