Where does CUPS spool data inside
 

Hi,

I'm a bit curious about the internal data handling (spooling) of CUPS.
I've gone through the cupsd.c code and found pipes being implemented. Is spooling happening inside pipes or is it using a normal character buffer? What would be the maximum size of spooled data it can handle ?

Spooled data is in /var/spool/cups... but it can depend on what distribution is being used as I believe it is a configuration option.

The maximum size depends on the filesystem/partition size and system configuration. By default /var is part of root... thus it would be limited to the size of root, but it is up to the administrator, some like having /var on a separate partition/filesystem, others may chose to make only /var/spool separate, and other separate the mail handling from any other functions.

Pipes are used for interpreting/formatting the data... and the final output goes to a physical printer (or other similar device). Pipes can't be used for spooling (far too small, and only good for passing data from one process to another).

Welcome to the forums.

I see at least two different questions entirely repeated on two different forums. Please do not post duplicate threads on multiple forums. This causes confusion, you may end up getting answers or follow-up questions on both threads and this will cause confusion. This question and another question related to person's opinions as to whether or not you should use CUPS for an embedded system. Note also that there is an "Embedded and Single Board Computer" forum which likely would've been the correct place for your other question.

Suggestions are to mark duplicate threads, perhaps in the Enterprise forum, as Solved, and put in cross links pointing to the other threads you've created in the Newbie forum.

The Site FAQ provides some guides to how to best use the forums.

Regret my ignorance,
Thanks for your help & Support