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backend(7)			  OpenPrinting			      backend(7)

NAME
     backend - cups backend transmission interfaces

SYNOPSIS
     backend
     backend job user title num-copies options [ filename ]

     #include <cups/cups.h>

     const char *cupsBackendDeviceURI(char **argv);

     void cupsBackendReport(const char *device_scheme,
			    const char *device_uri,
			    const char *device_make_and_model,
			    const char *device_info,
			    const char *device_id,
			    const char *device_location);

     ssize_t cupsBackChannelWrite(const char *buffer,
				  size_t bytes, double timeout);

     int cupsSideChannelRead(cups_sc_command_t *command,
			     cups_sc_status_t *status, char *data,
			     int *datalen, double timeout);

     int cupsSideChannelWrite(cups_sc_command_t command,
			      cups_sc_status_t status, const char *data,
			      int datalen, double timeout);

DESCRIPTION
     Backends  are  a special type of filter(7) which is used to send print data
     to and discover different devices on the system.

     Like filters, backends must be capable of reading from a  filename  on  the
     command-line  or  from  the standard input, copying the standard input to a
     temporary file as required by the physical interface.

     The command name (argv[0]) is set to the  device  URI  of	the  destination
     printer.	Authentication information in argv[0] is removed, so backend de-
     velopers are urged to use the DEVICE_URI environment variable whenever  au-
     thentication  information	is required. The cupsBackendDeviceURI() function
     may be used to retrieve the correct device URI.

     Back-channel data from the device should be relayed to the job filters  us-
     ing the cupsBackChannelWrite function.

     Backends  are  responsible  for  reading  side-channel  requests  using the
     cupsSideChannelRead() function and  responding  with  the	cupsSideChannel-
     Write()  function. The CUPS_SC_FD constant defines the file descriptor that
     should be monitored for incoming requests.

   DEVICE DISCOVERY
     When run with no arguments, the backend should list the devices and schemes
     it supports or is advertising to the standard output.  The output	consists
     of zero or more lines consisting of any of the following forms:

	 device-class scheme "Unknown" "device-info"
	 device-class device-uri "device-make-and-model" "device-info"
	 device-class device-uri "device-make-and-model" "device-info" "device-id"
	 device-class device-uri "device-make-and-model" "device-info" "device-id" "device-location"

     The  cupsBackendReport()  function  can be used to generate these lines and
     handle any necessary escaping of characters in the various strings.

     The device-class field is one of the following values:

     direct
	  The device-uri refers to a specific direct-access device with  no  op-
	  tions, such as a parallel, USB, or SCSI device.

     file
	  The device-uri refers to a file on disk.

     network
	  The  device-uri  refers to a networked device and conforms to the gen-
	  eral form for network URIs.

     serial
	  The device-uri refers to a serial device with configurable  baud  rate
	  and other options.  If the device-uri contains a baud value, it repre-
	  sents the maximum baud rate supported by the device.

     The  scheme field provides the URI scheme that is supported by the backend.
     Backends should use this form only when the backend supports any URI  using
     that  scheme.  The device-uri field specifies the full URI to use when com-
     municating with the device.

     The device-make-and-model field specifies the make and model of the device,
     e.g. "Example Foojet 2000".  If the make and model is not known,  you  must
     report "Unknown".

     The  device-info  field  specifies additional information about the device.
     Typically this includes the make and model along with the	port  number  or
     network address, e.g. "Example Foojet 2000 USB #1".

     The  optional  device-id field specifies the IEEE-1284 device ID string for
     the device, which is used to select a matching driver.

     The optional device-location field specifies the physical location  of  the
     device,  which is often used to pre-populate the printer-location attribute
     when adding a printer.

   PERMISSIONS
     Backends without world read and execute permissions are  run  as  the  root
     user.   Otherwise,  the  backend is run using an unprivileged user account,
     typically "lp".

EXIT STATUS
     The following exit codes are defined for backends:

     CUPS_BACKEND_OK
	  The print file was successfully transmitted to the  device  or  remote
	  server.

     CUPS_BACKEND_FAILED
	  The  print  file was not successfully transmitted to the device or re-
	  mote server.	The scheduler will respond to this by canceling the job,
	  retrying the job, or stopping the queue depending on the state of  the
	  printer-error-policy attribute.

     CUPS_BACKEND_AUTH_REQUIRED
	  The  print file was not successfully transmitted because valid authen-
	  tication information is required.  The scheduler will respond to  this
	  by  holding the job and adding the 'cups-held-for-authentication' key-
	  word to the "job-reasons" Job Description attribute.

     CUPS_BACKEND_HOLD
	  The print file was not successfully transmitted because it  cannot  be
	  printed  at  this time.  The scheduler will respond to this by holding
	  the job.

     CUPS_BACKEND_STOP
	  The print file was not successfully transmitted because it  cannot  be
	  printed  at this time.  The scheduler will respond to this by stopping
	  the queue.

     CUPS_BACKEND_CANCEL
	  The print file was not successfully transmitted because  one	or  more
	  attributes  are  not supported or the job was canceled at the printer.
	  The scheduler will respond to this by canceling the job.

     CUPS_BACKEND_RETRY
	  The print file was not successfully transmitted because of a temporary
	  issue.  The scheduler will retry the job at a future time - other jobs
	  may print before this one.

     CUPS_BACKEND_RETRY_CURRENT
	  The print file was not successfully transmitted because of a temporary
	  issue.  The scheduler will retry the job immediately without	allowing
	  intervening jobs.

     All other exit code values are reserved.

ENVIRONMENT
     In  addition  to the environment variables listed in cups(1) and filter(7),
     CUPS backends can expect the following environment variable:

     DEVICE_URI
	  The device URI associated with the printer.

FILES
     /usr/local/etc/cups/cups-files.conf

NOTES
     CUPS backends are not generally designed to be run directly  by  the  user.
     Aside  from the device URI issue ( argv[0] and DEVICE_URI environment vari-
     able contain the device URI), CUPS backends also expect  specific	environ-
     ment  variables  and  file descriptors, and typically run in a user session
     that (on macOS) has additional restrictions that affect how it runs.  Back-
     ends can also be installed with restricted permissions (0500 or 0700)  that
     tell  the	scheduler  to run them as the "root" user instead of an unprivi-
     leged user (typically "lp") on the system.

     Unless you are a developer and know what you are doing, please do	not  run
     backends directly.  Instead, use the lp(1) or lpr(1) programs to send print
     jobs  or  lpinfo(8) to query for available printers using the backend.  The
     one exception is the SNMP backend - see cups-snmp(8) for more information.

NOTES
     CUPS printer drivers and backends are deprecated and will no longer be sup-
     ported in a future feature release of CUPS.  Printers that do  not  support
     IPP can be supported using applications such as ippeveprinter(1).

SEE ALSO
     cups(1),  cups-files.conf(5),  cups-snmp(8),  cupsd(8),  filter(7),  lp(1),
     lpinfo(8), lpr(1),
     CUPS Online Help (http://localhost:631/help)

COPYRIGHT
     Copyright (C) 2020-2024 by OpenPrinting.

2021-02-28			      CUPS			      backend(7)

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