.TH SPOOLER 2
.SH NAME
spooler \- file spooler module interface for use with spool
.SH SYNOPSIS
.EX
include "spooler.m";
sppoler := load Spooler MOD->PATH;

Sfile: adt {
	fd:	ref Sys->FD;	# avail to be used by spooler
	sval: string;		# avail to be used by spooler

	start:		fn(path: string, endc: chan of string): (ref Sfile, string);
	stop: 	fn(file: self ref Sfile);
	status:	fn(file: self ref Sfile): string;
};

init:		fn(args: list of string);
status:	fn(): string;
debug:	int;
.EE
.SH DESCRIPTION
A
.I spooler
is a module that implements this interface. It is intented to be given as an argument for
.IR spool (4),
which is a file server that implements the spooling interface seen by the user.
.PP
Each file being spooled is represented by a
.BR Sfile .
The function
.I Sfile.start
is called to start spooling for a file with a
.I path
name. The function must send either
.B nil
or an error string through
.I endc
when the file has been processed. But note that
.I endc
may be
.B nil
and nothing has to be sent in that case.
The function must return an appropriate
.I Sfile
containing what is needed to implement
.I Sfile.stop
and
.I Sfile.status .
Both
.B Sfile.fd
and
.B Sfile.sval
are available for internal use of the module implementor.
.PP
.I Sfile.stop
must stop processing the file, and release any resource held for its
processing.
.PP
.I Sfile.status
must return a string with the status for the spool request corresponding to
the file.
.PP
.I Status
must return a string (perhaps multiple lines) with the status of the spooling service.
.PP
The global
.I debug
will be set to either zero or non-zero from outside to ask debug diagnostics when set.
.PP
.I Spool
calls
.I init
before calling any other service from a
.I Spooler
module
.SH EXAMPLE
See
.B /usr/octopus/port/lib/view.b
or
.B /usr/octopus/MacOSX/print.b
.SH SEE ALSO
.IR spool (4).