[cups.general] Re: query about the cups class scheduling algorithm

[Anonymous]

Ashley GC wrote:

> I would like the cups scheduler to know what printers are available,
> either by pinging the printer regularly, or by assuming the printer
> is available and if the tcp connection times out, moving the job to
> a different queue in the same class.
> And if all this could be on the webpage(http://server:631/classes/cl)
> then that would be nice.

These features are essential. Reading the CUPS documentation one sees;

 "In addition, CUPS can automatically merge multiple identical
  network  printers into "implicit classes". This allows clients
  to send jobs to the implicit class and have them print on the first
  available printer or server"

The trouble is, as Ashley and others have pointed out, detecting the availablity of a printer in CUPS is touch and go. A printer can be offline, out-of-paper or thrown out the window and CUPS will happily report that the printer is ready. So is there back-channel support or not ? The FAQ says not until version 1.2 which seems at odds with the documentation. Could someone give a quick appraisal of the situation, please or tell me what we are doing wrong.