====== Caching ======

VuFind uses caching in several places to improve performance.

===== The Cache Manager and Its Caches =====

VuFind has a [[https://github.com/vufind-org/vufind/blob/dev/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Cache/Manager.php|VuFind\Cache\Manager]] class which pre-configures [[development:architecture:laminas|Laminas]] cache objects and/or directory locations for several named caches. Each of these caches is used slightly differently.

  * config - stores top-level Laminas configurations; manually set up in [[https://github.com/vufind-org/vufind/blob/dev/config/application.config.php|application.config.php]] but included in the cache manager to assist with automated cache clearing in the admin panel.
  * cover - stores cover images; used by the [[https://github.com/vufind-org/vufind/blob/dev/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Cover/Loader.php|cover loader]] to store downloaded image files.
  * language - stores parsed i18n language files; set up as part of [[https://github.com/vufind-org/vufind/blob/v3.0/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Service/Factory.php#L883|i18n initialization]]. 
  * object - stores serialized PHP objects; this is the most general-purpose cache in VuFind, shared by several different consumers. If you want to cache data of your own, this is a good place to put it, as long as you name your cache keys with appropriate uniqueness.
  * searchspecs - stores parsed/processed YAML search specification configurations; used by the [[https://github.com/vufind-org/vufind/blob/dev/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Config/SearchSpecsReader.php|SearchSpecsReader]].

===== Cache Locations =====

The location of the cache may vary depending on various environment variables, your VuFind version, and whether you are running code through Apache or from the command line. See VuFind\Cache\Manager::getCacheDir for the rules that apply in your particular version of VuFind.

===== Consumers of the Object Cache =====

As noted above, VuFind's object cache is the best general-purpose place for storing data, as long as you use cache keys that do not conflict with other VuFind components. Here is a list of current keys reserved in the object cache (current as of VuFind 3.0):

  * alephTranslator - used by VuFind\ILS\Driver\Aleph
  * edsAuthenticationToken - used by VuFindSearch\Backend\EDS\Backend
  * solrSearchAdvancedFacets*, solrSearchHomeFacets* - used by VuFind\Controller\SearchController
  * summonSearchAdvancedFacets - used by VuFind\Controller\SummonController
  * VoyagerRestful-* - used by VuFind\ILS\Driver\VoyagerRestful