[QGIS-Developer] Processing: questions on temporary files

[Andreas Neumann]

Hi, 

I noticed that when running processing algorithms and also models, that
both the in between results, but also end results are only kept in
memory and the end result ends up as memory layer, if I use the Option
"Create Temporary Layer". 

I'd like to better understand how QGIS processing works. What happens in
such a case if the data is really, really big? Would it crash the
machine, or switch from memory layer to a real file "automagically"? If
yes, how would this be decided? Or is it the responsibility of the OS to
swap such really large temporary layers into files, without the user
noticing? 

Or is the user responsible for that and needs to switch to a file as the
output instead of the option "Create temporary layer"? 

In my opinion, the term "Create temporary layer", from a user
perspective, doesn't necessarily mean "Create Memory layer". A temporary
layer could also be stored in disk. 

Thanks for shedding some light on the behaviour of processing! 

Andreas
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