lpr(1) (BSD Compatibility Package) lpr(1)
NAME
lpr - send a job to the printer
SYNOPSIS
/usr/ucb/lpr [ -P printer ] [ -# copies ] [ -C class ] [ -J job ] [
-T title ]
[ -i [ indent ] ] [ -w cols ] [ -B ] [ -r ] [ -m ] [ -h ] [ -s
]
[ -filter_option ] [ filename ... ]
DESCRIPTION
lpr forwards printer jobs to a spooling area for subsequent printing
as facilities become available. Each printer job consists of copies
of, or, with -s , complete pathnames of each filename you specify.
The spool area is managed by the line printer spooler, lpsched. lpr
reads from the standard input if no files are specified.
OPTIONS
-P printer Send output to the named printer. Otherwise send
output to the printer named in the PRINTER environment
variable, or to the default printer, lp.
-# copies Produce the number of copies indicated for each named
file. For example:
lpr -#3 index.c lookup.c
produces three copies of index.c, followed by three
copies of lookup.c. On the other hand,
cat index.c lookup.c | lpr -#3
generates three copies of the concatenation of the
files.
-C class Print class as the job classification on the burst
page. For example,
lpr -C Operations new.index.c
replaces the system name (the name returned by
hostname) with Operations on the burst page, and
prints the file new.index.c.
-J job Print job as the job name on the burst page.
Normally, lpr uses the first file's name.
-T title Use title instead of the file name for the title used
by pr(1).
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-i[indent] Indent output indent SPACE characters. Eight SPACE
characters is the default.
-w cols Use cols as the page width for pr.
-r Remove the file upon completion of spooling, or upon
completion of printing with the -s option. This is
not supported in the SunOS compatibility package.
However if the job is submitted to a remote SunOS
system, these options will be sent to the remote
system for processing.
-m Send mail upon completion.
-h Suppress printing the burst page.
-s Use the full pathnames (not symbolic links) of the
files to be printed rather than trying to copy them.
This means the data files should not be modified or
removed until they have been printed. -s only
prevents copies of local files from being made. Jobs
from remote hosts are copied anyway. -s only works
with named data files; if the lpr command is at the
end of a pipeline, the data is copied to the spool.
filter_option The following single letter options notify the line
printer spooler that the files are not standard text
files. The spooling daemon will use the appropriate
filters to print the data accordingly.
-p Use pr to format the files (lpr -p is very much
like pr | lpr).
-l Print control characters and suppress page
breaks.
-t The files contain troff(1) (cat phototypesetter)
binary data.
-n The files contain data from ditroff (device
independent troff).
-d The files contain data from tex (DVI format from
Stanford).
-g The files contain standard plot data as produced
by the plot(3X) routines (see also plot(1G) for
the filters used by the printer spooler).
-v The files contain a raster image. The printer
must support an appropriate imaging model such
as PostScript® in order to print the image.
-c The files contain data produced by cifplot.
-f Interpret the first character of each line as a
standard FORTRAN carriage control character.
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lpr(1) (BSD Compatibility Package) lpr(1)
If no filter_option is given (and the printer can
interpret PostScript), the string `%!' as the first
two characters of a file indicates that it contains
PostScript commands.
These filter options offer a standard user interface,
and all options may not be available for, nor
applicable to, all printers.
FILES
/etc/passwd personal identification
/usr/lib/lp/lpsched System V line printer spooler
/var/spool/lp/tmp/* directories used for spooling
/var/spool/lp/tmp/system/*-0
spooler control files
/var/spool/lp/tmp/system/*-N
(N is an integer and > 0) data files specified in
`*-0' files
DIAGNOSTICS
lpr: printer: unknown printer
The printer was not found in the LP database. Usually this is
a typing mistake; however, it may indicate that the printer
does not exist on the system. Use `lptstat -p' to find the
reason.
lpr: error on opening queue to spooler
The connection to lpsched on the local machine failed. This
usually means the printer server started at boot time has died
or is hung. Check if the printer spooler daemon
/usr/lib/lpsched is running.
lpr: printer: printer queue is disabled
This means the queue was turned off with
/usr/etc/lpc disable printer
to prevent lpr from putting files in the queue. This is
normally done by the system manager when a printer is going to
be down for a long time. The printer can be turned back on by
a privileged user with lpc.
lpr: Can't send message to the LP print service
lpr: Can't receive message from the LP print service
These indicate that the LP print service has been stopped. Get
help from the system administrator.
lpr: Received unexpected message from LP print service
It is likely there is an error in this software. Get help from
system administrator.
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lpr(1) (BSD Compatibility Package) lpr(1)
lpr: There is no filter to convert the file content
Use the `lpstat -p -l' command to find a printer that can
handle the file type directly, or consult with your system
administrator.
lpr: cannot access the file
Make sure file names are valid.
SEE ALSO
lp(1), lpq(1), lprm(1), lpsched(1) pr(1), troff(1).
plot(1G), plot(3X) in the Programmer's Reference Manual.
NOTES
lp is the preferred interface.
Command-line options cannot be combined into a single argument as
with some other commands. The command:
lpr -fs
is not equivalent to
lpr -f -s
Placing the -s flag first, or writing each option as a separate
argument, makes a link as expected.
lpr -p is not precisely equivalent to pr | lpr. lpr -p puts the
current date at the top of each page, rather than the date last
modified.
Fonts for troff(1) and TEX® reside on the printer host. It is
currently not possible to use local font libraries.
lpr objects to printing binary files.
The -s option, intended to use symbolic links in SunOS, does not use
symbolic links in the compatibility package. Instead, the complete
path names are used. Also, the copying is avoided only for print
jobs that are run from the printer host itself. Jobs added to the
queue from a remote host are always copied into the spool area. That
is, if the printer does not reside on the host that lpr is run from,
the spooling system makes a copy the file to print, and places it in
the spool area of the printer host, regardless of -s.
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