lpr(1) USER COMMANDS 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).
Last change: BSD Compatibility Package 1
lpr(1) USER COMMANDS lpr(1)
-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 com-
mand 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 photo-
typesetter) 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 PostScriptr in
order to print the image.
Last change: BSD Compatibility Package 2
lpr(1) USER COMMANDS lpr(1)
-c The files contain data produced by cif-
plot.
-f Interpret the first character of each
line as a standard FORTRAN carriage con-
trol character. 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.
Last change: BSD Compatibility Package 3
lpr(1) USER COMMANDS lpr(1)
lpr: Received unexpected message from LP print service
It is likely there is an error in this software. Get
help from system administrator.
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
lpc(8), lpq(1), lprm(1), plot(1G), troff(1) plot(3X) in the
Programmer's Reference Manual.
lpsched(1) in the System Administrator's Reference Manual.
lp(1), pr(1) in the User's Reference Manual.
NOTES
lp is the preferred interface. Command-line options cannot
be combined into a single argument as with some other com-
mands. 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 T Xr reside on the printer host. It is
currently not poE
ssible 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.
Last change: BSD Compatibility Package 4