NAME

lpr − off line print

SYNTAX

lpr [ option...  ] [ file...  ]

DESCRIPTION

The lpr command uses a spooling daemon to print the named files when facilities become available.  If no names appear, the standard input is assumed. The −P option may be used to force output to a specific printer.  Normally, the default printer is used (site dependent), or the value of the environment variable PRINTER is used. 

OPTIONS

The following single letter options are used to notify the line printer spooler that the files are not standard text files.  The spooling daemon uses the appropriate filters to print the data accordingly. 

−pUse pr(1) to format the files (equivalent to print).

−lUse a filter which allows control characters to be printed and suppresses page breaks. 

−tThe files are assumed to contain data from troff() (cat phototypesetter commands).

−nThe files are assumed to contain data from ditroff (device independent troff ).

−dThe files are assumed to contain data from TeX (DVI format from Stanford). 

−gThe files are assumed to contain standard plot data as produced by the plot() routines See plot() for the filters used by the printer spooler.

−vThe files are assumed to contain a raster image for devices. 

−cThe files are assumed to contain data produced by cifplot. 

−fUse a filter which interprets the first character of each line as a standard FORTRAN carriage control character. 

−xTransparent filter.  Allows data to be sent to printer unchanged. 

The remaining single letter options are:

−rRemove the file upon completion of spooling or upon completion of printing (with the −s option). 

−mSend mail upon completion. 

−hSuppress the printing of the burst page. 

The following options take an argument:

−PUse to direct output to a specific printer

−CThe argument is the job classification for use on the burst page.  For example,

lpr −C EECS foo.c

causes the system name, the name returned by hostname(,), to be replaced on the burst page by EECS, and the file foo.c to be printed.

−JThe argument is the job name to print on the burst page.  Normally, the first file’s name is used. 

−TThe argument is the title used by pr(1) instead of the file name. 

−#num
Produces multiple copies of output.  The argument num is the number of copies desired of each file named.  For example,

lpr −#3 foo.c bar.c more.c

results in 3 copies of the file foo.c, followed by 3 copies of the file bar.c, etc.  On the other hand,

cat foo.c bar.c more.c | lpr −#3

gives three copies of the linked files.

−iCauses the output to be indented the specified number of blank spaces.  If a numeric number is not specified, the output is indented 8 blank characters. 

−wTakes the immediately following number to be the page width for pr. 

−zTakes the immediately following number to be the page length for pr. 

−sUses symlink() to link data files rather than trying to copy them. This means the files should not be modified or removed until they have been printed.

−1234
Specifies a font to be mounted on font position i.  The daemon constructs a .railmag file referencing /usr/lib/vfont/name.size.

RESTRICTIONS

Fonts reside on the host with the printer.  It is currently not possible to use local font libraries. 

The lpr command does not print binary files.

DIAGNOSTICS

If a user other than root prints a file and spooling is disabled, lpr prints a disabled message and does not put jobs in the queue.

If a connection to lpd on the local machine cannot be made, lpr prints that the daemon cannot be started.

Diagnostics may be printed in the daemon’s log file regarding missing spool files by using lpd.

FILES

/etc/passwdpersonal identification
/etc/printcapprinter capabilities data base
/usr/lib/lpd*line printer daemons
/usr/spool/*directories used for spooling
/usr/spool/*/cf*daemon control files
/usr/spool/*/df*data files specified in "cf" files
/usr/spool/*/tf*temporary copies of "cf" files

SEE ALSO

lpq(1), lprm(1), pr(1), symlink(2), printcap(5), lpc(8), lpd(8)

Commands