lp(1) UNIX System V(Line Printer Spooling Utilities) lp(1)
NAME
lp, cancel - send/cancel requests to an LP print service
SYNOPSIS
lp [printing-options] [files]
lp -i request-IDs printing-options
cancel [request-IDs] [printers]
cancel -u login-ID-list [printers]
DESCRIPTION
The first form of the lp command arranges for the named files and
associated information (collectively called a request) to be printed. If
no file names are specified on the command line, the standard input is
assumed. The standard input may be specified along with named files on
the command line by listing the file name(s) and specifying - for the
standard input. The files will be printed in the order in which they
appear on the shell command line.
The LP print service associates a unique request-ID with each request and
displays it on the standard output. This request-ID can be used later
when canceling or changing a request, or when determining its status.
[See the section on cancel for details about canceling a request, and
lpstat(1) for information about checking the status of a print request.]
The second form of lp is used to change the options for a request. The
print request identified by the request-ID is changed according to the
printing options specified with this shell command. The printing options
available are the same as those with the first form of the lp shell
command. If the request has finished printing, the change is rejected.
If the request is already printing, it will be stopped and restarted from
the beginning (unless the -P option has been given).
The cancel command allows users to cancel print requests previously sent
with the lp command. The first form of cancel permits cancellation of
requests based on their request-ID. The second form of cancel permits
cancellation of requests based on the login-ID of their owner.
Sending a Print Request
The first form of the lp command is used to send a print request to a
particular printer or group of printers.
Options to lp must always precede file names, but may be specified in any
order. The following options are available for lp:
-c Make copies of the files before printing. Normally, files will not
be copied, but will be linked whenever possible. If the -c option
is not given, then the user should be careful not to remove any of
the files before the request has been printed in its entirety. It
should also be noted that if the -c option is not specified, any
changes made to the named files after the request is made but
before it is printed will be reflected in the printed output.
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lp(1) UNIX System V(Line Printer Spooling Utilities) lp(1)
-d dest
Choose dest as the printer or class of printers that is to do the
printing. If dest is a printer, then the request will be printed
only on that specific printer. If dest is a class of printers,
then the request will be printed on the first available printer
that is a member of the class. If dest is any, then the request
will be printed on any printer which can handle it. Under certain
conditions (unavailability of printers, file space limitations,
and so on) requests for specific destinations may not be accepted
[see lpstat(1)]. By default, dest is taken from the environment
variable LPDEST (if it is set). Otherwise, a default destination
(if one exists) for the computer system is used. Destination
names vary between systems [see lpstat(1)].
-f form-name [-d any]
Print the request on the form form-name. The LP print service
ensures that the form is mounted on the printer. If form-name is
requested with a printer destination that cannot support the form,
the request is rejected. If form-name has not been defined for
the system, or if the user is not allowed to use the form, the
request is rejected [see lpforms(1M)]. When the -d any option is
given, the request is printed on any printer that has the
requested form mounted and can handle all other needs of the print
request.
-H special-handling
Print the request according to the value of special-handling.
Acceptable values for special-handling are defined below:
hold Don't print the request until notified. If printing has
already begun, stop it. Other print requests will go ahead
of a held request until it is resumed.
resume Resume a held request. If it had been printing when held,
it will be the next request printed, unless subsequently
bumped by an immediate request. The -i option (followed by
a request-ID) must be used whenever this argument is
specified.
immediate
(Available only to LP administrators)
Print the request next. If more than one request is
assigned immediate, the requests are printed in the reverse
order queued. If a request is currently printing on the
desired printer, you have to put it on hold to allow the
immediate request to print.
-m Send mail [see mail(1)] after the files have been printed. By
default, no mail is sent upon normal completion of the print
request.
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lp(1) UNIX System V(Line Printer Spooling Utilities) lp(1)
-n number
Print number copies (default is 1) of the output.
-o option
Specify printer-dependent options. Several such options may be
collected by specifying the -o keyletter more than once (-o
option1 -o option2 ... -o optionn), or by specifying a list of
options with one -o keyletter enclosed in double quotes (that is,
-o "option1 option2 ... optionn"). The standard interface
recognizes the following options:
nobanner
Do not print a banner page with this request. (The
administrator can disallow this option at any time.)
nofilebreak
Do not insert a form feed between the files given, if
submitting a job to print more than one file.
length=scaled-decimal-number
Print this request with pages scaled-decimal-number lines
long. A scaled-decimal-number is an optionally scaled
decimal number that gives a size in lines, columns, inches,
or centimeters, as appropriate. The scale is indicated by
appending the letter ``i'' for inches, or the letter ``c''
for centimeters. For length or width settings, an unscaled
number indicates lines or columns; for line pitch or
character pitch settings, an unscaled number indicates
lines per inch or characters per inch (the same as a number
scaled with ``i''). For example, length=66 indicates a
page length of 66 lines, length=11i indicates a page length
of 11 inches, and length=27.94c indicates a page length of
27.94 centimeters.
This option may not be used with the -f option.
width=scaled-decimal-number
Print this request with page-width set to scaled-decimal-
number columns wide. (See the explanation of scaled-
decimal-numbers in the discussion of length, above.) This
option may not be used with the -f option.
lpi=scaled-decimal-number
Print this request with the line pitch set to scaled-
decimal-number lines per inch. This option may not be used
with the -f option.
cpi=scaled-decimal-number
Print this request with the character pitch set to scaled-
decimal-number characters per inch. Character pitch can
also be set to pica (representing 10 characters per inch)
or elite (representing 12 characters per inch), or it can
be compressed (representing as many characters as a printer
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lp(1) UNIX System V(Line Printer Spooling Utilities) lp(1)
can handle). There is no standard number of characters per
inch for all printers; see the Terminfo database
[terminfo(4)] for the default character pitch for your
printer.
This option may not be used with the -f option.
stty='stty-option-list'
A list of options valid for the stty command; enclose the
list with single quotes if it contains blanks.
-P page-list
Print the pages specified in page-list. This option can be used
only if there is a filter available to handle it; otherwise, the
print request will be rejected.
The page-list may consist of range(s) of numbers, single page
numbers, or a combination of both. The pages will be printed in
ascending order.
-q priority-level
Assign this request priority-level in the printing queue. The
values of priority-level range from 0, the highest priority, to
39, the lowest priority. If a priority is not specified, the
default for the print service is used, as assigned by the system
administrator. A priority limit may be assigned to individual
users by the system administrator.
-s Suppress messages from lp such as those that begin with request id
is.
-S character-set [-d any]
-S print-wheel [-d any]
Print this request using the specified character-set or print-
wheel. If a form was requested and it requires a character set or
print wheel other than the one specified with the -S option, the
request is rejected.
For printers that take print wheels: if the print wheel specified
is not one listed by the administrator as acceptable for the
printer specified in this request, the request is rejected unless
the print wheel is already mounted on the printer.
For printers that use selectable or programmable character sets: if
the character-set specified is not one defined in the Terminfo
database for the printer [see terminfo(4)], or is not an alias
defined by the administrator, the request is rejected.
When the -d any option is used, the request is printed on any
printer that has the print wheel mounted or any printer that can
select the character set, and that can handle any other needs of
the request.
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lp(1) UNIX System V(Line Printer Spooling Utilities) lp(1)
-t title
Print title on the banner page of the output. The default is no
title. Enclose title in quotes if it contains blanks.
-T content-type [-r]
Print the request on a printer that can support the specified
content-type. If no printer accepts this type directly, a filter
will be used to convert the content into an acceptable type. If
the -r option is specified, a filter will not be used. If -r is
specified, and no printer accepts the content-type directly, the
request is rejected. If the content-type is not acceptable to any
printer, either directly or with a filter, the request is
rejected.
In addition to ensuring that no filters will be used, the -r option
will force the equivalent of the -o 'stty=-opost' option.
-w Write a message on the user's terminal after the files have been
printed. If the user is not logged in, then mail will be sent
instead.
-y mode-list
Print this request according to the printing modes listed in
mode-list. The allowed values for mode-list are locally defined.
This option may be used only if there is a filter available to
handle it; otherwise, the print request will be rejected.
Canceling a Print Request
The cancel command cancels requests for print jobs made with the lp
command. The first form allows a user to specify one or more request-IDs
of print jobs to be canceled. Alternatively, the user can specify one or
more printers, on which only the currently printing job will be canceled.
The second form of cancel permits a user to cancel all of his or her own
jobs on all printers. In this form the printers option can be used to
restrict the printers on which the user's jobs will be canceled. Note
that in this form, when the printers option is used, all jobs queued for
those printers will be canceled. A printer class is not a valid
argument.
Users without special privileges can cancel only requests associated with
their own login IDs. The system administrator can cancel jobs submitted
by any user. The login-ID-list must be enclosed in quotes if it contains
blanks.
NOTES
Printers for which requests are not being accepted will not be considered
when the lp command is run and the destination is any. (Use the lpstat
-a command to see which printers are accepting requests.) On the other
hand, if (1) a request is destined for a class of printers and (2) the
class itself is accepting requests, then all printers in the class will
be considered, regardless of their acceptance status.
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lp(1) UNIX System V(Line Printer Spooling Utilities) lp(1)
For printers that take mountable print wheels or font cartridges, if you
do not specify a particular print wheel or font with the -S option,
whichever one happens to be mounted at the time your request is printed
will be used. Use the lpstat -p printer -l command to see which print
wheels are available on a particular printer, or the lpstat -S -l command
to find out what print wheels are available and on which printers. For
printers that have selectable character sets, you will get the standard
character set if you don't use the -S option.
FILES
/var/spool/lp/*
SEE ALSO
enable(1), lpstat(1), mail(1).
accept(1M), lpadmin(1M), lpfilter(1M), lpforms(1M), lpsched(1M),
lpsystem(1M), lpusers(1M) in the System Administrator's Reference Manual.
terminfo(4) in the Programmer's Reference Manual.
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