LP(1) (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]
DESCRIPTION
The first form of the lp shell command arranges for the
named files and associated information (collectively called
a request) to be printed. If no file names are specified on
the shell command line, the standard input is assumed. The
standard input may be specified along with named files on
the shell command line by using the file name(s) and - for
the standard input. The files will be printed in the order
they appear on the shell command line.
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).
lp associates a unique request-id with each request and
prints it on the standard output. This request-id can be
used later to cancel, change, or find the status of the
request. (See the section on cancel for details about
canceling a request, the previous paragraph for an
explanation of how to change a request, and lpstat(1) for
information about checking the status of a print request.)
Sending a Print Request
The first form of the lp command is used to send a print
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request to a particular printer or group of printers.
Options to lp must always precede file names, but may be
listed in any order. The following options are available
for lp:
-c Make copies of the files to be printed immediately
when lp is invoked. Normally, files will not be
copied. 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 in the
absence of the -c option, any changes made to the
named files after the request is made but before
it is printed will be reflected in the printed
output.
-d dest Print this request using dest as the printer or
class of printers. Under certain conditions (lack
of printer availability, capabilities of printers,
and so on), requests for specific destinations may
not be accepted (see accept(1M) and 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
from system to system (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 any
other needs of the print request.
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-H special-handling
Print the request according to the value of
special-handling. Acceptable values for special-
handling are hold, resume, and immediate, as
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.
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.
-n number Print number copies of the output. (Default is
1.)
-o option Specify printer-dependent or class-dependent
options. Several such options may be specified on
a single command line either by using the -o
keyletter more than once (i.e., -o option1 -o
option2 ... -o optionn), or by specifying a list
of options with one -o keyletter (i.e., -o
option1, option2, ... optionn). The standard
interface recognizes the following options:
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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 cannot 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
cannot 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 cannot be used with the -f option.
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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 columns per inch) or elite
(representing 12 columns per inch), or it can
be compressed (representing as many columns as
a printer can handle). There is no standard
number of columns per inch for all printers;
see the Terminfo database (terminfo(4)) for
the default character pitch for your printer.
This option cannot be used with the -f option.
stty=stty-option-list
A list of options valid for the stty command;
enclose the list with 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.
-s Suppress messages from the print service such as
request id is request-id.
-S character-set [-d any]
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-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.
-t title
Print title on the banner page of the output. The
default is no title.
-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, but 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.
-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.
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-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 can 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 printer requests that were made
by the lp(1) shell command. The shell command line
arguments may be either request-ids (as returned by lp(1))
or printer names (for a complete list, use lpstat(1)).
Specifying a request-id cancels the associated request even
if it is currently printing. Specifying a printer cancels
the request that is currently printing on that printer. In
either case, the cancellation of a request that is currently
printing frees the printer to print its next available
request.
NOTES
Printers for which requests are not being accepted will not
be considered when the destination is any. (Use the lpstat
-a command to see which printers are accepting requests.)
On the other hand, if a request is destined for a class of
printers and the class itself is accepting requests, all
printers in the class will be considered, regardless of
their acceptance status, as long as the printer class is
accepting requests.
WARNING
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.
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FILES
/usr/spool/lp/*
SEE ALSO
enable(1), lpstat(1), mail(1).
accept(1M), lpadmin(1M), lpfilter(1M), lpforms(1M),
lpsched(1M), lpusers(1M) in the System Administrator's
Reference Manual.
terminfo(4) in the Programmer's Reference Manual.
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