lp(1) — USER COMMANDS

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_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 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 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 when canceling or changing a request, or when determining its status. [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 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 immediately of the files to be printed when lp is invoked. 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.

−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. 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 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 (default of 1) of the output.

−o option
Specify printer-dependent options. Several such options may be collected by specifying the −o keyletter more than once (−ooption1 −ooption2 ... −ooptionn), or by specifying a list of options with more than one −o keyletter (i.e., −ooption1, 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 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.

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 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.

−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, 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.

−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 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 requests for print jobs made with the lp command. To cancel a job, specify one of the following arguments: the request-ID for it (as returned by the lp command); the name of the printer handling it; or the login-ID of the user who requested it. A printer class is not a valid argument.

Users without special privileges can cancel only requests associated with their own login IDs.

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.

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/∗

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