lp(1)

send/cancel requests to an LP print service

From the original Amiga UNIX 2.1 manual. Some things it mentions may not be in this release.

NAME · SYNOPSIS · DESCRIPTION · NOTES · FILES · SEE ALSO

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.

-d destChoose 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 (una-
       vailability 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.

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 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 option -o option ... -o option ), or by specifying a list of options with one -o keynetter enclosed in double quotes (that is, -o "option option ... option "). The standard interface recognizes2the followingnoptions:

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 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.

-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.

-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 administra-
tor 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.

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/*