`lprq`

Examine a line printer's spool queue

Syntax:

lprq [-l] [-Pprinter] [jobnum ...] [user ...]

Options:

-l

Print information about each of the files comprising the job entry. Normally, lprq displays only as much information as fits on one line.

-Pprinter

The printer to query. If you don't specify a printer, lprq queries the default line printer (or the printer identified by the PRINTER environment variable, if it's set). All other arguments supplied are interpreted as user names or job numbers to filter out only those jobs of interest.

jobnum

For each job submitted (i.e. invocation of lpr), lprq reports the user's name, current rank in the queue, the names of files comprising the job, the job identifier (a number that you can give to lprrm to remove a specific job), and the total size in bytes.

The order of the jobs depends on the algorithm used to scan the spooling directory and is supposed to be FIFO (First in First Out).

Filenames comprising a job may be unavailable (when lpr is used as a sink in a pipeline), in which case the file is indicated as “standard input.”

If lprq warns that there's no daemon present (i.e. due to some malfunction), you can use lprc to restart the printer daemon.

user

Specify a particular user name.

Description:

The lprq utility examines the spooling area used by lpd for printing files on the line printer, and reports the status of the specified jobs or all jobs associated with a user. If you invoke lprq without any arguments, it lists any jobs that are currently in the queue.

This utility needs to have the setuid (“set user ID”) bit set in its permissions. If you use mkefs, mketfs, or mkifs on a Windows host to include this utility in an image, use the perms attribute to specify its permissions explicitly, and the uid and gid attributes to set the ownership correctly.

Files:

/etc/printcap: Printer description file.

Environment variables:

PRINTER: An alternate default printer.

Caveats:

Due to the dynamic nature of the information in the spooling directory, lprq may report unreliably. Output formatting is sensitive to the line length of the terminal; this can result in widely spaced columns.