lp(1)

Synopsis

lp -i request-ID print-options

cancel [request-IDs] [printers]

cancel -u login-IDs [printers]

Description

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 submitted previously. The print request identified by the request-ID is changed according to the print-options specified with this command. The print-options available are the same as those with the first form of the lp 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

Options to lp must always precede filenames, but may be specified 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, but will be linked whenever possible. If the -c option is not specified, 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. If dest is any, then the request will be printed on any printer that 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 LPDEST is not set, then dest is taken from the environment variable PRINTER. If PRINTER is not set, a default destination (if one exists) for the computer system is used. If no system default is set and -T is used, dest will be selected on the basis of content-type specified with the -T option [see the description of -T]. 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

Do not 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. If the Auditing Utilities are installed, the use of this option is an auditable event.

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. If the Auditing Utilities are installed, the use of this option is an auditable event. 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 most recent request will be printed first. If another request is currently printing, it must be put on hold to allow this immediate request to print.

-L locale-name

Specify locale-name as the locale to use with this print request. By default, locale-name is set to the value of LC_CTYPE. If LC_CTYPE is not set, locale-name defaults to the C locale.

-m

Send mail (see mail(1)) after the files have been printed. By default, mail is not sent upon normal completion of the print request.

-n number

Print number copies of the output. The default is one copy.

-o options

Specify printer-dependent options. Several such options may be collected by specifying the -o keyletter more than once (that is, -o option[1] -o option[2] ... -o option[n]), or by specifying a list of options with one -o keyletter enclosed in double quotes and separated by spaces (that is, -o "option[1] option[2] . . . option[n]").

nobanner

Do not print a banner page with this request. The administrator can disallow this option at any time. This option is not supported by printers configured to use the B2 interface.

nofilebreak

Do not insert a form feed between the files given, if submitting a job to print more than one file. This option is not supported by printers configured to use the PS (PostScript) interface.

length=scaled-decimal-number

Print this request with pages scaled-decimal-number long. A scaled-decimal-number is an optionally scaled decimal number that gives a size in lines, characters, 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 characters; 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 and is not supported by the PS (PostScript) or B2 interface.

width=scaled-decimal-number

Print this request with pages scaled-decimal-number wide. (See the explanation of scaled-decimal-numbers in the discussion of length, above.) This option may not be used with the -f option and is not supported by the PS (PostScript) or B2 interface.

lpi=scaled-decimal-number

Print this request with the line pitch set to scaled-decimal-number. (See the explanation of scaled-decimal-numbers in the discussion of length, above.) This option may not be used with the -f option and is not supported by the PS (PostScript) or B2 interface.

cpi=pica|elite|compressed

Print this request with the character pitch set to pica (representing 10 characters per inch), elite (representing 12 characters per inch), or compressed (representing as many characters per inch as a printer can handle). There is not a standard number of characters per inch for all printers; see the terminfo(4) database for the default character pitch for your printer. This option may not be used with the -f option and is not supported by the PS (PostScript) or B2 interface.

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 ranges 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 (highest priority) to 39 (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. If the Auditing Utilities are installed, the use of this option is an auditable event.

-R

Remove file(s) after submitting the print request. Use this option with caution.

-r

See ``-T content-type [-r]'' below.

-s

Suppress the ``request id is ...'' message.

-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 all 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. Supplementary code set characters specified in title are not printed correctly (see banner(1)).

-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.

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, or if the printer resides on a remote system, then mail will be sent instead. Be aware that messages may be sent to a window other than the one in which the command was originally entered.

-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.

The following list describes the mode-list options:

-y reverse

Reverse the order in which pages are printed. This filter option is not supported by the LP Print Service.

-y landscape

Change the orientation of a physical page from portrait to landscape.

-y x=number,y=number

Change the default position of a logical page on a physical page by moving the origin.

-y group=number

Group multiple logical pages on a single physical page.

-y magnify=number

Change the logical size of each page in a document.

-o length=number

Select the number of lines in each page of the document.

-P number

Select, by page numbers, a subset of a document to be printed.

-n number

Print multiple copies of a document.

Canceling a print request

The second form of cancel cancels all jobs for users specified in login-IDs. In this form the printers option can be used to restrict the printers on which the users' jobs will be canceled. Note that in this form, when the printers option is used, all jobs queued by the users for those printers will be canceled. A printer class is not a valid argument.

A user without special privileges can cancel only requests that are associated with his or her own login ID; To cancel a request, a user issues the command:

cancel -u login-ID [printer]

This command cancels all print requests associated with the login-ID of the user making the request, either on all printers (by default) or on the printer specified.

Administrative users with the appropriate privileges can cancel jobs submitted by any user by issuing the following types of commands:

cancel -u "login-ID-list"

Cancels all requests (on all relevant printers) by the specified users, including those jobs currently being printed. Double quotes must be used around login-ID-list if the list contains blanks. The argument login-ID-list may include any or all of the following constructs:

login-ID

a user on the local system

system-name!login-ID

a user on system system-name

system-name!all

all users on system system-name

all!login-ID

a user on all systems

all

all users on the local system

all!all

all users on all systems

Note that a remote job can be canceled only if it originated on the client system; that is, a server system can cancel jobs that came from a client, and a client system can cancel jobs it sent to a server.

The exception to this is when the bsd printer protocol is being used and the client has been marked as ``trusted'' in /etc/lp/Systems. This allows the root user on a trusted client to cancel requests originating with other clients. See lpsystem(1M) for more information.

cancel -u "login-ID-list" printer-1

printer-2 printer-n" Cancels all requests by the specified users for the specified printers, including those jobs currently being printed. (For a complete list of printers available on your system, execute the lpstat -p command.)

If the Auditing Utilities are installed, the use of this command is an auditable event.

Downloading type 1 postScript fonts to postScript printers

Files

/var/spool/lp/

/usr/lib/locale/locale/LC_MESSAGES/uxlp

language-specific message file (see LANG on environ(5)).

References

Notices

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. The lpstat -p printer -l command is used to see which print wheels are available on a particular printer. The lpstat -S -l command is used to see what print wheels are available and on which printers. Without the -S option, the standard character set is used for printers that have selectable character sets.

If you experience problems with jobs that usually print but on occasion do not print, check the physical connections between the printer and your computer. If you are using an automatic data switch or an A/B switch, try removing it and see if the problem clears.

Earlier versions of the UNIX^® system may issue warnings about unrecognized options (such as the locale= or flist= options), when processing print requests from remote systems running a more recent version of the LP Print Server. The request will be printed normally, however.

Administrators with appropriate privileges can suppress these warnings by adding the following two lines to the section annotated as ``adding simple options,'' in the printer interface program used by the printer issuing the warnings.

   locale=*) ;;
   flist=*) ;;