lp(1) USER COMMANDS 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]
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 com-
mand 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 care-
ful not to remove any of the files before the request
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lp(1) USER COMMANDS lp(1)
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. Under certain
conditions (unavailability of printers, file space
limitations, and so on) requests for specific desti-
nations may not be accepted [see lpstat(1)]. By
default, dest is taken from the environment variable
LPDEST (if it is set). Otherwise, a default destina-
tion (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 print-
ing 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
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lp(1) USER COMMANDS lp(1)
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 (-o option1 -o option2 ...
-o optionn), or by specifying a list of options with
more than one -o keyletter (i.e., -o option1,
option2, ... optionn). The standard interface recog-
nizes 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 appropri-
ate. The scale is indicated by appending the
letter ``i'' for inches, or the letter ``c''
for centimeters. For length or width set-
tings, 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.
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lp(1) USER COMMANDS lp(1)
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 [ter-
minfo(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.
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lp(1) USER COMMANDS lp(1)
-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 administra-
tor 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.
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lp(1) USER COMMANDS lp(1)
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 follow-
ing 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 car-
tridges, 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 com-
mand 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/*
SEE ALSO
enable(1), lpstat(1), mail(1).
accept(1M), lpadmin(1M), lpfilter(1M), lpforms(1M),
lpsched(1M), lpsystem(1M), lpusers(1M) in the System
Administrator's Reference Manual.
terminfo(4) in the Programmer's Reference Manual.
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