lp(1)lp(1)NAME
lp, lpalt, cancel - print/alter/cancel requests on an LP destination
SYNOPSIS
[file ...]
id
[id ...] [dest ...]
DESCRIPTION
The command queues files for printing. The command changes information
in a queued request. The command deletes a queued request.
lp Command
The command arranges for the named files, file ..., and associated
information (collectively called a request) to be queued for output to
a destination in the LP (line printer) subsystem. The process is
called printing, regardless of the actual output device.
associates a unique identifier with each request and writes it to stan‐
dard output, using the message:
The request ID is which can be used later to alter, cancel, or find the
status of the request (see and below, and lpstat(1)).
For example, in the following message,
the request ID is
lp Options and Arguments
recognizes the following options and arguments. The keyletter options
can be specified in any order. The file ... names must be last.
file ... Print each named file. If no file names are specified,
standard input is assumed. The hyphen symbol also spec‐
ifies standard input and can be intermixed on the com‐
mand line with file names. If more than one is speci‐
fied, all but first are ignored. Files are printed in
the same order in which they are specified. A maximum
of 832 file names can be specified.
Copy the named files to LP subsystem spooling directories.
Normally, the files are linked into a spool directory.
The ownership and mode of the linked files remain
unchanged. If the option is given, or linking is not
possible (perhaps because the files do not reside on the
same filesystem as that of the spooling directory), the
files are copied into the spool directories. The owner‐
ship and mode of the copies are set to allow read and
write access to owner and read access to group only.
If the files are linked rather than copied, any changes
made to the named files after the request is made but
before it is printed will be reflected in the printed
output. Standard input is always copied instead of
linked.
Select dest as the printer or class of printers that is to do
the printing. If dest is a printer, the request will be
printed only on that specific printer. If dest is a
class, the request will be printed on the first avail‐
able printer that is a member of the class. Under cer‐
tain conditions (printer unavailability, file space lim‐
itation, etc.), requests for a specific dest might not
be accepted (see accept(1M) and lpadmin(1M)).
If the option is omitted, dest is taken from the envi‐
ronment variable If that variable is unset or empty,
dest is taken from the environment variable If that
variable is unset or empty, the default queue is used.
If there is no default queue, or default queue exists
but is empty or has invalid destination entry, or is set
but invalid, is set but invalid, issues an error message
and the request is not queued. Printer and class names
and the default queue are defined by your LP subsystem
administrator (see lpadmin(1M) and lpstat(1)).
Send a mail message (see
mail(1)) to the user after the request has been printed.
By default, no mail is sent upon normal completion of
the print request.
Print number copies of the output. If illegal number of
copies is specified with this option, the default number
of copies is 1.
Specify a printer-dependent
option. You can specify several printer options by
repeating the option. For information about the options
that are available for a printer supported on your sys‐
tem, see the interface script for the printer name in
the directory.
Set the priority of the print request.
priority must be in the range 0 (lowest priority) to 7
(highest priority). The priority is used by the sched‐
uler to select the next spooled file for the targeted
printer or class of printers. If the priority is less
than the fence, the minimum priority set for the
printer, the print request is deferred until the fence
is lowered or the priority is raised. The default for a
printer queue is the default priority set by the or com‐
mand (see lpadmin(1M) and lpsched(1M)). The default for
a class queue is the highest default priority among
printers in the class.
Suppress standard output messages from
such as "". Error messages are still displayed on stan‐
dard error.
Print title on the banner page of the output. The maximum
length of the title is 79 bytes. title of length
greater than 79 bytes is truncated to 79 bytes.
Write a message to the user's terminal after the request has been
printed.
If the user is not logged in, or if the user has denied
messages to his terminal (see mesg(1)), or (for remote
printing) if (see rlpdaemon(1M)) is not running on the
user's local system, mail will be sent instead.
lpalt Command
The command alters a request made by a previous command, if it is not
currently printing. (To requeue a currently printing request, use the
command (see enable(1)) to stop the printer.)
lpalt Options
recognizes the following options and arguments, which can be specified
in any order. Blanks are not permitted between a keyletter and its
argument.
id Specifies the request to be altered. id is a request ID
returned by or
Requeue the request to the named printer or class
dest. A new unique request ID is written to standard
output.
Alter only local requests.
Send mail upon normal completion of the print request.
Change the number of copies to
number.
Specify a printer-dependent
option. You can specify several printer options by
repeating the option. All options from previous and
commands for this request ID are deleted.
Change the request's priority to
priority.
Suppress standard output messages from
such as "". Error messages are still displayed on stan‐
dard error.
Change the title on the banner page of the output.
Write a message to the user's terminal after the request has been
printed.
If the user is not logged in or if the user has denied
messages to his terminal (see mesg(1)) or (for remote
printing) if (see rlpdaemon(1M)). is not running on the
user's local system, mail will be sent instead.
cancel Command
The command cancels requests that were made with the command, even if
they are currently printing.
The cancellation of a request that is currently printing frees the
printer to print its next available request.
cancel Options and Arguments
recognizes the following options and arguments, which can be specified
in any order. Blanks are not permitted between a keyletter and its
argument. When cancel is used with a mix of different options and
arguments, it will operate first on id ..., next on dest ..., next on
next on and finally on irrespective of the order in which the options
and arguments are specified in the command line.
id ... Specifies one or more requests to be canceled. id is a
request ID returned by or
dest ... Specifies one or more printers or printer classes. If a
or option is not specified, cancel the request that is
currently printing on each dest. In this case, dest
must be a printer, not a class. If a or option is spec‐
ified, specify the destination on which to perform the
corresponding cancel operation. In this case, dest can
be a printer or a class.
Remove all requests the user owns on each
dest, or if dest is not specified and option is speci‐
fied, remove all requests the user owns on all destina‐
tions in the system. The owner of a request is deter‐
mined by the user's login name and the host name of the
machine where the command was invoked.
Empty the spool queue of each
dest, or if dest is not specified and option is speci‐
fied, empty the spool queue of all destinations in the
system. Only users with appropriate privileges can use
this option.
Cancel only local requests.
Remove all requests belonging to
user on each dest, or if dest is not specified and
option is specified, remove all requests belonging to
user on all destinations in the system. You can repeat
the option to specify more users. Only users with
appropriate privileges can use this option.
Force cancel to act on all destinations in the system.
Printing Overview
A printer can print requests from one or two destination queues: its
own private queue and an optional class queue, which can serve one or
more printers. The destination queues are set up with the command.
The command places a printing request into a printer or class destina‐
tion queue as directed by a user. The scheduler directs the requests
from the destination queues to the printers. The and commands control
whether can place requests in the destination queues. The and commands
control whether can send a queued request to a printer. If a printer
has two queues and one queue is rejecting requests, users can still
direct requests to the other destination queue and have the requests
printed. reports the current status of the destination queues and the
scheduler. See enable(1), lpstat(1), accept(1M), and lpadmin(1M).
EXTERNAL INFLUENCES
Environment Variables
determines the locale to use for the locale categories when both and
the corresponding environment variable (beginning with do not specify a
locale. If is not set or is set to the empty string, a default of "C"
(see lang(5)) is used.
determines the locale to use to override any values for locale cate‐
gories specified by the setting of or any environment variables begin‐
ning with
determines the locale for interpretation of sequences of bytes of text
data as characters (e.g., single- verses multibyte characters in argu‐
ments and input files).
determines the language in which messages are displayed.
determines the output device or destination. If the environment vari‐
able is not set, the environment variable is used. The option takes
precedence over
determines the output device or destination. If the and environment
variables are not set, the default queue is used. The option and the
environment variable takes precedence over
If any internationalization variable contains an invalid setting, the
commands behave as if all internationalization variables are set to
"C". See environ(5).
International Code Set Support
Single- and multibyte character code sets are supported.
RETURN VALUE
Exit values are:
Successful completion.
Error condition occurred.
EXAMPLES
For a laserjet printer named configured with an interface script that
defines the option to cause the printer to print in a compressed mode,
use the following command to print with compressed print on
can be used at the end of a pipeline to print the results of a previous
command. It is commonly used with the command (see pr(1)) to print
formatted output. For a default printer, to format file into pages and
print three copies of it:
WARNINGS
A remote print request can be canceled only from the system from which
the the original command was issued, and if the restrict cancel feature
(see lpadmin(1M)) is enabled for the specified printer, a request
belonging to this printer can be canceled only by administrator or the
user who requested it.
A remote print request can be altered only from the system from which
the the original command was issued, and only by administrator or the
user who requested it. The remote system will ignore this alter request
if the request is being printed.
For a remote system, cannot change dest and priority.
The information on destination queues and print requests are maintained
in and files under directory. These files should not be directly read
by any application other than the LP subsystem, because the format of
data stored in these files may change in future.
FILES
Directory of spooler configuration data
Directory of active LP device interface scripts
Directory of model and font file directories
Directory of spooler log files
Directory of LP spooling files and directories
SEE ALSOenable(1), lpstat(1), mail(1), slp(1), accept(1M), lpadmin(1M),
lpana(1M), lpsched(1M), rcancel(1M), rlp(1M), rlpdaemon(1M), rlp‐
stat(1M).
STANDARDS CONFORMANCElp(1)
