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Name

lp, cancel - send/cancel requests to an LP print service

Synopsis

lp [ -c ] [ -m ] [ -p ] [ -s ] [ -w ] [ -d dest ] [ -f form-name [ -d any ] ] [ -H special-handling ] [ -n number ] [ -o option ] [ -P page-list ] [ -q priority-level ] [ -S character-set [ -d any ] ] [ -S print-wheel [ -d any ] ] [ -t title ] [ -T content-type [ -r ] ] [ -y mode-list ] [ file... ]

lp -i request-ID... [ -c ] [ -m ] [ -p ] [ -s ] [ -w ] [ -d dest ] [ -f form-name [ -d any ] ] [ -H special-handling ] [ -n number ] [ -o option ] [ -P page-list ] [ -q priority-level ] [ -S character-set [ -d any ] ] [ -S print-wheel [ -d any ] ] [ -t title ] [ -T content-type [ -r ] ] [ -y mode-list ]

cancel [ request-ID... ] [ printer... ]
cancel -u login-ID-list [ printer... ]

Availability

SUNWlpu

Description

The first form of the lp command arranges for the named file(s) 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 a named file(s) on the command line by listing the file name(s) and specifying ‘-’ (dash) 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 the -i option) with each request and displays it on the standard output. This request-ID can be used later with the -i option 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

Options to lp always precede any file names, but may be specified in any order. The following options are available for lp:

-c
Make a copy of the file before printing. Normally, file 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 file 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 file 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 which 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 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
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.
resume
Resume a held request. If the request had begun to print when held, it will be the next request printed, unless it is superseded by an immediate request.
immediate
(Available only to LP administrators.) Print the request next. If more than one request is assigned the most recent request is printed next. If a request is currently printing on the desired printer, a hold request must be issued 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 $option sub 1$ -o $option sub 2$ ... -o $option sub n$), or by specifying the -o keyletter followed by a list of options enclosed in double quotes (that is, -o "$option sub 1$ $option sub 2$ ... $option sub n$"). The standard interface recognizes 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 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 (see 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.
-p
Enable notification on completion of the print request. Delivery of the notification is dependent on additional software.
-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 the needs of the request.
-t title
Print title on the banner page of the output. If title is not supplied the name of the file is printed on the banner page. 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-ID of print jobs to be canceled. Alternatively, the user can specify one or more printer, 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 printer option can be used to restrict the printer(s) on which the user’s job(s) will be canceled. Note: In this form, when the printer option is used, all jobs queued for that printer 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 administrator can cancel jobs submitted by any user. The login-ID-list must be enclosed in quotes if it contains blanks.

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, the one 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.

Operands

The following operands are supported by lp:
file
A path name of a file to be output. If no file operands are specified, or if a file operand is -, the standard input will be used. If a file operand is used, but the -c option is not specified, the process performing the writing to the output device may have user and group permissions that differ from that of the process invoking lp.

The following operands are supported by cancel:

ID
A request ID, as returned by lp. Specifying a request ID cancels the associated request even if it is currently printing.
printer
A printer name (for a complete list of printer names, use lpstat). Specifying a printer cancels the request that is currently printing on that printer.

Environment

See environ(5) for descriptions of the following environment variables that affect the execution of lp and cancel: LC_CTYPE , LC_MESSAGES , LC_TIME , and NLSPATH .
LPDEST
Determine the output device or destination. If the LPDEST environment variable is not set, the PRINTER environment variable will be used. The -d dest option takes precedence over LPDEST . Results are undefined when -d is not specified and LPDEST contains a value that is not a valid device or destination name.
PRINTER
Determine the output device or destination. If the LPDEST and PRINTER environment variables are not set, an unspecified output device is used. The -d dest option and the LPDEST environment variable takes precedence over PRINTER . Results are undefined when -d is not specified, LPDEST is unset, and PRINTER contains a value that is not a valid device or destination name.

Exit Status

The following exit values are returned by lp:
  1. All input files were processed successfully.
    >0
    No output device was available, or an error occurred.

    The following exit values are returned by cancel:

    1. Successful completion.
      >0
      An error occurred.

      Files

      /var/spool/lp/*
      LP print queue

      See Also

      enable(1) , lpstat(1) , mail(1) , postprint(1) , pr(1) , accept(1M) , lpadmin(1M) , lpfilter(1M) , lpforms(1M) , lpsched(1M) , lpsystem(1M) , lpusers(1M) , terminfo(4) , environ(5)

      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 a request is destined for a class of printers and the class itself is accepting requests, then all printers in the class will be considered, regardless of their acceptance status.


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