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Commands Reference, Volume 3
The lp command includes information for lp on a POWER-based platform and the System V
Print Subsystem lp on an POWER-based and
Itanium-based platforms.
lp Command on POWER-based
Platform
Sends requests to a line
printer.
lp [ -c ] [ -dQueue ] [ -m ] [ -nNumber ] [ -oOption ] [ -s ] [ -tTitle ] [ -w ] [ Files ]
The lp command arranges
for the files specified by the Files parameter and their associated
information (called a request) to be printed by a line printer. If you
do not specify a value for the Files parameter, the lp
command accepts standard input. The file name - (dash)
represents standard input and can be specified on the command line in addition
to files. The lp command sends the requests in the order
specified. If the job is submitted to a local print queue, the
lp command displays the following to standard output:
Job number is: nnn
where nnn is the
assigned job number. To suppress the job number use the -s
flag.
You can also change the print options for a previously submitted print job,
specified by RequestID. If the request has finished
printing, the change is rejected. If the request is already printing,
it is stopped and restarted from the beginning, unless the -P flag
is specified.
| -c
| Copies the files to be printed immediately when the lp command
is run. The lp command copies files only when
requested. No links are created. If you specify the
-c flag, be careful not to remove any of the files before they are
printed. If you do not specify the -c flag, changes made to
the files after the request is made appear in the printed output.
|
| -dQueue
| Specifies the print queue to which a job is sent.
|
| -f FormName [
-d any ]
| Prints the request on the form FormName. The LP print
service ensures that the form is mounted on the printer. If
FormName is requested with a printer destination that cannot
support the form, the request is rejected. If FormName has
not been defined for the system, or if the user is not allowed to use the
form, the request is rejected. For more information, see lpforms. When the -d any
flag is specified, the request is printed on any printer that has the
requested form mounted and can handle all other needs of the print
request.
|
| -H
SpecialHandling
| Prints the request according to the SpecialHandling
value. Acceptable SpecialHandling values are:
- hold
- Holds the print the request until notified. If printing has already
begun, it is stopped. Other print requests go ahead of a held request
until it is resumed.
- resume
- Resumes a held request. If it had been printing when held, it will
be the next request printed, unless subsequently bumped by an
immediate request. The -i flag followed by a
RequestID must be used whenever this argument is specified.
- immediate
- Print the request next. If more than one request is assigned
immediate, the most recent request is printed first. If
another request is currently printing, it must be put on hold to allow this
immediate request to print. Available only to LP administrators.
|
| -L LocaleName
| Specifies the LocaleName as the locale to use with this print
request. By default, LocaleName is set to the value of
LC_CTYPE. If LC_CTYPE is not set,
LocaleName defaults to the C locale.
|
| -m
| Sends mail (see the mail command) after
the files are printed. By default, no mail is sent upon normal
completion of the print request.
|
| -nNumber
| Prints the number of copies of printed output. The default number
of copies is 1.
|
| -oOptions
| 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.
|
|
|
- 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 flag and is not supported by the PS (PostScript).
|
|
|
- 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.) This option may not be used with the
-f flag and is not supported by the PS (PostScript).
|
|
|
- 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.) This option may not be used with the -f
flag and is not supported by the PS (PostScript).
|
|
|
- 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 database for the default character
pitch for your printer.flag and is not supported by the PS
(PostScript).
|
|
|
- stty=stty-option-list
- A list of options valid for the stty command; enclose the
list with single quotes if it contains blanks.
|
| -P PageList
| Prints the pages specified in PageList. This flag can
be used only if there is a filter available to handle it; otherwise, the
print request is rejected. The PageList may consist of
ranges of numbers, single page numbers, or a combination of both. The
pages are printed in ascending order.
|
| -q priority-level
| Assigns this request PriorityLevel in the printing
queue. The values of PriorityLevel 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.
|
| -R
| Removes file(s) after submitting the print request.
|
|
-r
| See -T content-type
[-r].
|
| -s
| Suppresses the automatic return of job numbers. The lp
command reports the job number as the default, the -s flag
overrides the default.
|
| -S {
CharacterSet | PrintWheel [ -d any ]
| Prints this request using the specified CharacterSet or
PrintWheel. If a form was requested and it requires a
character set or print wheel other than the one specified with the
-S flag,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
CharacterSet specified is not one defined in the Terminfo database
for the printer (see terminfo), or is not an
alias defined by the administrator, the request is rejected.
When the -d any flag 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 ContentType [
-r ]
| Prints the request on a printer that supports the specified
ContentType. If no printer accepts this type directly, a
filter is used to convert the content into an acceptable type. If the
-r flag is specified, a filter is not used. If -r
is specified but no printer accepts the ContentType directly, the
request is rejected. If the ContentType is not acceptable to
any printer, either directly or with a filter, the request is rejected.
In addition to ensuring that no
filters is used, the -r flag forces the equivalent of the -o
'stty=-opost' flag.
|
| -tTitle
| Specifies printing the title of the file on the banner page of the
output.
|
| -w
| Writes a message on the print requesters terminal after the files are
printed. If the requester is not logged in, the mail command sends the message. If the
user is logged in on multiple windows or terminals, the message may not be
sent to the LFT where the command was issued. The message is sent to
the first terminal on which the writesrv daemon sees the user to be
logged in.
Note: If the -w flag is used in conjunction with
the -m flag, the print requester will only receive mail and will
not get a message on the terminal.
|
| -y ModeList
| Prints this request according to the printing modes listed in
ModeList. The allowed values for ModeList are
locally defined. This flag may be used only if there is a filter
available to handle it; otherwise, the print request is rejected.
The following list describes the ModeList:
- -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.
|
- To print the /etc/motd file on printer
lp0 attached to device dlp0, enter:
lp /etc/motd
- To print 30 copies of the /etc/motd file using a
copy of the file, and to notify the user that the job is completed using mail,
enter:
lp -c -m -n30 -dlp0:lpd0 /etc/motd
- To print the /etc/motd file using backend flags
-f and -a, with a job title of blah,
enter:
lp -t"blah" -o -f -o -a /etc/motd
- To queue the MyFile file and return the job
number, enter:
lp myfile
- To queue the MyFile file and suppress the
job number, enter:
lp -s myfile
This command returns the following
exit values:
| 0
| All input files processed successfully.
|
| >0
| No output device is available, or an error occurred.
|
| /usr/sbin/qdaemon
| Contains the queuing daemon.
|
| /var/spool/lpd/qdir/*
| Contains the queue requests.
|
| /var/spool/lpd/stat/*
| Contains information on the status of the devices.
|
| /var/spool/qdaemon/*
| Contains temporary copies of enqueued files.
|
| /etc/qconfig
| Contains the queue configuration file.
|
| /etc/qconfig.bin
| Contains digested, binary version of the /etc/qconfig
file.
|
The cancel command, enable command, lpr command, lpstat command, mail command.
The writesrv daemon.
The /etc/qconfig file.
Starting a Print
Job in AIX 5L Version 5.1 System User's Guide:
Operating System and Devices.
Printer Overview
for System Management in the AIX 5L Version 5.1 Guide to
Printers and Printing.
Printers, Print
Jobs, and Queues Overview for Users in AIX 5L Version 5.1
System User's Guide: Operating System and Devices.
Spooler Overview
for System Management in AIX 5L Version 5.1 Guide to Printers
and Printing.
lp Command on POWER-based and
Itanium-based Platforms
Note: This is a System V Print Subsystem command.
Sends print requests
lp [print-options] [files]
lp -i request-ID print-options
The first form of the lp command arranges for the named
files and associated information (collectively called a request) to
be printed. If filenames are not specified on the command line, the
standard input is assumed. The standard input may be specified along
with named files on the command line by listing the filenames and
specifying - for the standard input. The files
will be printed in the order in which they appear on the command line.
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 cancel command for details about canceling a
request, and lpstat 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 flag has been given).
The first form of the lp command is used to send a print request
either to a particular printer or to any printer capable of meeting all
requirements of the print request.
Flags must always precede filenames, but may be specified in any
order.
Printers for which requests are not being accepted will not be considered
when the destination is any. (Use the lpstat -a
command to see which printers are accepting requests.) However, 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.
For printers that take mountable print wheels or font cartridges, if you do
not specify a particular print wheel or font with the -S flag,
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
flag, 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.
- -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 flag 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 flag 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). 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 flag [see the description of
-T]. Destination names vary between systems (see lpstat).
- -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). When the -d any
flag 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 it had been printing when held, it will
be the next request printed, unless subsequently bumped by an
immediate request. The -i flag (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 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.
- 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).
- 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).
- 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 flag and is
not supported by the PS (PostScript).
- 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 database for the default character
pitch for your printer. This option may not be used with the
-f flag and is not supported by the PS (PostScript).
- 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 flag 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.
- -R
- Remove file(s) after submitting the print request. Use this flag
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 flag, 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), or
is not an alias defined by the administrator, the request is rejected.
When the -d any flag 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.
- -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 flag 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
flag will force the equivalent of the -o 'stty=-opost'
flag.
- -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.
-
-
- /var/spool/lp/*
-
The lpstat command, and mail command.
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