man pages section 1: User Commands

lp(1)

NAME

lp- Submit print request

SYNOPSIS

lp

-c

-m

-p

-s

-w

-d

destination

-f

form-name

-H

special-handling

-n

number

-o

option

-P

page-list

-q

priority-level

-S

character-set

print-wheel

-t

title

-T

content-type

-r

-y

mode-list

file

lp

-i

request-ID

-c

-m

-p

-s

-w

-d

destination

-f

form-name

-H

special-handling

-n

number

-o

option

-P

page-list

-q

priority-level

-S

character-set

print-wheel

-t

title

-T

content-type

-r

-y

mode-list

DESCRIPTION

lp submits print requests to a destination. There are two formats of the lp command.

The first form of lp prints files (file) and associated information (collectively called a print request). If file is not specified, lp assumes the standard input. Use a hyphen (`-') with file to specify the standard input. Files are printed in the order in which they appear on the 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 changes print request options. The print request identified by request-ID is changed according to the printing options specified. The printing options available are the same as those with the first form of lp. If the request has finished printing when the lp command is executed, the change is rejected. If the request is in the process of printing, it is stopped and restarted from the beginning (unless the -P option has been given).

The print client commands locate destination information in a specific order. See printers(4) and printers.conf(4) for details.

OPTIONS

Printers that have a 4.x or BSD-based print server are not configured to handle BSD protocol extensions. lp handles print requests sent to such destinations differently (see NOTES).

The following options are supported:

-c

Copies file before printing.

This option has no effect in the Trusted Solaris environment.

-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

Prints file on form-name. The LP print service ensures that the form is mounted on the printer. The print request is rejected if the printer does not support form-name, if form-name is not defined for the system, or if the user is not allowed to use form-name (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

Prints the print request according to the value of special-handling. The following special-handling values are acceptable:

hold: Do not print the print request until notified. If printing has already begun, stop it. Other print requests will go ahead of a request that has been put on hold (held print request) until the print request is resumed.
resume: Resume a held print request. If the print request had begun to print when held, it will be the next print request printed, unless it is superseded by an immediate print request.
immediate: Print the print request next. If more than one print request is assigned, the most recent print request is printed next. If a print request is currently printing on the desired printer, a hold request must be issued to allow the immediate request to print. The immediate request is only available to LP administrators.

-m

Sends mail after file has printed (see mail(1)). By default, no mail is sent upon normal completion of a print request.

-n number

Prints a specific number of copies of file. Specify number as a digit. The default for number is 1.

-o option

Specify printer-dependent options. Specify several options by specifying -o option multiple times. ( -o option -o option -o option ). Printer-dependent options may also be specified using the -o keyletter once, followed by a list of options enclosed in double quotes ( -o " option option option" ). The following options are valid:

nobanner: Do not print a banner page or a trailer page with this request. This option can be disallowed by the LP administrator. Use of this option requires the print without banner authorization.
nofilebreak: Prints multiple files without inserting a form feed between them.
nolabels: Prints this request without page header and footer labels. Use of this option requires the print without labels authorization.
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: Prints the request using a list of options valid for the stty command (see stty(1). Enclose the list in single quotes (`') if it contains blanks.

-P page-list

Prints the pages specified in page-list in ascending order. Specify page-list as a of range of numbers, single page number, or a combination of both.

-P can only be used if there is a filter available to handle it; otherwise, the print request will be rejected.

-p

Enables notification on completion of the print request. Delivery of the notification is dependent on additional software.

-q priority-level

Assigns the print request a priority in the print queue. Specify priority-level as an integer between from 0 and 39. Use 0 to indicate the highest priority; 39 to indicate the lowest priority. If no priority is specified, the default priority for a print service is assigned by the LP administrator. The LP administrator may also assign a default priority to individual users.

-s

Suppresses the display of messages sent from lp.

-S character-set|print-wheel

Prints the request using the character-set or print-wheel. If a form was requested and requires a character set or print wheel other than the one specified with the -S option, the request is rejected. Printers using mountable print wheels or font cartridges use the print wheel or font cartridge mounted at the time of the print request, unless the -S option is specified.

Printers Using Print Wheels: If print wheel is not one listed by the LP administrator as acceptable for the printer the request is rejected unless the print wheel is already mounted on the printer.

Printers Using Selectable or Programmable Character Sets: If the -S option is not specified, lp uses the standard character set. If character-set is not defined in the terminfo database for the printer (see terminfo(4)), or is not an alias defined by the LP administrator, the request is rejected.

-t title

Prints a title on the banner page of the output. Enclose title in quotes if it contains blanks. If title is not not specified, the name of the file is printed on the banner page.

-T content-type [-r]

Prints 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.

Submitting a request with the "postscript" type requires the print a Postscript file authorization, whether or not -T is used.

-w

Writes 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

Prints the 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.

OPERANDS

The following operands are supported:

file: The name of the file to be printed. Specify file as a pathname or as a hyphen (`-') to indicate the standard input. If file is not specified, lp uses the standard input.

USAGE

See largefile(5) for the description of the behavior of lp when encountering files greater than or equal to 2 Gbyte ( 2³¹ bytes).

EXIT STATUS

The following exit values are returned:

0: Successful completion.
non-zero: An error occurred.

FILES

/var/spool/lp/*: LP print queue.
$HOME/.printers: User-configurable printer database.
/etc/printers.conf: System printer configuration database.
printers.conf.byname: NIS version of /etc/printers.conf.
fns.ctx_dir.domain: NIS+ version of /etc/printers.conf.

ATTRIBUTES

See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

ATTRIBUTE TYPE	ATTRIBUTE VALUE
Availability	SUNWpcu
CSI	Enabled (see `NOTES`)

SUMMARY OF TRUSTED SOLARIS CHANGES

The -c option is accepted but is ignored; a copy of the file is always made before printing. The -o nobanner option requires the print without banners authorization. The -o nolabels option is added. Submitting a request with the "postscript" type requires the print a PostScript file authorization.

Trusted Solaris 8 Reference Manual

cancel(1), enable(1), lpstat(1), lpq(1B), lprm(1B), accept(1M), lpadmin(1M), lpfilter(1M), lpforms(1M), lpsched(1M), lpshut(1M), lpsystem(1M), lpusers(1M)

SunOS 5.8 Reference Manual

mail(1), postprint(1), pr(1), stty(1), printers(4), printers.conf(4), terminfo(4), attributes(5), environ(5), largefile(5), standards(5)

NOTES

CSI-capability assumes that printer names are composed of ASCII characters.

Printers that have a 4.x or BSD-based print server. are not configured to handle BSD protocol extensions. lp handles print requests sent to such printers in the following ways:

Print requests with more than 52 filenames will be truncated to 52 files. lp displays a warning message.
The -f, -H, -o, -P, -p, -q, -S, -T, and -y options may require a protocol extension to pass to a print server. If lp cannot handle the print request, it displays a warning message.

LP administrators enable protocol extensions by setting a printer's bsdaddr entry in /etc/printers.conf. Changing the bsdaddr entry in /etc/printers.conf to:

destination:bsdaddr=server,destination,Solaris

generates a set of BSD print protocol extensions that can be processed by a Solaris print server. lp supports only Solaris protocol extensions at this time.

Trusted Solaris 8 Last Revised 5 Nov 1999