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This page displays the COHERENT manpage for lp [Spool a file for printing].
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lp -- Command Spool a file for printing lp [-dprinter] [-t title] [-ncopies] [-R page [page]] [-Smws] file ... The command lp spools text for printing. If you name no file on its command line, lp spools what it receives from the standard input. lp prefaces the spooled text with a header that describes, among other things, on what device you want to print the text; then it copies the text into directory /usr/spool/mlp/queue, where it remains until it is removed by the printer daemon lpsched. The spooled text, which may comprise multiple files, plus its header is called a job. The following describes the header with which lp prefaces each file: Offset Length Description 0 14 User who spooled the file 14 14 Name of the printer on which to print file 28 10 Type of file (application specific) 38 3 Length of output page (default, 66 lines) 41 4 Number of pages (maximum, 9,999) 45 2 Number of copies to print (default, one; maximum, 99) 47 1 Set life expectancy of job (see below) 48 1 If `M', send user mail after printing 49 1 If `W', write user after printing 50 14 Name of data base (application specific) 64 14 Name of program (application specific) 78 10 Date/time stamp (no. of seconds since 1/1/1970) 88 60 Description or title Note that the fields marked ``application specific'' are not use by lp or lpsched. Rather, they are available to applications, such as filters, that may be used with lp to print files. The ``life expectancy'' byte of the header defines how long the job remains alive in /usr/spool/mlp/queue. Jobs labeled T (temporary) live for 30 minutes after being spooled; those labeled S (short-term) live for 24 hours; and those labeled L (long-term) live for 72 hours. Once a job's life expectancy has expired, the printer daemon lpsched removes it. The default is life expectancy is S. To change the life expectancy of a job, use the command chreq. You can also change the above default ``lifetimes'' by editing the file /usr/spool/mlp/controls. When lp creates a job, it gives the job a seven-character name. The name's first character gives the status of the job: R indicates that the file is being printed or is pending printing, whereas r indicates that the job has already been printed. The second character gives the job's priority status, from 0 through 9: zero gives highest priority, nine the lowest. The default priority is 2. The last five characters of the name give a zero-padded sequence number. To change a job's status or priority, use the command chreq; or the system administrator can alter either simply by renaming the file. lp recognizes the following options: -R request Print a job beginning from the first page and continuing either to the second page or to the end of the document (if no second page is specified). Note that the printer daemon lpsched identifies pages by counting lines of input, so this feature works only with straight text. It does not work correctly with ``cooked'' input, such as files of PostScript or PCL. -S9 Shut down the spooler daemon lpsched. -dprinter Print the job on printer. -m Send mail to the user once the spooled job has been printed. -ncopies Print copies copies of the job. -s Silent -- do not acknowlege submissions. Normally, lp writes on the standard output the sequence number of the job you just spooled. You can use that number to remove or abort a job, or otherwise manipulate it. -t title Give this job title. This is the title that appears in the queue displayed by the command lpstat. -w Write a message on the user's screen once the job has been printed. lp sends you mail if one of your print jobs failed due to an error. For more information on lp and its related commands, see the Lexicon entry printer. See Also chreq, commands, controls, lp [device driver], lpadmin, lpsched, pclfont, printer Notes Because most users find banners annoying rather than helpful, lp does not print banners. It ignores the option -b, which under orthodox implementations of lp prints a banner page. Applications that desire a banner page should make provision for it in the individual printer's control file. For details, see the Lexicon entry for the command lpadmin. If you wish to use lp to download a PCL bitmapped font to your PCL printer, you must first process the font with the command pclfont. For details, see its Lexicon entry.