lp

NAME

lp - send files to a printer

SYNOPSIS

lp [-bc] [-d dest] [-n copies] [file...]

DESCRIPTION

The lp(1) utility sends files to a system printer, identified by -d dest.

The options are as follows:

-b
Binary file; do not convert line-endings to Windows text format.
-c
Copy the files so the user can modify or delete file without affecting the operation.
-d dest
Names the output device to which the files will be written. The destination is specified in a modified Universal Naming Convention (UNC) format: //SYSTEM/printer. For example, the printer Scrivener on the system Bartleby would be specified:
//BARTLEBY/Scrivener

This option takes precedence over any destination specified in the LPDEST or PRINTER environment variables.

-ncopies
Specifies the number of copies of the files to be written.

The lp(1) utility expects that the files are appropriate for the printer; that is, a printer expecting PostScript receives PostScript files, a printer expecting text files receives text. Use the -b option for raw binary files (such as sending PCL files to an HP-compatible printer).

DIAGNOSTICS

The lp(1) utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

The lp(1) utility makes use of the following environment variables:

LPDEST
A default printer queue (in UNC format), which takes precedence over the one specified in PRINTER.
LP_PRINT
The location of the Windows utility print.exe. If this variable is set, lp(1) uses this value to run print.exe; if it is not set, lp(1) looks for the file %SYSTEMDIR%/system32/print.exe, checking for different cases. (The %SYSTEMDIR% is the directory in which Windows is installed.)
PRINTER
The default printer queue (in UNC format). This queue is used unless LPDEST is set or the -d option is used.

NOTES

The lp(1) command is a wrapper for the Windows Win32 print.exe command.

For a TCP/IP connected printer, some users have found that the printer requires a share name before it can be used with print.exe.