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Manual page for LPQ(1)

lpq - spool queue examination program

SYNOPSIS

lpq [ +[ n ] ] [ -l ] [ -Pprinter ] [ job # ... ] [ user ... ]

DESCRIPTION

The lpq utility examines the spooling area used by lpd.8 for printing files on the line printer, and reports the status of the specified jobs or all jobs associated with a user. If lpq is invoked without any arguments it reports on any jobs currently in the queue. A -P flag may be used to specify a particular printer, otherwise the default line printer is used. Note the default line printer cannot be specified as the value of the PRINTER variable in the environment. If a + argument is supplied, lpq displays the spool queue until it empties. Supplying a number immediately after the + sign indicates that lpq should sleep n seconds in between scans of the queue. All other arguments supplied are interpreted as user names or job numbers to filter out only those jobs of interest.

For each job submitted (i.e. invocation of lpr.1 lpq reports the user's name, current rank in the queue, the names of files comprising the job, the job identifier (a number which may be supplied to lprm.1 for removing a specific job), and the total size in bytes. The -l option causes information about each of the files comprising the job to be printed. Normally, only as much information as will fit on one line is displayed. Job ordering is dependent on the algorithm used to scan the spooling directory, and is supposed to be FIFO (First in First Out). File names comprising a job may be unavailable, and will be indicated as ``(standard input)''. Unavailable file names can occur when lpr.1 is used as a sink in a pipeline.

If lpq warns that there is no daemon present (i.e. due to some malfunction), the lpc.8 command can be used to restart the printer daemon.

FILES

/etc/termcap	for manipulating the screen for repeated display
/etc/printcap	to determine printer characteristics - if NetInfo is
not running.
/usr/spool/*	the spooling directory, as determined from printcap
/usr/spool/*/cf*	control files specifying jobs
/usr/spool/*/lock	the lock file to obtain the currently active job

BUGS

Due to the dynamic nature of the information in the spooling directory lpq may report unreliably. Output formatting is sensitive to the line length of the terminal; this can results in widely spaced columns.

DIAGNOSTICS

Unable to open various files.
The lock file being malformed.
Garbage files when there is no daemon active,
but files in the spooling directory.