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LPQ(1)			    General Commands Manual			LPQ(1)

NAME
       lpq -- spool queue examination program

SYNOPSIS
       lpq [-a]	[-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.  The	lpq  utility  invoked  without
       any arguments reports on	any jobs currently in the queue.

       Options:

       -P      Specify	a  particular  printer,	 otherwise  the	 default  line
	       printer is used (or the value of	the PRINTER  variable  in  the
	       environment).   All other arguments supplied are	interpreted as
	       user names or job numbers to filter out only those jobs of  in-
	       terest.

       -l      Information about each of the files comprising the job entry is
	       printed.	 Normally, only	as much	information as will fit	on one
	       line is displayed.

       -a      Report  on  the local queues for	all printers, rather than just
	       the specified printer.

       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.  Job	order-
       ing 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 (when lpr(1) is used as a sink	in a pipeline)
       in which	case the file is indicated as ``(standard input)''.

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

ENVIRONMENT
       If the following	environment variable exists, it	is used	by lpq:

       PRINTER	Specifies an alternate default printer.

FILES
       /etc/printcap	  To determine printer characteristics.
       /var/spool/*	  The spooling directory, as determined	from printcap.
       /var/spool/*/cf*	  Control files	specifying jobs.
       /var/spool/*/lock  The lock file	to obtain the currently	active job.

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

SEE ALSO
       lpr(1), lprm(1),	lpc(8),	lpd(8)

HISTORY
       A lpq utility appeared in 3BSD.

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.

FreeBSD	14.3			April 28, 1995				LPQ(1)

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