Starting a print job

Use the qprt or smit command to request a print job.

  • For local print jobs, the printer must be physically attached to your system or, in the case of a network printer, attached and configured on the network.
  • For remote print jobs, your system must be configured to communicate with the remote print server.
  • Before you can print a file, you must have read access to it. To remove a file after it has printed, you must have write access to the directory that contains the file.

Specify the following information to request a print job:

  • Name of the file to print
  • Print queue name
  • Number of copies to print
  • Whether to make a copy of the file on the remote host
  • Whether to erase the file after printing
  • Whether to send notification of the job status
  • Whether to send notification of the job status by the system mail
  • Burst status
  • User name for "Delivery To" label
  • Console acknowledgment message for remote print
  • File acknowledgment message for remote print
  • Priority level

Use the qprt command to create and queue a print job to print the file you specify. If you specify more than one file, all the files together make up one print job. These files are printed in the order specified on the command line.

The basic format of the qprt command is:
qprt -PQueueName FileName 
The following qprt command flags are useful:
Item Descriptor
-b Number Specifies the bottom margin. The bottom margin is the number of blank lines to be left at the bottom of each page.
-B Value Specifies whether burst pages (continuous-form pages separated at perforations) should be printed. The Value variable consists of a two-character string. The first character applies to header pages. The second character applies to trailer pages. Each of the two characters can be one of the following:
a
Always prints the (header or trailer) page for each file in each print job.
n
Never prints the (header or trailer) page.
g
Prints the (header or trailer) page once for each print job (group of files). For example, the -B ga flag specifies that a header page be printed at the beginning of each print job and that a trailer page be printed after each file in each print job.
In a remote print environment, the default is determined by the remote queue on the server.
-e Option Specifies whether emphasized print is wanted.
+
Indicates emphasized print is wanted.
!
Indicates emphasized print is not wanted.
-E Option Specifies whether double-high print is wanted.
+
Indicates double-high print is wanted.
!
Indicates double-high print is not wanted.
-f FilterType A one-character identifier that specifies a filter through which your print file or files are to be passed before being sent to the printer. The available filter identifiers are p, which invokes the pr filter, and n, which processes output from the troff command.
-i Number Causes each line to be indented the specified number of spaces. The Number variable must be included in the page width specified by the -w flag.
-K Option Specifies whether condensed print is wanted.
+
Indicates condensed print is wanted.
!
Indicates condensed print is not wanted.
-l Number Sets the page length to the specified number of lines. If the Number variable is 0, the page length is ignored, and the output is considered to be one continuous page. The page length includes the top and bottom margins and indicates the printable length of the paper.
-L Option Specifies whether lines wider than the page width should be wrapped to the next line or truncated at the right margin.
+
Indicates that long lines should wrap to the next line.
!
Indicates that long lines should not wrap but instead should be truncated at the right margin.
-N Number Specifies the number of copies to be printed. If this flag is not specified, one copy is printed.
-p Number Sets the pitch to Number characters per inch. Typical values for Number are 10 and 12. The actual pitch of the characters printed is also affected by the values for the -K (condensed) flag and the -W (double-wide) flag.
-P Queue[:QueueDevice] Specifies the print queue name and the optional queue device name. If this flag is not specified, the default printer is assumed.
-Q Value Specifies paper size for the print job. The Value for paper size is printer-dependent. Typical values are 1 for letter-size paper, 2 for legal, and so on. Consult your printer manual for the values assigned to specific paper sizes.
-t Number Specifies the top margin. The top margin is the number of blank lines to be left at the top of each page.
-w Number Sets the page width to the number of characters specified by the Number variable. The page width must include the number of indention spaces specified with the -i flag.
-W Option Specifies whether double-wide print is wanted.
+
Indicates double-wide print is wanted.
!
Indicates double-wide print is not wanted.
-z Value Rotates page printer output the number of quarter-turns clockwise as specified by the Value variable. The length (-l) and width (-w) values are automatically adjusted accordingly.
0
Portrait
1
Landscape right
2
Portrait upside-down
3
Landscape left
-# Value Specifies a special function.
j
Displays the job number for the specified print job.
h
Queues the print job, but puts it in the HELD state until it is released again.
v
Validates the specified printer backend flag values. This validation is useful in checking for illegal flag values at the time of submitting a print job. If the validation is not specified, an incorrect flag value will stop the print job later when the job is actually being processed.

The following list contains examples of how to use the qprt command flags:

  • To request that the myfile file be printed on the first available printer configured for the default print queue using default values, type:
    qprt myfile
  • To request that the myfile file be printed on a specific queue using specific flag values and to validate the flag values at the time of print job submission, type:
    qprt -f p -e + -Pfastest -# v myfile
    This passes the myfile file through the pr filter command (the -f p flag) and prints it using emphasized mode (the -e + flag) on the first available printer configured for the queue named fastest (the -Pfastest flag).
  • To print the myfile file on legal-size paper, type:
    qprt -Q2 myfile
  • To print three copies of each of the new.index.c, print.index.c, and more.c files at the print queue Msp1, type:
    qprt -PMsp1 -N 3 new.index.c print.index.c more.c
  • To print three copies of the concatenation of three files, new.index.c, print.index.c, and more.c, type:
    cat new.index.c print.index.c more.c | qprt -PMsp1 -N 3
Note: The base operating system also supports the BSD UNIX print command lpr and the System V UNIX print command lp.
You can also use SMIT to request a print job. To start a print job using SMIT, type:
smit qprt