Sidebar: Using lpq

lpq is a simple command with one purpose: to display the contents of a single printing queue. You can display the queue contents in one of several ways, depending on the arguments used. Executed with no arguments, lpq displays all print jobs for all users currently in the queue for the default printer, which is specified in the PRINTER environment variable. Or you may specify a particular printer using the "-P," argument, as in:

% lpq -Pprintername

If lpq is invoked in this manner, all jobs for all users currently in that printer's queue will be displayed. If you want to see only particular jobs, you may add one or more job numbers as arguments. You may also specify one or more users to see only jobs belonging to those users.

Another handy lpq option is the "+," argument:

% lpq -Pprintername + [ seconds ]

The "+," argument causes lpq to periodically redisplay the printing queue contents, giving you a constant update until there are no more jobs in the queue. If a number is specified after the "+", the printing queue redisplays in intervals of the specified number of seconds.