Holding and Releasing Jobs

LPRng Reference Manual: 24 Sep 2004 (For LPRng-3.8.28)
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# 4.16. Holding and Releasing Jobs

The LPRng software has a wide range of facilities to hold or temporarily prevent jobs from printing. Jobs can be individually held or all jobs submitted to a queue can be held until released by an operator. Some administrators use the `holdall` facility and a cron script to cause jobs to be printed at specific times. The `lpc holdall` command causes all jobs submitted to a queue to be held until released with the `lpc release` command. The `lpc noholdall` command disables the `holdall` operation.

Edit the printcap file so it has contents indicated below, use `checkpc -f` to check the printcap, and then use `lpc reread` to restart the lpd server.

        lp:force_localhost
        lp:server
          :sd=/var/spool/lpd/%P
          :lp=lp2@localhost
        lp2:force_localhost
        lp2:server
          :sd=/var/spool/lpd/%P
          :lp=/tmp/lp2

Execute the following commands to print the `/tmp/hi` file and observe the results:

        h4: {256} % lpc holdall lp
        Printer: lp@h4
        lp@h4.private: holdall on
        h4: {257} % lpq
        Printer: lp@h4  (holdall)
         Queue: no printable jobs in queue
        h4: {258} % lpr /tmp/hi
        h4: {259} % lpq
        Printer: lp@h4  (holdall)
         Queue: no printable jobs in queue
         Holding: 1 held jobs in queue
         Server: no server active
         Rank   Owner/ID           Class Job Files        Size Time
        hold   papowell@h4+213       A   213 /tmp/hi         3 09:45:05
        h4: {260} % lpc release lp 213
        Printer: lp@h4
        lp: selected 'papowell@h4+213'
        lp@h4.private: started
        h4: {261} % lpq
        Printer: lp@h4  (holdall)
         Queue: no printable jobs in queue
         Status: job 'papowell@h4+213' removed at 09:45:22.570

The `lpc holdall` command causes all jobs to be held. We spool a job, and then use the `lpc release` command to release the selected job. We disable the `holdall` operation using the `lpc noholdall` command.

        h4: {262} % lpc noholdall lp
        Printer: lp@h4
        lp@h4.private: holdall off

You can also use the `lpc hold` command to select individual jobs in a spool queue to be held. This command is useful if there is a set of jobs which require special handling or printing at a later date. The following example shows how this command is used. We use the `lpc stop` and `lpc start` commands to simulate the normal delays in print spooling operations.

        h4: {263} % lpc stop lp
        Printer: lp@h4
        lp@h4.private: stopped
        h4: {264} % lpq
        Printer: lp@h4  (printing disabled)
         Queue: no printable jobs in queue
         Status: job 'papowell@h4+495' removed at 10:10:50.629
        h4: {265} % lpr /tmp/hi
        h4: {266} % lpr /tmp/hi
        h4: {267} % lpq
        Printer: lp@h4  (printing disabled)
         Queue: 2 printable jobs
         Server: no server active
         Rank   Owner/ID           Class Job Files        Size Time
        1      papowell@h4+459       A   459 /tmp/hi         3 10:40:32
        2      papowell@h4+461       A   461 /tmp/hi         3 10:40:34
        h4: {268} % lpc hold lp 459
        Printer: lp@h4
        lp: selected 'papowell@h4+459'
        lp@h4.private: updated
        h4: {269} % lpq
        Printer: lp@h4  (printing disabled)
         Queue: 1 printable job
         Holding: 1 held jobs in queue
         Server: no server active
         Rank   Owner/ID           Class Job Files        Size Time
        1      papowell@h4+461       A   461 /tmp/hi         3 10:40:34
        hold   papowell@h4+459       A   459 /tmp/hi         3 10:40:32

In the next example we show how to use the `lpc hold` command to select and hold an individual job. Then we start the queue and see what happens:

        h4: {270} % lpc start
        Printer: lp@h4
        lp@h4.private: started
        h4: {271} % lpq
        Printer: lp@h4
         Queue: no printable jobs in queue
         Holding: 1 held jobs in queue
         Server: no server active
         Status: job 'papowell@h4+461' removed at 10:41:24.873
         Rank   Owner/ID           Class Job Files        Size Time
        hold   papowell@h4+459       A   459 /tmp/hi         3 10:40:32
        h4: {272} % lpc release lp 459
        Printer: lp@h4
        lp: selected 'papowell@h4+459'
        lp@h4.private: started
        h4: {273} % lpq
        Printer: lp@h4
         Queue: no printable jobs in queue
         Status: job 'papowell@h4+459' removed at 10:41:39.457

As we see, the held job is not printed until we release it, and then is processed normally.

The printcap :ah (autohold) option has the same effect as the `lpc holdall` command but its actions cannot be disabled by the `lpc noholdall` command.

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