  The KP equation with self-consistent sources (KPESCS) is treated in the
framework of the constrained KP equation. This offers a natural way to obtain
the Lax representation for the KPESCS. Based on the conjugate Lax pairs, we
construct the generalized binary Darboux transformation with arbitrary
functions in time $t$ for the KPESCS which, in contrast with the binary Darboux
transformation of the KP equation, provides a non-auto-B\"{a}cklund
transformation between two KPESCSs with different degrees. The formula for
N-times repeated generalized binary Darboux transformation is proposed and
enables us to find the N-soliton solution and lump solution as well as some
other solutions of the KPESCS.
