NAME

write − interactively write (talk) to another user

SYNOPSIS

write user [ line ]

DESCRIPTION

Write copies lines from your terminal to that of another user.  When first called, it sends the message:

Message from yourname (tty??) [ date ]...

to the person you want to talk to.  When it has successfully completed the connection, it also sends two bells to your own terminal to indicate that what you are typing is being sent. 

The recipient of the message should write back at this point.  Communication continues until an end of file is read from the terminal, an interrupt is sent, or the recipient has executed "mesg n".  At that point write writes EOT on the other terminal and exits. 

If you want to write to a user who is logged in more than once, the line argument may be used to indicate which line or terminal to send to (e.g., tty00); otherwise, the first writable instance of the user found in /etc/utmp is assumed and the following message posted:

user is logged on more than one place.
You are connected to "terminal".
Other locations are:
terminal

Permission to write may be denied or granted by use of the mesg(1) command. Writing to others is normally allowed by default. Certain commands, in particular nroff(1) and pr(1) disallow messages in order to prevent interference with their output.  However, if the user has super-user permissions, messages can be forced onto a write-inhibited terminal.

If the character ! is found at the beginning of a line, write calls the shell to execute the rest of the line as a command. 

The following protocol is suggested for using write: when you first write to another user, wait for them to write back before starting to send.  Each person should end a message with a distinctive signal (i.e., (o) for “over”) so that the other person knows when to reply.  The signal (oo) (for “over and out”) is suggested when conversation is to be terminated. 

EXAMPLES

By issuing the command:

write matthew

linda sends a message to matthew’s screen. If matthew types write linda, two-way communication between matthew and linda is established. 

FILES

/etc/utmpto find user
/bin/shto execute !

SEE ALSO

mail(1), mesg(1), nroff(1), pr(1), sh(1), who(1). 

DIAGNOSTICS

user is not logged on The person you are trying to write to is not logged on. 

Permission denied The person you are trying to write to denies that permission (with mesg).

Warning: cannot respond, set mesg -y
Your terminal is set to mesg n and the recipient cannot respond to you. 

Can no longer write to user The recipient has denied permission (mesg n) after you had started writing.

INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT

8- and 16-bit data, messages. 

Hewlett-Packard Company  —  May 11, 2021