NAME

write − write 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 or an interrupt is sent.  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 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. 

EXAMPLE

write diane tty7

writes diane on terminal 7, unless messages have been refused with mesg(1).

FILES

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

SEE ALSO

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

DIAGNOSTICS

user not logged in if the person you are trying to write to is not logged in. 

Version 2.5r1  —  October 29, 1986