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mail(1mh)

mesg(1)

talk(1n)

who(1)

sendmail(8mh)



WRITE(1)                COMMAND REFERENCE                WRITE(1)



NAME
     write - write to another user

SYNOPSIS
     write [-v]user(s)...
     write user ttyname

DESCRIPTION
     The write program sends messages from your terminal to
     another user.  The user can be either a local user or
     user@host in which case the message is sent on the network.
     Operating in two modes, write may be called with more than
     one user, or, if the user is remote, write will read the
     whole message before sending it.  With one argument which is
     a local user or two arguments the second of which is a
     ttyname, write copies lines from your terminal to that of
     another user.

     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 ttyname argument may be used to indicate the
     appropriate terminal name.

     In either mode, before printing the message, write will
     print a header:

          Message from yourname@yourhost on yourttyname...

     Permission to write may be denied or granted by use of the
     mesg command.  At the outset writing is allowed.  Certain
     commands, in particular nroff(1) and pr(1) disallow messages
     in order to prevent messy output.

     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 in
     line-at-a-time mode: when you first write to another user,
     wait for him or her to write back before starting to send.
     Each party should end each message with a distinctive signal
     that the other may reply to:

          (o)  This is conventional for "over".

          (oo) This means "over and out", and is suggested when
               conversation is about to be terminated.




Printed 4/6/89                                                  1





WRITE(1)                COMMAND REFERENCE                WRITE(1)



OPTIONS
     -v   when in "message" mode write will show each user that
          receives the message.

EXAMPLES
     The following example simulates a session with the user
     johndoe:

           write johndoe
          (johndoe initiates a write to you and acknowledges your write)
          Message from johndoe on tty?? at 10:15 ...
          (You type your message.)
            ...
          (o)
          (johndoe possibly responds and signals that conversation be terminated.)
            ...
          (oo)
          (You agree to terminate conversation.)
          (oo)
          (You exit write by sending end-of-file.)
          ^D

     The following shows sending a message to a user john on
     another host (fuzzy):

           write john@fuzzy
          Enter message, terminated with ^D or '.'
          (You type your message.)
          ^D
          -Eot-

FILES
     /etc/utmp To find user.

     /bin/sh   To execute the ! character.

RETURN VALUE
     [USAGE]        Incorrect command line syntax. Execution
                    terminated.

     [P_ERR]        A system error occurred. Execution
                    terminated.  See intro(2) for more
                    information on system errors.

     [NP_ERR]       An error occurred that was not a system
                    error.  Execution terminated.

     [INTERNAL]     An unexpected error occurred.  Execution was
                    terminated.  Record the message and save the
                    core file for analysis.  Contact service
                    personnel at your Tektronix field office.




Printed 4/6/89                                                  2





WRITE(1)                COMMAND REFERENCE                WRITE(1)



     [NP_WARN]      An error warranting a warning message
                    occurred. Execution continues.

CAVEATS
     The remote host must have an SMTP server that allows the
     SEND command.  This function is not part of 4.2BSD
     sendmail(8mh), but is provided with UTek sendmail(8mh).

     To prevent "letter-bombs", write silently eats control
     characters other than tab and backspace.

     In message mode, messages are limited to 4 kbytes.

SEE ALSO
     mail(1mh), mesg(1), talk(1n).  who(1), and sendmail(8mh).








































Printed 4/6/89                                                  3



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Typewritten Software • bear@typewritten.org • Edmonds, WA 98026