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write(1)
NAME
write - Sends messages to other users
SYNOPSIS
write [-r] [-n node] user [line]
write user@node [line]
write -h handle,reply
write -q [-n node]
The write command allows you to converse with another user who is logged
in.
[Tru64 UNIX] The write -r command allows you to send messages to users on
other hosts (usually from a shell script) and to wait for replies; use
write -h to reply to such messages.
STANDARDS
Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards
as follows:
write: XCU5.0
Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about
industry standards and associated tags.
OPTIONS
-h handle,reply
[Tru64 UNIX] Replies to a message sent by a utility or shell script
with write -r. The value to be used for handle is generated internally
and supplied to you in the text of the original message.
[Tru64 UNIX] The reply can be ok, cancel, or query. (See EXAMPLES and
EXIT STATUS.)
-n node
[Tru64 UNIX] Specifies a remote host. The node field may be a
nickname or a node ID. This option is used in place of the user@node
argument; the two cannot be specified together.
-q [Tru64 UNIX] Queries all messages awaiting replies from users on a
node and displays them with their handles.
-r [Tru64 UNIX] Generates a message handle, places it in the message
header, sends the message, and waits for a reply. This option can be
used for operator messages and can be put in shell scripts. It is not
used for interactive conversations. (See EXAMPLES and EXIT STATUS).
OPERANDS
user
Login name of the user with whom you wish to converse. This operand is
in the form written by the who utility.
[Tru64 UNIX] You may append an optional @node if the user is on a
different host. The format of @node is as much of the remote hostname
and domainname as may be required by your system.
line
The terminal identification of the terminal where the other user is
logged in. You only need to specify this parameter if the other user
has several sessions operating on the target host. See DESCRIPTION for
a further explanation.
DESCRIPTION
When two users converse with write, each user alternately sends and
receives short messages from their respective terminals.
[Tru64 UNIX] For another user to receive your message, that user must be
logged in and must not have refused message permission. When a person you
are trying to reach is not logged in, you get the message user is not
logged on. When the person you are trying to reach has refused message
permission, you get the message Write: Permission denied.
When you run the write command, it immediately sends the following message
to the person whose login name you entered.
Message from sender on node (ttynn) [date]...
[Tru64 UNIX] The message is accompanied by attention-getting sound (three
ASCII BEL characters).
After successful connection, the write command then sends two ASCII BEL
characters to your terminal to alert you that whatever you enter now is
being sent to the other user. Sending continues until you enter the End-
of-File key sequence, at which point write sends an End-of-Text sequence to
the other terminal and exits.
At any point, the other user can respond by sending a write message back.
[Tru64 UNIX] For this type of exchange, the following convention is
useful. When you first write to others, wait for them to write back before
sending any text. End a message with a prearranged signal (such as o for
over) to alert the other user to reply.
[Tru64 UNIX] If the ! (exclamation point) character is found at the
beginning of an input line, write calls the shell to execute the rest of
the line as a command.
When you use the write command to contact a user logged in at more than one
terminal, write uses the first login instance found in the /var/adm/utmp
file as the message delivery point, and you get the message:
user is logged on more than one place.
You are connected to tty.
Other locations are:
tty ...
You can contact this user at another location by specifying the line. The
parameter line indicates to which terminal (tty00, for example) the message
should be sent.
Permission to use the write command to contact another user is granted or
denied by the other user with the mesg command. Some commands deny message
permission while they are running to prevent interference with their
output.
[Tru64 UNIX] If you have superuser authority, you can write to any
terminal regardless of the terminal's message permission.
[Tru64 UNIX] The write command filters nonprintable characters and
transmits them in their printed form (that is, ASCII sequence 001 is
transmitted as ^A).
[Tru64 UNIX] When the write -r command is used to send you a message, you
can send a reply of ok, cancel, or query with write -h. (See OPTIONS,
EXAMPLES and EXIT STATUS).
[Tru64 UNIX] An argument of a - (dash) following the write command allows
you to specify a specific terminal to which you want to write as the second
argument.
Typing characters from LC_TYPE classifications print or space causes those
characters to be sent to the recipient's terminal.
NOTES
The talk utility is considered to be a more usable utility on full-screen
terminals.
RESTRICTIONS
[Tru64 UNIX] The writesrv daemon must be running on the target host in
order for any of the options to work. If you are not using either the -n
option or @host, but using -h, -q, or -r, the writesrv daemon must be
running on your host.
[Tru64 UNIX] See writesrv(8) for information on how to start or stop the
writesrv daemon.
EXIT STATUS
[Tru64 UNIX] The write -r command is used to send messages to users and to
wait for replies. Their responses determine the exit value:
ok [Tru64 UNIX] Exit status 0 (zero).
cancel
[Tru64 UNIX] Exit status 1.
query
[Tru64 UNIX] Message for handle redisplays; write does not exit.
An exit status of 2 indicates that the user could not be contacted.
EXAMPLES
The following examples assume that the End-of-File key sequence is <Ctrl-
d>. The actual key sequence may be different.
1. lucy on tty3 writes a message to sue on the same node:
write sue
Meet me in the computer room at 12:30.
<Ctrl-d>
sue sees:
Message from lucy on node (tty3) [Thu Aug 17 11:55:24 1990]
Meet me in the computer room at 12:30.
<EOT>
2. Holding a conversation:
write sue
Meet me in the computer room at 12:30.
over
lucy then waits for a response from sue, who replies:
write lucy
I'm running tests at 12:30. Can we meet at 3?
over
sue then waits for lucy, who replies and terminates:
OK--the computer room at 3.
bye
<Ctrl-d>
sue then terminates their side of the conversation.
3. To write someone a prepared message, enter:
write sue <message.text
This writes the contents of the file message.text to sue's terminal.
4. To write to the person using a certain terminal, enter:
write - console
The printer in building 998 has jammed.
Please send help.
<Ctrl-d>
This writes the message to the person logged in on the system console.
5. To send a message to user sue at node, enter:
write -n node sue
or
write sue@node
6. To get a reply to a message, lucy might enter the following:
write -r sue console
Please insert next tape.
sue terminates lucy's message with
write -h 12345,ok
<Ctrl-d>
or
write -h 12345,cancel
or
write -h 12345,query
sue then terminates as usual.
Note that with the -h option, there is no need to supply the hostname
or user ID.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The following environment variables affect the execution of write:
LANG
Provides a default value for the internationalization variables that
are unset or null. If LANG is unset or null, the corresponding value
from the default locale is used. If any of the internationalization
variables contain an invalid setting, the utility behaves as if none of
the variables had been defined.
LC_ALL
If set to a non-empty string value, overrides the values of all the
other internationalization variables.
LC_CTYPE
Determines the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes of
text data as characters (for example, single-byte as opposed to
multibyte characters in arguments). If the recipient's locale does not
use an equivalent LC_CTYPE, the results are undefined.
LC_MESSAGES
Determines the locale for the format and contents of diagnostic
messages written to standard error.
NLSPATH
Determines the location of message catalogues for the processing of
LC_MESSAGES.
FILES
/var/adm/utmp
Contains user and accounting information.
SEE ALSO
Commands: mesg(1), login(1), sh(1b), sh(1p), talk(1), wall(1), who(1),
writesrv(8)
Files: utmp(4)
Standards: standards(5)
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