WRITE(1)							      WRITE(1)

NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

     write - write to another user

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

     write user	[ line ]

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

     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
     /var/adm/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, such as 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.

     write processes supplementary code	set characters according to the	locale
     specified in the LC_CTYPE environment variable [see LANG on environ(5)].
     It	will detect non-printable characters before sending them to the	user's
     terminal.	Control	characters will	appear as a `^'	followed by the
     appropriate ASCII character; characters with the high-order bit set will
     appear in meta notation. For example, `\003' is displayed as `^C' and
     `\372' as `M-z'.

     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



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WRITE(1)							      WRITE(1)



     signal (oo) (for ``over and out'')	is suggested when conversation is to
     be	terminated.

FILES    [Toc]    [Back]

     /var/adm/utmp  to find user
     /sbin/sh  to execute !
     /usr/lib/locale/locale<b>/LC_MESSAGES/uxcore
	      language-specific	message	file [See LANG on environ(5).]

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

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

DIAGNOSTICS    [Toc]    [Back]

     UX:write:ERROR:User is not	logged on.
	  if the person	you are	trying to write	to is not logged on.

     UX:write:ERROR:Permission denied.
	  if the person	you are	trying to write	to denies that permission
	  (with	mesg).

     UX:write:Warning: cannot respond, set mesg	-y.
	  if your terminal is set to mesg n and	the recipient cannot respond
	  to you.

     UX:write:ERROR:Can	no longer write	to user.
	  if the recipient has denied permission (mesg n) after	you had
	  started writing.


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