WRITE(1)                             SysV                             WRITE(1)



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,
     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, 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.

     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.

FILES
     /etc/utmp to find user
     /bin/sh   to execute !

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

DIAGNOSTICS
     ``user is not logged on'' if the person you are trying to write to is not
            logged on.
     ``Permission denied'' if the person you are trying to write to denies
            that permission (with mesg).
     ``Warning: cannot respond, set mesg -y'' if your terminal is set to mesg
            n and the recipient cannot respond to you.

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