chfn(1)                                                   chfn(1)



     NAME
          chfn - change finger entry

     SYNOPSIS
          chfn [loginname]

     DESCRIPTION
          chfn is used to change information about users.  This
          information is used by the finger program, among others.  It
          consists of the user's ``real life'' name, office room
          number, office phone number, and home phone number.  chfn
          prompts the user for each field.  Included in the prompt is
          a default value, which is enclosed between brackets.  The
          default value is accepted simply by typing RETURN.  To enter
          a blank field, type the word none.  Below is a sample run:

               Name [Biff Studsworth II]:
               Room number (Exs: 597E or 197C) []: 521E
               Office Phone (Ex: 1632) []: 1863
               Home Phone (Ex: 5557532) [5441546]: none


          chfn allows phone numbers to be entered with or without
          hyphens.  Because finger knows only about 4-digit
          extensions, chfn insists upon a four digit number (after the
          hyphens are removed) for office phone numbers.

          It is a good idea to run finger after running chfn to make
          sure everything is the way you want it.

          The optional argument loginname is used to change another
          person's finger information.  This can only be done by the
          super-user.

     FILES
          /usr/ucb/chfn
          /etc/passwd
          /etc/ptmp

     SEE ALSO
          finger(1), passwd(5)

     BUGS
          The encoding of the office and extension information is
          installation-dependent.

          For historical reasons, the user's name, etc are stored in
          the passwd file.  This is a bad place to store the
          information.

          Because two users may try to write the passwd file at once,
          a synchronization method was developed.  On rare occasions,



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     chfn(1)                                                   chfn(1)



          a message that the password file is ``busy'' will be
          printed.  In this case, chfn sleeps for a while and then
          tries to write to the passwd file again.




















































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