write(1) 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 or 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, in particular nroff(1) and 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
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write(1) write(1)
terminated.
EXAMPLE
write judy tty7
writes judy on terminal 7, unless messages have been refused
with mesg(1).
FILES
/bin/write
/etc/utmp to find user
/bin/sh to execute !
SEE ALSO
mail(1), mesg(1), nroff(1), pr(1), sh(1), talk(1N), who(1).
DIAGNOSTICS
user is not logged in if the person you are trying to
write to is not logged in.
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.
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