chfn(1)                                                   chfn(1)



     NAME
          chfn - change finger entry

     SYNOPSIS
          chfn [loginname]

     DESCRIPTION
          chfn is used to change information about users.  This infor-
          mation is used by the finger program, among others.  It con-
          sists 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 de-
          fault value, which is enclosed between brackets.  The de-
          fault 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 hy-
          phens.  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
          superuser.

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

     SEE ALSO
          finger(1), passwd(4)

     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 informa-
          tion.

          Because two users may try to write the passwd file at once,
          a synchronization method was developed.  On rare occasions,
          a message that the password file is ``busy'' will be print-



     April, 1990                                                     1

     chfn(1)                                                   chfn(1)



          ed.  In this case, chfn sleeps for a while and then tries to
          write to the passwd file again.





















































     2                                                     April, 1990