write(1)
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write Command
write to another user
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SYNTAX
write user [ line ]
DESCRIPTION
Write copies lines from your terminal to that of another user.
When first called, it sends this message to the person you want
to talk to:
Message from yourname (tty??) [ date ]...
When it has successfully completed the connection, write 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,
use the line argument 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 with the mesg(1)
command. Writing to others is normally allowed by default.
Certain commands, in particular nroff(1) and pr(1), disallow
messages 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.
We suggest the following protocol for using write: when you
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write(1)
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 (e.g., o for "over") so that the other person
knows when to reply. The signal oo (for "over and out") is
useful when you're terminating the conversation.
FILES
/etc/utmp To find user
/bin/sh To execute !
SEE ALSO
mail(1), mesg(1), nroff(1), pr(1), sh(1), who(1).
DIAGNOSTICS
user is not logged on
The person you are trying to
write to is not logged on.
Permission denied
The person you are trying to write to denies that
permission (with mesg).
Warning: cannot respond, set mesg -y
Your terminal is set to mesg n, therefore the recipient
cannot respond to you.
Can no longer write to user
The recipient has denied permission (mesg n) after you
have started writing.
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