wall(1M)                                                    wall(1M)


       NAME
             wall - write to all users

       SYNOPSIS
             /usr/sbin/wall [-g group] [file]

       DESCRIPTION
             The wall command reads the named file, or, if no filename
             appears, it reads the standard input until an end-of-file.  It
             then sends this message to all currently logged-in users
             preceded by:
                   Broadcast Message from source . . .

             The command is used to warn all users, typically before
             shutting down the system.  When the -g option is specified,
             the command uses the /etc/group file to determine which logged
             in users should receive the message.  When the -g option is
             specified, the message is sent only to members of the
             specified group, instead of to all users.

             The sender must be a privileged user to override any
             protections the users may have invoked [see mesg(1)].

             wall runs setgid [see setuid(2)] to the group ID tty, to
             ensure write permissions on other user's terminals.

             The wall command processes supplementary code set characters
             according to the locale specified in the LC_CTYPE environment
             variable [see LANG on environ(5)].  It detects non-printable
             characters before sending them to a user's terminal.  Control
             characters appear as a `^' followed by the appropriate ASCII
             character; for example, `\003' is displayed as `^C'.

       FILES
             /dev/term/*
             /etc/group
             /usr/lib/locale/locale/LC_MESSAGES/uxcore
                   language-specific message file [See LANG on environ(5).]

       REFERENCES
             mesg(1), write(1)

       DIAGNOSTICS
             UX:wall:ERROR:Cannot send to . . .
                                      The open on a user's tty file failed.



                           Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc.               Page 1