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, 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, such as 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
          terminated.



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     WRITE(1)                                                 WRITE(1)



     FILES
          /etc/utmp to find user
          /bin/sh   to execute !

     SEE ALSO
          mail(1), mesg(1), pr(1), sh(1), who(1).

     DIAGNOSTICS
          ``user is not logged on'' if the person you are trying to
                 write to is not logged on.
          ``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.
     ORIGIN
          AT&T V.3




































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