


      WRITE(1)                    (UNIX 5.0)                   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.  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
           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
           terminated.




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      WRITE(1)                    (UNIX 5.0)                   WRITE(1)



      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 not logged in'' if the person you are trying to write
           to is not logged in.













































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