| 1 | .TH WRITE 1 |
| 2 | .SH NAME |
| 3 | write \- write to another user |
| 4 | .SH SYNOPSIS |
| 5 | .B write |
| 6 | user [ ttyname ] |
| 7 | .SH DESCRIPTION |
| 8 | .I Write |
| 9 | copies lines from your terminal to that of |
| 10 | another user. |
| 11 | When first called, |
| 12 | it sends the message |
| 13 | .PP |
| 14 | Message from yourname yourttyname... |
| 15 | .PP |
| 16 | The recipient of the message should write back at this point. |
| 17 | Communication continues until an end of file is |
| 18 | read from the terminal or an interrupt is sent. |
| 19 | At that point |
| 20 | .I write |
| 21 | writes `EOT' on the other terminal and exits. |
| 22 | .PP |
| 23 | If you want to write to a user who is logged in more than once, |
| 24 | the |
| 25 | .I ttyname |
| 26 | argument may be used to indicate the |
| 27 | appropriate terminal name. |
| 28 | .PP |
| 29 | Permission to write may be denied or granted by use of the |
| 30 | .I mesg |
| 31 | command. |
| 32 | At the outset writing is allowed. |
| 33 | Certain commands, in particular |
| 34 | .I nroff |
| 35 | and |
| 36 | .IR pr (1) |
| 37 | disallow |
| 38 | messages in order to prevent messy output. |
| 39 | .PP |
| 40 | If the character `!' is found at the beginning of a line, |
| 41 | .I write |
| 42 | calls the shell |
| 43 | to execute the rest of the |
| 44 | line as a command. |
| 45 | .PP |
| 46 | The following protocol is suggested for using |
| 47 | .IR write : |
| 48 | when you first write to another user, wait for him to |
| 49 | write back before starting to send. |
| 50 | Each party should end each message with a distinctive |
| 51 | signal\(em\fB(o)\fR |
| 52 | for `over' is conventional\(emthat the other may reply. |
| 53 | .B (oo) |
| 54 | for `over and out' is suggested when conversation |
| 55 | is about to be terminated. |
| 56 | .SH FILES |
| 57 | /etc/utmp to find user |
| 58 | .br |
| 59 | /bin/sh to execute `!' |
| 60 | .SH "SEE ALSO" |
| 61 | mesg(1), who(1), mail(1) |