write(1) General Commands Manual write(1)
NAME
write - interactively write (talk) to another user
SYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
The command copies lines from your terminal to that of another user. When first called, it sends the message:
to the receiving user's terminal. When it has successfully completed the connection, it also sends two bells to your own terminal to indi-
cate that what you are typing is being sent.
To set up two-way communication, the recipient of the message (user) must execute the command:
(yourterminal is only required if the originator is logged in more than once.)
Communication continues until an end of file is read from the terminal, an interrupt is sent, or the recipient executes At that point,
writes on the other terminal and exits.
To write to a user who is logged in more than once, use the terminal argument to indicate which line or terminal to send to (e.g., Other-
wise, the first writable instance of the user found in database is assumed and the following message is displayed:
terminal
...
Permission to write may be denied or granted with the command (see mesg(1)). Writing to others is normally allowed by default. Certain
commands, in particular and disallow messages in order to prevent interference with their output. However, if the user has the appropriate
privileges, messages can be forced onto a write-inhibited terminal.
If the character is found at the beginning of a line, calls the POSIX shell (see sh-posix(1)) to execute the rest of the line as a command.
The following protocol is suggested for using When you first to another user, wait for the user to back before starting to send. Each per-
son should end a message with a distinctive signal (such as "" for "over") so that the other person knows when to reply. Similarly, the
signal "" (for "over and out") can be used to indicate the end of the conversation.
EXTERNAL INFLUENCES
Environment Variables
determines the locale to use for the locale categories when both and the corresponding environment variable (beginning with do not specify
a locale. If is not set or is set to the empty string, a default of "C" (see lang(5)) is used.
determines the format and contents of date and time strings.
determines the language in which messages are displayed.
If any internationalization variable contains an invalid setting, behaves as if all internationalization variables are set to "C". See
environ(5).
International Code Set Support
Single- and multi-byte character code sets are supported.
DIAGNOSTICS
The user you are trying to write to is not logged on.
Your correspondent has denied write permission
after your session started. Your session is ended.
Your correspondent sent end-of-file,
or you set your terminal to and your correspondent tried to write to you. If you have a session established, you can continue to
write to your correspondent.
The user you are trying to write to has denied write permission (with
Your terminal is set to
and the recipient cannot respond to you.
EXAMPLES
By issuing the command:
user sends a message to user screen. If responds:
two-way communication between and is established.
FILES
To find user
To execute shell commands
SEE ALSO
elm(1), mail(1), mailx(1), mesg(1), nroff(1), pr(1), sh-posix(1), sh(1), who(1), utmpd(1M), getutsent(3C).
STANDARDS CONFORMANCE
write(1)