flamer@omsvax.UUCP (08/12/83)
.TH NWRITE 1 intel.local .SH NAME nwrite \- new write, talk to n \(>= 2 users .SH SYNOPSIS .B nwrite \ [ .BI \-e c ] .SH DESCRIPTION .I Nwrite copies lines from your terminal to those of other users. This allows communication similar to a phone call to exist between two or more users on a .SM UNIX system. One user calls another by using the .B ~c command, causing a message to be displayed on the callee's terminal if it was not write protected with .I mesg .IR n \. The recipient of the message should run .I nwrite and call back. Communication continues until all users hang up. .PP There is one optional command argument, .BI \-e c, which replaces the command lead-in character from a tilde to .IR c \. This is for the poor souls who use Hazeltine terminals where tilde masquerades for an escape. .PP These are the commands in detail: .PP .B ~c\ .RI [ login_name .RI [ tty_name ]] .RS Call the user on .IR login_name \. If more than one user is logged on to .IR login_name , the .I tty_name must be specified. As each new user calls in with .BR ~c , he becomes part of the conference call. If a user calls someone not already in some conversation, a new conversation is created. This command sends the message: .sp 1 .RS Message from: .I your_name on .I your_tty_name at .IR current_time \... .RE .RE .PP .B ~e .RS Toggle tty echo-plex. Some terminals (such as at Oregon State University) are hard-wired as half-duplex, which the Version 7 tty driver doesn't really support. Using this tilde escape will get these terminals to work sensibly. .RE .PP .B ~h .RS Hang up. You are removed from the conversation and returned to .IR limbo-land \. You may then call into a new conversation or exit to the shell. This command sends the message: .sp 1 .RS [over and out: .I your_name on .I your_tty_name at .IR current_time ] .RE .RE .PP .B ~o .RS Send `over' message. If more than two people are talking, it is necessary to differentiate between the callers. Because of this, .I nwrite has a built-in protocol that .I write does not have. When .B ~o is typed, all other callers will receive the message: .sp 1 .RS [over: .I your_name on .I your_tty_name at .IR current_time ] .RE .RE .PP .B ~q .RS Quit .IR nwrite , that is, exit to the shell. You may type .B ~q at any time, even if you have write control, and all of the necessary `over' and `over and out' messages will be supplied for you. .RE .PP .B ~w .RS Print a list, similar to the .I who command, that shows what people on which terminals are in which conversations. A person listed as being in conversation .I `\-' is in .I limbo-land (that is, not in any conversation). .RE .PP .B ! .RI [ command ] .RS Temporarily escape to a shell command. If it is typed alone, a new subshell will be created. To return to .I nwrite from the Bourne shell you should type a control-D, and to return from the C shell with .B ignoreeof set, type .I exit. .RE .PP .B ? .RS Print out a summary help list similar to this one. .RE .PP .B control-D .RS Hang up. Same as .B ~q but works anywhere on a line, not just at the beginning. .RE .PP .B escape .RS Relinquish write control. Same as .B ~o but works anywhere on a line, not just at the beginning. .RE .PP .I text .RS If you do not have write control, you cannot talk. Write control is gained by typing text. If the conversation is in such a state that you can get write control (no one else is typing), the text will be shown and become part of your message. If someone else has control, your text will be ignored. To prevent against indescriminate terminal hogs, there is a 15 second non-activity time out for people with write control. .RE .SH FILES .ta 2i /etc/utmp to find user .br .RI /dev/ ttynn to send message generated by .B ~c to callee .br /bin/sh to execute a .RB ` ! ' .br /bin/csh to execute a .RB ` ! ' for .I csh users .br /bin/mail to send .B ~c message to write protected user .br /tmp/nwrite.master to keep conversation table (see .BR ~w ) .br .RI /tmp/nwrite.conv nn to provide writer lock control .br .RI /tmp/nwrite. pid to give user of process .I pid write control .br .SH SEE ALSO mail(1), \ mesg(1), \ who(1), \ write(1) .SH AUTHOR Jim Trethewey .SH BUGS Uses advanced signals not available in standard Version 7. They can be removed without too much ill effect. .PP Slow on PDP-11's.