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tip(1)
NAME
tip - Connects to a remote system
SYNOPSIS
tip [-v] [-baud_rate] system|telephone_number
The tip command connects to a remote system and allows you to work on the
remote system as if logged in directly.
OPTIONS
-v Displays sets of variables (see Variables) as they are read from the
.tiprc file.
-baud_rate
Overrides the default baud rate, which is 1200 baud.
DESCRIPTION
You must have a login account on the remote system to use the tip command.
Either the system argument or the telephone_number argument is required.
The system argument specifies the name of a remote system to be contacted
over a direct or modem connection. The telephone_number argument specifies
the number to dial over a modem connection.
The actions of the tip command can be controlled using flags, escape
signals, and variables. The tip command also uses the /etc/remote file to
find out how to contact a remote system and discover the escape-send
sequence to use when communicating with that system.
When tip prompts for a response, edit the line as you type using the
standard Erase and Kill keys. Entering a null line in response to a prompt
or pressing the Interrupt key sequence will abort the tip dialog and return
you to the remote system.
The tip command uses lock files in the /var/spool/locks directory to lock
devices against multiple access.
You can use the tip command to transfer files to and from the remote
system. Several variables work together to control file transfers. File
transfers normally use tandem mode to control the flow of data. If the
remote system does not support tandem mode, set the echocheck variable to
on to cause tip to synchronize with the remote system after transmitting
each character. When transferring files with the ~> and ~< commands, use
the eofread and eofwrite variables to specify the end of a file when
writing, and recognize the end of a file when reading.
If the verbose variable is set to on, the tip command:
· Writes a running count of the number of lines transferred during a
file transfer.
· Writes messages indicating its actions as it dials a telephone number.
You can use scripting to record the conversations you have with the tip
command. Use the script variable to start scripting.
Variables
The tip command uses variables that control its operation. These variables
can be numeric, string, character, or Boolean values. Some of these
variables can be changed by any user who can run the tip command. However,
the following variables can be changed only by a user with superuser
authority: baudrate, dialtimeout, host, phones, and remote.
Variables can be initialized at run time in the $HOME/.tiprc file.
Additionally, you can display and set the variables while already running
the tip command by using the ~s command.
Certain common variables have abbreviations.
Following are the common variables, their types and abbreviations, and
their default values.
beautify
(Boolean; abbreviated be) Discards unprintable characters when a
session is being scripted. Does not discard characters specified with
the exceptions variable. The default is on.
baudrate
(Numeric; abbreviated ba) Specifies the baud rate of the connection.
The baudrate setting can only be changed by someone with superuser
authority.
dialtimeout
(Numeric; abbreviated dial) Specifies the time (in seconds) that tip
waits for a connection when dialing a telephone number. The default is
60 seconds.
The dialtimeout setting can only be changed by someone with superuser
authority.
echocheck
(Boolean; abbreviated ec) Instructs tip to synchronize with the remote
host during a file transfer by awaiting the echo of the last character
transmitted before transmitting the next character. The default is
off.
eofread
(String; abbreviated eofr) Specifies the set of characters that
signifies an end-of-transmission during a remote to local (~< or ~t)
file transfer.
eofwrite
(String; abbreviated eofw) Specifies the string that is sent to
indicate end-of-transmission during a local to remote (~> or ~p) file
transfer command.
eol (String; no abbreviation) Specifies the string that indicates the end
of a line. tip recognizes escape signals only when they follow an
end-of-line string.
escape
(Character; abbreviated es) Specifies the command prefix character for
escape signals. The default value is ~ (tilde).
exceptions
(Strings; abbreviated ex) Specifies the set of characters that are not
discarded, even when the beautify switch is set on. The string
\t\n\f\b is the default.
force
(Character; abbreviated fo) Specifies the character that is used to
force literal data transmissions during binary transfers. The
character ^P is the default. Literal data transmissions are off until
the user types the character specified by the force variable.
framesize
(Numeric; abbreviated fr) Specifies the number of bytes to buffer
between file system writes when receiving files from the remote system.
host
(String; abbreviated ho) Specifies the name of the remote system to
which you are connected.
The host setting can only be changed by someone with superuser
authority.
prompt
(Character; abbreviated pr) Specifies the character that indicates the
end of the line on the remote host. This character is used to
synchronize during data transfers. The tip command counts lines
transferred during a file transfer, based on the number of times it
receives the prompt character. The \n character is the default.
raise
(Boolean; abbreviated ra) When on, instructs the tip command to convert
all lowercase letters to uppercase before transmitting them to the
remote system. The default is off.
raisechar
(Character; abbreviated rc) Specifies a character that is used to
toggle uppercase conversion. The default value is ^A.
record
(String; abbreviated rec) Specifies the name of the file in which the
tip command records the session script. The default is the tip.record
file, which is placed in the user's current directory on the local
system.
script
(Boolean; abbreviated sc) When on, tip records everything transmitted
by the remote machine in a file on the local system. The filename is
specified by the record variable. If the beautify switch is on, only
printable ASCII characters (those between 040 and 0177) will be
recorded in the script file. The exceptions variable specifies
unprintable characters that will be recorded even if the beautify
switch is on. The default setting for the script switch is off.
tabexpand
(Boolean; abbreviated tab) Expands tab characters to eight spaces
during file transfers. The default is off.
verbose
(Boolean; abbreviated verb) When on, tip prints messages while dialing,
shows the current number of lines transferred during a file transfer,
and displays other status information about the connection. The default
is on.
SHELL
(String; no abbreviation) Specifies the type of shell to use for the ~!
command. The default value is /bin/sh, or is taken from the
environment.
HOME
(String; no abbreviation) Specifies the home directory to use for the
~c command. The default value is taken from the environment.
Subcommands
You can use escape signals to instruct tip to terminate, log off from the
remote system, and transfer files. Using the escape character as the first
character of the line indicates an escape signal. The default escape
character is a ~ (tilde). The character can be changed using the escape
variable. All other typed characters are transmitted directly to the
remote system. The tip command recognizes the following escape signals:
~^D Terminates the connection and exits. You can still be logged in on the
remote system; if so, you can issue another tip command to reconnect to
that system. Depending on the interconnection hardware, it may be
necessary to use ~^D to terminate the conversation, even if the normal
logout sequence was used.
~. Same as ~^D: terminates the connection and exits. You can still be
logged in on the remote system; if so, you can issue another tip
command to reconnect to that system. Depending on the interconnection
hardware, it may be necessary to use ~. to terminate the conversation,
even if the normal logout sequence was used.
~c [directory]
Changes to the directory specified by the directory variable. If you
do not include the directory variable, tip changes to your home
directory.
~! Escapes to a shell on the local system. When you exit from the shell,
you return to the tip command.
~> Copies file from the local system to the remote system. The tip command
prompts you for the name of the local file. Before executing this
command, you should start a command on the remote system to capture the
incoming file as it is sent. Otherwise, the file contents are treated
as stdin to the shell running on the remote system. Using the cat >
destfile command is recommended where supported. The output EOF string
sent after the file is transferred (defined by oe in /etc/remote and
typically ^D for UNIX systems) should terminate the command on the
remote system that is capturing the file.
~< Copies file from the remote system to the local system. The tip command
prompts you for the command to be executed on the remote system to list
the file to be copied, for example, cat srcfile. The copy of the file
completes when the local system reads an EOFREAD character from the
remote system. The local system defines the EOFREAD character(s)
expected from the remote system by the ie entry in /etc/remote. (For
UNIX systems, this is usually #, %, or $, the most common prompts for
the different shells.) The EOFREAD character should be sent to the
local system after the command to list the remote file completes. The
remote system's prompt character is suggested for the EOFREAD
character.
~p from [to]
Sends the from file to a remote host that must support the cat command.
The put command causes the remote system to run the command string cat
> to, while tip sends it the from file. If to is not specified, the
cat command uses the name of the from file. This command is a special
case of the ~> command.
~t from [to]
Transfers the from file from a remote system that must support the cat
command. As in the put command, the to file defaults to the from
filename if it is not specified. The remote host executes the command
string cat from;echo ^A to send the file to tip. This command is a
special case of the ~< command.
~| Pipes the output of a remote command to a local process. The command
string sent to the local system is processed by the shell.
~$ Pipes the output from a local process to the remote system. The
command string sent to the remote system is processed by the shell.
~# Sends a BREAK signal to the remote system.
~s {variable=value | [!]boolean_variable | variable? | all}
Sets or queries the tip command variables.
To display all variables readable by the user, specify all as an
argument to the ~s command. You can also request the display of a
specific variable by attaching a ? (question mark) to the variable
name. For example, enter the command ~s eol? to display the current
end-of-line string.
Variables can be numeric, string, character, or Boolean values. To set
a non-Boolean variable, enter the variable name or abbreviation
followed by = (equal sign) and the value. For example, enter either ~s
host=zeus or ~s ho=zeus to change the hostname to zeus. In the .tiprc
file, enter host=zeus or ho=zeus.
To change the value of a Boolean variable, enter the variable name or
abbreviation as an argument to the ~s command, or on a line of the
.tiprc file. To reset the variable to its default value, enter an !
(exclamation point) in front of the name. For example, enter ~s
!echocheck to reset the echocheck variable to its default value while
running the tip command.
You can use a single ~s command to set and query multiple variables.
The set string must not contain any spaces.
~^Z Stops tip. The ~^Z command is only available with job control.
~^Y Stops the local portion of tip. The remote portion, which displays the
output from the remote system, continues to run. The ~^Y command is
only available with job control.
~? Displays a list of the escape signals.
EXAMPLES
1. To specify a baud rate when making a direct connection, enter:
tip -300 hera
This instructs tip to use a baud rate of 300 when contacting remote
system hera.
2. To connect to a remote system using a modem, enter:
tip 9,343-2132
This connects the remote system that is reached by the telephone
number 343-2132, after dialing a 9, to reach an outside line.
3. To connect directly to a remote system and display the variables,
enter:
tip -v hera
The -v option causes tip to display the values of the variables as it
reads them from the $HOME/.tiprc file. If the .tiprc file contains the
following settings:
sc
be
rec=/u/jimk/callout
The output from the -v option is as follows:
set script
set beautify
set record=/u/jimk/callout
FILES
/etc/acucap
Contains automatic call unit descriptions.
/var/spool/locks/LCK*
Contains lock files that prevent multiple uses of devices and multiple
calls to systems.
/etc/remote
Contains global system descriptions.
/etc/phones
Contains global telephone phone number database.
${REMOTE}
Contains private system descriptions.
${PHONES}
Contains private telephone numbers.
$HOME/.tiprc
Defines initial settings for the tip command.
tip.record
Contains the tip command scripts (default filename). By default,
stored in the current directory. You can change the filename and
directory using the record variable.
SEE ALSO
Commands: cu(1), uucp(1)
Functions: connect(2)
Files: acucap(4), phones(4), remote(4)