tip(1)tip(1)NAMEtip - Connects to a remote system
SYNOPSIStip [-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
Displays sets of variables (see Variables) as they are read from the
file. Overrides the default baud rate, which is 1200 baud.
DESCRIPTION
You must have a login account on the remote system to use the tip com‐
mand.
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 vari‐
ables 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 run‐
ning 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. (Boolean; abbreviated be) Discards unprintable
characters when a session is being scripted. Does not discard charac‐
ters specified with the exceptions variable. The default is on.
(Numeric; abbreviated ba) Specifies the baud rate of the connection.
The baudrate setting can only be changed by someone with supe‐
ruser authority. (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. (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. (String;
abbreviated eofr) Specifies the set of characters that signifies
an end-of-transmission during a remote to local (~< or ~t) file
transfer. (String; abbreviated eofw) Specifies the string that
is sent to indicate end-of-transmission during a local to remote
(~> or ~p) file transfer command. (String; no abbreviation)
Specifies the string that indicates the end of a line. tip rec‐
ognizes escape signals only when they follow an end-of-line
string. (Character; abbreviated es) Specifies the command pre‐
fix character for escape signals. The default value is ~
(tilde). (Strings; abbreviated ex) Specifies the set of charac‐
ters that are not discarded, even when the beautify switch is
set on. The string \t\n\f\b is the default. (Character; abbre‐
viated 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. (Numeric;
abbreviated fr) Specifies the number of bytes to buffer between
file system writes when receiving files from the remote system.
(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. (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. (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. (Character; abbreviated rc) Specifies a charac‐
ter that is used to toggle uppercase conversion. The default
value is ^A. (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. (Boolean; abbre‐
viated 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. (Boolean; abbreviated tab) Expands tab charac‐
ters to eight spaces during file transfers. The default is off.
(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. (String; no abbreviation) Speci‐
fies the type of shell to use for the ~! command. The default
value is /bin/sh, or is taken from the environment. (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 follow‐
ing escape signals: 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. 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 src‐
file. 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. Sends the from file to a remote host that must sup‐
port 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. 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 speci‐
fied. 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 ~< com‐
mand. 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 com‐
mand string sent to the remote system is processed by the shell. Sends
a BREAK signal to the remote system. 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 dis‐
play 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 abbre‐
viation 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 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 file. To reset the variable to its default value,
enter an ! (exclamation point) in front of the name. For exam‐
ple, 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 vari‐
ables. The set string must not contain any spaces. Stops tip.
The ~^Z command is only available with job control. Stops the
local portion of tip. The remote portion, which displays the
output from the remote system, continues to run. The ~^Y com‐
mand is only available with job control. Displays a list of the
escape signals.
RESTRICTIONS
The user-id (uid) of the owner of the file must be the same as the real
uid of the tip process. If this is not true, an error message is output
and the file is not read.
EXAMPLES
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. 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.
To connect directly to a remote system and display the vari‐
ables, 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 file con‐
tains 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
Contains automatic call unit descriptions. Contains lock files that
prevent multiple uses of devices and multiple calls to systems. Con‐
tains global system descriptions. Contains global telephone phone num‐
ber database. Contains private system descriptions. Contains private
telephone numbers. Defines initial settings for the tip command. Con‐
tains 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)tip(1)
