TIP(1) User Commands TIP(1)

NAME

tip - connect to remote system

SYNOPSIS

tip [-v] [-speed-entry] {hostname | phone-number | device}

DESCRIPTION

The tip utility establishes a full-duplex terminal connection to a remote
host. Once the connection is established, a remote session using tip
behaves like an interactive session on a local terminal.


The remote file contains entries describing remote systems and line
speeds used by tip.


Each host has a default baud rate for the connection, or you can specify
a speed with the -speed-entry command line argument.


When phone-number is specified, tip looks for an entry in the remote file
of the form:

tip -speed-entry


When tip finds such an entry, it sets the connection speed accordingly.
If it finds no such entry, tip interprets -speed-entry as if it were a
system name, resulting in an error message.


If you omit -speed-entry, tip uses the tip0 entry to set a speed for the
connection.


When device is specified, tip attempts to open that device, but will do
so using the access privileges of the user, rather than tip's usual
access privileges (setuid uucp). The user must have read/write access to
the device. The tip utility interprets any character string beginning
with the slash character (/) as a device name.


When establishing the connection, tip sends a connection message to the
remote system. The default value for this message can be found in the
remote file.


When tip attempts to connect to a remote system, it opens the associated
device with an exclusive-open ioctl(2) call. Thus, only one user at a
time may access a device. This is to prevent multiple processes from
sampling the terminal line. In addition, tip honors the locking protocol
used by uucp(1C).


When tip starts up, it reads commands from the file .tiprc in your home
directory.

OPTIONS

-v
Display commands from the .tiprc file as they are executed.

USAGE

Typed characters are normally transmitted directly to the remote machine,
which does the echoing as well.


At any time that tip prompts for an argument (for example, during setup
of a file transfer), the line typed may be edited with the standard erase
and kill characters. A null line in response to a prompt, or an
interrupt, aborts the dialogue and returns you to the remote machine.

Commands

A tilde (~) appearing as the first character of a line is an escape
signal which directs tip to perform some special action. tip recognizes
the following escape sequences:

~^D
~.
Drop the connection and exit (you may still be logged
in on the remote machine). Note: If you rlogin and then
run tip on the remote host, you must type ~~. (tilde
tilde dot) to end the tip session. If you type ~.
(tilde dot), it terminates the rlogin.


~c [name]
Change directory to name. No argument implies change to
your home directory.


~!
Escape to an interactive shell on the local machine.
Exiting the shell returns you to tip.


~>
Copy file from local to remote.


~<
Copy file from remote to local.


~p from [ to ]
Send a file to a remote host running the UNIX system.
When you use the put command, the remote system runs
the command string

cat > to


while tip sends it the from file. If the to file is not
specified, the from file name is used. This command is
actually a UNIX-system-specific version of the `~>'
command.


~t from [ to ]
Take a file from a remote host running the UNIX system.
As in the put command the to file defaults to the from
file name if it is not specified. The remote host
executes the command string

cat from; echo ^A


to send the file to tip.


~|
Pipe the output from a remote command to a local
process. The command string sent to the local system is
processed by the shell.


~C
Connect a program to the remote machine. The command
string sent to the program is processed by the shell.
The program inherits file descriptors 0 as remote line
input, 1 as remote line output, and 2 as tty standard
error.


~$
Pipe the output from a local process to the remote
host. The command string sent to the local system is
processed by the shell.


~#
Send a BREAK to the remote system.


~s
Set a variable (see the discussion below).


~^Z
Stop tip. Only available when run under a shell that
supports job control, such as the C shell.


~^Y
Stop only the "local side" of tip. Only available when
run under a shell that supports job control, such as
the C shell. The "remote side" of tip, that is, the
side that displays output from the remote host, is left
running.


~?
Get a summary of the tilde escapes.


Copying files requires some cooperation on the part of the remote host.
When a ~> or ~< escape is used to send a file, tip prompts for a file
name (to be transmitted or received) and a command to be sent to the
remote system, in case the file is being transferred from the remote
system. While tip is transferring a file, the number of lines
transferred will be continuously displayed on the screen. A file transfer
may be aborted with an interrupt.

Auto-call Units
tip may be used to dial up remote systems using a number of auto-call
unit's (ACUs). When the remote system description contains the du
capability, tip uses the call-unit (cu), ACU type (at), and phone numbers
(pn) supplied. Normally, tip displays verbose messages as it dials.


Depending on the type of auto-dialer being used to establish a
connection, the remote host may have garbage characters sent to it upon
connection. The user should never assume that the first characters typed
to the foreign host are the first ones presented to it. The recommended
practice is to immediately type a kill character upon establishing a
connection (most UNIX systems either support @ or Control-U as the
initial kill character).


tip currently supports the Ventel MD-212+ modem and DC Hayes-compatible
modems.


When tip initializes a Hayes-compatible modem for dialing, it sets up the
modem to auto-answer. Normally, after the conversation is complete, tip
drops DTR, which causes the modem to "hang up."


Most modems can be configured so that when DTR drops, they re-initialize
themselves to a preprogrammed state. This can be used to reset the modem
and disable auto-answer, if desired.


Additionally, it is possible to start the phone number with a Hayes S
command so that you can configure the modem before dialing. For example,
to disable auto-answer, set up all the phone numbers in /etc/remote using
something like pn=S0=0DT5551212. The S0=0 disables auto-answer.

Remote Host Description

Descriptions of remote hosts are normally located in the system-wide file
/etc/remote. However, a user may maintain personal description files (and
phone numbers) by defining and exporting the REMOTE shell variable. The
remote file must be readable by tip, but a secondary file describing
phone numbers may be maintained readable only by the user. This secondary
phone number file is /etc/phones, unless the shell variable PHONES is
defined and exported. The phone number file contains lines of the form:

system-name phone-number


Each phone number found for a system is tried until either a connection
is established, or an end of file is reached. Phone numbers are
constructed from `0123456789-=*', where the `=' and `*' are used to
indicate a second dial tone should be waited for (ACU dependent).

tip Internal Variables
tip maintains a set of variables which are used in normal operation. Some
of these variables are read-only to normal users (root is allowed to
change anything of interest). Variables may be displayed and set through
the ~s escape. The syntax for variables is patterned after vi(1) and
mail(1). Supplying all as an argument to the ~s escape displays all
variables that the user can read. Alternatively, the user may request
display of a particular variable by attaching a ? to the end. For
example, `~s escape?' displays the current escape character.


Variables are numeric (num), string (str), character (char), or Boolean
(bool) values. Boolean variables are set merely by specifying their
name. They may be reset by prepending a ! to the name. Other variable
types are set by appending an = and the value. The entire assignment must
not have any blanks in it. A single set command may be used to
interrogate as well as set a number of variables.


Variables may be initialized at run time by placing set commands (without
the ~s prefix) in a .tiprc file in one's home directory. The -v option
makes tip display the sets as they are made. Comments preceded by a #
sign can appear in the .tiprc file.


Finally, the variable names must either be completely specified or an
abbreviation may be given. The following list details those variables
known to tip.

beautify
(bool) Discard unprintable characters when a session is
being scripted; abbreviated be. If the nb capability is
present, beautify is initially set to off. Otherwise,
beautify is initially set to on.


baudrate
(num) The baud rate at which the connection was
established; abbreviated ba. If a baud rate was specified
on the command line, baudrate is initially set to the
specified value. Or, if the br capability is present,
baudrate is initially set to the value of that
capability. Otherwise, baudrate is set to 300 baud. Once
tip has been started, baudrate can only changed by the
super-user.


dialtimeout
(num) When dialing a phone number, the time (in seconds)
to wait for a connection to be established; abbreviated
dial. dialtimeout is initially set to 60 seconds, and can
only changed by the super-user.


disconnect
(str) The string to send to the remote host to disconnect
from it; abbreviated di. If the di capability is present,
disconnect is initially set to the value of that
capability. Otherwise, disconnect is set to a null string
("").


echocheck
(bool) Synchronize with the remote host during file
transfer by waiting for the echo of the last character
transmitted; abbreviated ec. If the ec capability is
present, echocheck is initially set to on. Otherwise,
echocheck is initially set to off.


eofread
(str) The set of characters which signify an end-of-
transmission during a ~< file transfer command;
abbreviated eofr. If the ie capability is present,
eofread is initially set to the value of that capability.
Otherwise, eofread is set to a null string ("").


eofwrite
(str) The string sent to indicate end-of-transmission
during a ~> file transfer command; abbreviated eofw. If
the oe capability is present, eofread is initially set to
the value of that capability. Otherwise, eofread is set
to a null string ("").


eol
(str) The set of characters which indicate an end-of-
line. tip will recognize escape characters only after an
end-of-line. If the el capability is present, eol is
initially set to the value of that capability. Otherwise,
eol is set to a null string ("").


escape
(char) The command prefix (escape) character; abbreviated
es. If the es capability is present, escape is initially
set to the value of that capability. Otherwise, escape is
set to `~'.


etimeout
(num) The amount of time, in seconds, that tip should
wait for the echo-check response when echocheck is set;
abbreviated et. If the et capability is present, etimeout
is initially set to the value of that capability.
Otherwise, etimeout is set to 10 seconds.


exceptions
(str) The set of characters which should not be discarded
due to the beautification switch; abbreviated ex. If the
ex capability is present, exceptions is initially set to
the value of that capability. Otherwise, exceptions is
set to `\t\n\f\b'.


force
(char) The character used to force literal data
transmission; abbreviated fo. If the fo capability is
present, force is initially set to the value of that
capability. Otherwise, force is set to \377 (which
disables it).


framesize
(num) The amount of data (in bytes) to buffer between
file system writes when receiving files; abbreviated fr.
If the fs capability is present, framesize is initially
set to the value of that capability. Otherwise, framesize
is set to 1024.


halfduplex
(bool) Do local echoing because the host is half-duplex;
abbreviated hdx. If the hd capability is present,
halfduplex is initially set to on. Otherwise, halfduplex
is initially set to off.


hardwareflow
(bool) Do hardware flow control; abbreviated hf. If the
hf capability is present, hardwareflow is initially set
to on. Otherwise, hardwareflowcontrol is initially set
to off.


host
(str) The name of the host to which you are connected;
abbreviated ho. host is permanently set to the name
given on the command line or in the HOST environment
variable.


localecho
(bool) A synonym for halfduplex; abbreviated le.


log
(str) The name of the file to which to log information
about outgoing phone calls. log is initially set to
/var/adm/aculog, and can only be inspected or changed by
the super-user.


parity
(str) The parity to be generated and checked when talking
to the remote host; abbreviated par. The possible values
are:

none>
zero
Parity is not checked on input, and the parity
bit is set to zero on output.


one
Parity is not checked on input, and the parity
bit is set to one on output.


even
Even parity is checked for on input and
generated on output.


odd
Odd parity is checked for on input and generated
on output.

If the pa capability is present, parity is initially set
to the value of that capability; otherwise, parity is set
to none.


phones
The file in which to find hidden phone numbers. If the
environment variable PHONES is set, phones is set to the
value of PHONES. Otherwise, phones is set to
/etc/phones. The value of phones cannot be changed from
within tip.


prompt
(char) The character which indicates an end-of-line on
the remote host; abbreviated pr. This value is used to
synchronize during data transfers. The count of lines
transferred during a file transfer command is based on
receipt of this character. If the pr capability is
present, prompt is initially set to the value of that
capability. Otherwise, prompt is set to \n.


raise
(bool) Upper case mapping mode; abbreviated ra. When
this mode is enabled, all lower case letters will be
mapped to upper case by tip for transmission to the
remote machine. If the ra capability is present, raise is
initially set to on. Otherwise, raise is initially set to
off.


raisechar
(char) The input character used to toggle upper case
mapping mode; abbreviated rc. If the rc capability is
present, raisechar is initially set to the value of that
capability. Otherwise, raisechar is set to \377 (which
disables it).


rawftp
(bool) Send all characters during file transfers; do not
filter non-printable characters, and do not do
translations like \n to \r. Abbreviated raw. If the rw
capability is present, rawftp is initially set to on.
Otherwise, rawftp is initially set to off.


record
(str) The name of the file in which a session script is
recorded; abbreviated rec. If the re capability is
present, record is initially set to the value of that
capability. Otherwise, record is set to tip.record.


remote
The file in which to find descriptions of remote systems.
If the environment variable REMOTE is set, remote is set
to the value of REMOTE. Otherwise, remote is set to
/etc/remote. The value of remote cannot be changed from
within tip.


script
(bool) Session scripting mode; abbreviated sc. When
script is on, tip will record everything transmitted by
the remote machine in the script record file specified in
record. If the beautify switch is on, only printable
ASCII characters will be included in the script file
(those characters between 040 and 0177). The variable
exceptions is used to indicate characters which are an
exception to the normal beautification rules. If the sc
capability is present, script is initially set to on.
Otherwise, script is initially set to off.


tabexpand
(bool) Expand TAB characters to SPACE characters during
file transfers; abbreviated tab. When tabexpand is on,
each tab is expanded to eight SPACE characters. If the tb
capability is present, tabexpand is initially set to on.
Otherwise, tabexpand is initially set to off.


tandem
(bool) Use XON/XOFF flow control to limit the rate that
data is sent by the remote host; abbreviated ta. If the
nt capability is present, tandem is initially set to off.
Otherwise, tandem is initially set to on.


verbose
(bool) Verbose mode; abbreviated verb; When verbose mode
is enabled, tip prints messages while dialing, shows the
current number of lines transferred during a file
transfer operations, and more. If the nv capability is
present, verbose is initially set to off. Otherwise,
verbose is initially set to on.


SHELL
(str) The name of the shell to use for the ~! command;
default value is /bin/sh, or taken from the environment.


HOME
(str) The home directory to use for the ~c command.
Default value is taken from the environment.

EXAMPLES

Example 1: Using the tip command

An example of the dialog used to transfer files is given below.


arpa% tip monet
[connected]
...(assume we are talking to a UNIX system)...
ucbmonet login: sam
Password:
monet% cat sylvester.c
~> Filename: sylvester.c
32 lines transferred in 1 minute 3 seconds
monet%
monet% ~< Filename: reply.c
List command for remote host: cat reply.c
65 lines transferred in 2 minutes
monet%
...(or, equivalently)...
monet% ~p sylvester.c
...(actually echoes as ~[put] sylvester.c)...
32 lines transferred in 1 minute 3 seconds
monet%
monet% ~t reply.c
...(actually echoes as ~[take] reply.c)...
65 lines transferred in 2 minutes
monet%
...(to print a file locally)...
monet% ~|Local command: pr h sylvester.c | lpr
List command for remote host: cat sylvester.c
monet% ~^D
[EOT]
...(back on the local system)...

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

The following environment variables are read by tip.

REMOTE
The location of the remote file.


PHONES
The location of the file containing private phone numbers.


HOST
A default host to connect to.


HOME
One's log-in directory (for chdirs).


SHELL
The shell to fork on a `~!' escape.

FILES

/etc/phones


/etc/remote


/var/spool/locks/LCK..*
lock file to avoid conflicts with UUCP


/var/adm/aculog
file in which outgoing calls are logged


~/.tiprc
initialization file

SEE ALSO

mail(1), vi(1), cu(1C), uucp(1C), ioctl(2), attributes(7)

BUGS

There are two additional variables, chardelay and linedelay, that are
currently not implemented.

November 28, 2001 TIP(1)