MESG(1) User Commands MESG(1)
mesg - permit or deny messages
mesg [-n | -y | n | y]
The mesg utility will control whether other users are allowed to send
messages via write(1), talk(1), or other utilities to a terminal
device. The terminal device affected is determined by searching for
the first terminal in the sequence of devices associated with
standard input, standard output, and standard error, respectively.
With no arguments, mesg reports the current state without changing
it. Processes with appropriate privileges may be able to send
messages to the terminal independent of the current state.
The following options are supported:
-n|n
Denies permission to other users to send message to the
terminal. See write(1).
-y|y
Grants permission to other users to send messages to the
terminal.
See environ(7) for descriptions of the following environment
variables that affect the execution of mesg: LANG, LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE,
LC_MESSAGES, and NLSPATH.
The following exit values are returned:
0
if messages are receivable.
1
if messages are not receivable.
2
on error.
/dev/tty*
terminal devices
/dev/pts/*
terminal devices
See attributes(7) for descriptions of the following attributes:
+--------------------+-----------------+
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+--------------------+-----------------+
|Interface Stability | Standard |
+--------------------+-----------------+
talk(1), write(1), attributes(7), environ(7), standards(7)
October 31, 1997 MESG(1)
NAME
mesg - permit or deny messages
SYNOPSIS
mesg [-n | -y | n | y]
DESCRIPTION
The mesg utility will control whether other users are allowed to send
messages via write(1), talk(1), or other utilities to a terminal
device. The terminal device affected is determined by searching for
the first terminal in the sequence of devices associated with
standard input, standard output, and standard error, respectively.
With no arguments, mesg reports the current state without changing
it. Processes with appropriate privileges may be able to send
messages to the terminal independent of the current state.
OPTIONS
The following options are supported:
-n|n
Denies permission to other users to send message to the
terminal. See write(1).
-y|y
Grants permission to other users to send messages to the
terminal.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
See environ(7) for descriptions of the following environment
variables that affect the execution of mesg: LANG, LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE,
LC_MESSAGES, and NLSPATH.
EXIT STATUS
The following exit values are returned:
0
if messages are receivable.
1
if messages are not receivable.
2
on error.
FILES
/dev/tty*
terminal devices
/dev/pts/*
terminal devices
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(7) for descriptions of the following attributes:
+--------------------+-----------------+
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+--------------------+-----------------+
|Interface Stability | Standard |
+--------------------+-----------------+
SEE ALSO
talk(1), write(1), attributes(7), environ(7), standards(7)
October 31, 1997 MESG(1)