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.
FLAGS
-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 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 and to
prevent multiple users from logging in on the same system.
You can use the tip command to transfer files to and from
the remote system. Several variables work together to con-
trol 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:
o Writes a running count of the number of lines
transferred during a file transfer.
o 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 follow-
ing 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 com-
mand.
Certain common variables have abbreviations.
Following are the common variables, their types and abbrevi-
ations, and their default values.
beautify
(Boolean; abbreviated be) Discards unprintable charac-
ters 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 charac-
ters that signifies an end-of-tranmission 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 sig-
nals 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 charac-
ters 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 every-
thing 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
/usr/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 indi-
cates 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.
~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.
tip prompts you for the name of the local file.
~< Copies file from the remote system to the local system.
tip prompts you for the name of the remote file.
~p from [to]
Sends the from file to a remote host that must support
the cat command. The put command causes the remote sys-
tem to run the command string cat > to, while tip sends
it the from file. If to is not specified, the cat com-
mand 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 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 ~< 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 sys-
tem. 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 vari-
able 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 multi-
ple 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, con-
tinues 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 con-
tacting 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 flag 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 flag is as follows:
set script
set beautify
set record=/u/jimk/callout
FILES
/var/spool/uucp/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.
RELATED INFORMATION
Commands: cu(1), uucp(1).
Functions: connect(2).
Files: remote(4).
Acknowledgement and Disclaimer