1cu(1)                       General Commands Manual                      cu(1)
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NAME

6       cu - Call up another system
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SYNOPSIS

9       cu [ options ] [ system | phone | "dir" ]
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DESCRIPTION

12       The  cu  command is used to call up another system and act as a dial in
13       terminal.  It can also do simple file transfers with no error checking.
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15       cu takes a single argument, besides the options.  If  the  argument  is
16       the  string  "dir"  cu will make a direct connection to the port.  This
17       may only be used by users with write access to the port, as it  permits
18       reprogramming the modem.
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20       Otherwise,  if  the  argument  begins with a digit, it is taken to be a
21       phone number to call.  Otherwise, it is taken to be the name of a  sys‐
22       tem  to  call.   The -z or --system option may be used to name a system
23       beginning with a digit, and the -c or --phone option  may  be  used  to
24       name a phone number that does not begin with a digit.
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26       cu  locates a port to use in the UUCP configuration files.  If a simple
27       system name is given, it will select a port appropriate for  that  sys‐
28       tem.  The -p, --port, -l, --line, -s and --speed options may be used to
29       control the port selection.
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31       When a connection is made to the remote system, cu forks into two  pro‐
32       cesses.   One reads from the port and writes to the terminal, while the
33       other reads from the terminal and writes to the port.
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35       cu provides several commands that may be used during the  conversation.
36       The  commands  all begin with an escape character, initially ~ (tilde).
37       The escape character is only recognized at the beginning of a line.  To
38       send  an  escape character to the remote system at the start of a line,
39       it must be entered twice.  All commands are either a  single  character
40       or a word beginning with % (percent sign).
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42       cu recognizes the following commands:
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45       ~.   Terminate the conversation.
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47       ~! command
48            Run command in a shell.  If command is empty, starts up a shell.
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50       ~$ command
51            Run command, sending the standard output to the remote system.
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53       ~| command
54            Run command, taking the standard input from the remote system.
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56       ~+ command
57            Run  command, taking the standard input from the remote system and
58            sending the standard output to the remote system.
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60       ~#, ~%break
61            Send a break signal, if possible.
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63       ~c directory, ~%cd directory
64            Change the local directory.
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66       ~> file
67            Send a file to the remote system.  This just dumps the  file  over
68            the  communication  line.  It is assumed that the remote system is
69            expecting it.
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71       ~<   Receive a file from the remote system.  This prompts for the local
72            file  name and for the remote command to execute to begin the file
73            transfer.  It continues accepting data until the contents  of  the
74            eofread variable are seen.
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76       ~p from to, ~%put from to
77            Send  a  file  to a remote Unix system.  This runs the appropriate
78            commands on the remote system.
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80       ~t from to, ~%take from to
81            Retrieve a file from a remote Unix system.  This runs  the  appro‐
82            priate commands on the remote system.
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84       ~s variable value
85            Set  a cu variable to the given value.  If value is not given, the
86            variable is set to true.
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88       ~! variable
89            Set a cu variable to false.
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91       ~z   Suspend the cu session.  This is only supported on  some  systems.
92            On  systems  for  which  ^Z may be used to suspend a job, ~^Z will
93            also suspend the session.
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95       ~%nostop
96            Turn off XON/XOFF handling.
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98       ~%stop
99            Turn on XON/XOFF handling.
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101       ~v   List all the variables and their values.
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103       ~?   List all commands.
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105            cu also supports several variables.  They may be listed  with  the
106            ~v command, and set with the ~s or ~!  commands.
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108
109       escape
110            The escape character.  Initially ~ (tilde).
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112       delay
113            If  this variable is true, cu will delay for a second after recog‐
114            nizing the escape character before printing the name of the  local
115            system.  The default is true.
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117       eol  The list of characters which are considered to finish a line.  The
118            escape character is only recognized after one of  these  is  seen.
119            The default is carriage return, ^U, ^C, ^O, ^D, ^S, ^Q, ^R.
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121       binary
122            Whether  to  transfer binary data when sending a file.  If this is
123            false, then newlines in the file being sent are converted to  car‐
124            riage returns.  The default is false.
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126       binary-prefix
127            A  string  used before sending a binary character in a file trans‐
128            fer, if the binary variable is true.  The default is ^V.
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130       echo-check
131            Whether to check file transfers by examining what the remote  sys‐
132            tem  echoes  back.   This  probably  doesn't  work very well.  The
133            default is false.
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135       echonl
136            The character to look for after sending each line in a file.   The
137            default is carriage return.
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139       timeout
140            The  timeout  to  use,  in  seconds, when looking for a character,
141            either when doing echo checking or when  looking  for  the  echonl
142            character.  The default is 30.
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144       kill The  character  to use delete a line if the echo check fails.  The
145            default is ^U.
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147       resend
148            The number of times to resend a line if the echo  check  continues
149            to fail.  The default is 10.
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151       eofwrite
152            The string to write after sending a file with the ~> command.  The
153            default is ^D.
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155       eofread
156            The string to look for when receiving a file with the ~<  command.
157            The default is $, which is intended to be a typical shell prompt.
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159       verbose
160            Whether  to  print accumulated information during a file transfer.
161            The default is true.
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OPTIONS

164       The following options may be given to cu.
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166       -e, --parity=even
167            Use even parity.
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169       -o, --parity=odd
170            Use odd parity.
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172       --parity=none
173            Use no parity.  No parity is also used  if  both  -e  and  -o  are
174            given.
175
176       -h, --halfduplex
177            Echo characters locally (half-duplex mode).
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179       --nostop
180            Turn off XON/XOFF handling (it is on by default).
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182       -E char, --escape char
183            Set  the escape character.  Initially ~ (tilde).  To eliminate the
184            escape character, use -E ''.
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186       -z system, --system system
187            The system to call.
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189       -c phone-number, --phone phone-number
190            The phone number to call.
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192       -p port, --port port
193            Name the port to use.
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195       -a port
196            Equivalent to --port port.
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198       -l line, --line line
199            Name the line to use by giving a device name.  This may be used to
200            dial  out  on  ports that are not listed in the UUCP configuration
201            files.  Write access to the device is required.
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203       -s speed, --speed speed
204            The speed (baud rate) to use.
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206       -#   Where # is a number, equivalent to --speed #.
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208       -n, --prompt
209            Prompt for the phone number to use.
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211       -d   Enter debugging mode.  Equivalent to --debug all.
212
213       -x type, --debug type
214            Turn on particular debugging types.  The following types are  rec‐
215            ognized:  abnormal, chat, handshake, uucp-proto, proto, port, con‐
216            fig, spooldir, execute, incoming, outgoing.  Only abnormal,  chat,
217            handshake,  port, config, incoming and outgoing are meaningful for
218            cu.
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220            Multiple types may be given, separated by commas, and the  --debug
221            option  may  appear  multiple  times.  A number may also be given,
222            which will turn on that many types from the  foregoing  list;  for
223            example,   --debug  2  is  equivalent  to  --debug  abnormal,chat.
224            --debug all may be used to turn on all debugging options.
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226       -I file, --config file
227            Set configuration file to use.  This option may not be  available,
228            depending upon how cu was compiled.
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230       -v, --version
231            Report version information and exit.
232
233       --help
234            Print a help message and exit.
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BUGS

237       This program does not work very well.
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AUTHOR

240       Ian Lance Taylor <ian@airs.com>
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244                               Taylor UUCP 1.07                          cu(1)
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