.\" -*- nroff -*-
.\" manual page [] for chat 1.8
-.\" $Id: chat.8,v 1.3 1995/12/18 03:32:45 paulus Exp $
+.\" $Id: chat.8,v 1.8 1999/05/12 06:13:22 paulus Exp $
.\" SH section heading
.\" SS subsection heading
.\" LP paragraph
.\" IP indented paragraph
.\" TP hanging label
-.TH CHAT 8 "5 May 1995" "Chat Version 1.9"
+.TH CHAT 8 "27 Sep 1997" "Chat Version 1.17"
.SH NAME
chat \- Automated conversational script with a modem
.SH SYNOPSIS
option is not used and you still use \fIREPORT\fR keywords, the
\fIstderr\fR file is used for the report strings.
.TP
+.B -e
+Start with the echo option turned on. Echoing may also be turned on
+or off at specific points in the chat script by using the \fIECHO\fR
+keyword. When echoing is enabled, all output from the modem is echoed
+to \fIstderr\fR.
+.TP
.B -v
Request that the \fIchat\fR script be executed in a verbose mode. The
-\fIchat\fR program will then log all text received from the modem and
-the output strings which it sends to the SYSLOG.
+\fIchat\fR program will then log the execution state of the chat
+script as well as all text received from the modem and the output
+strings sent to the modem. The default is to log through the SYSLOG;
+the logging method may be altered with the -S and -s flags.
.TP
.B -V
Request that the \fIchat\fR script be executed in a stderr verbose
mode. The \fIchat\fR program will then log all text received from the
-modem and the output strings which it sends to the stderr device. This
+modem and the output strings sent to the modem to the stderr device. This
device is usually the local console at the station running the chat or
-pppd program. This option will not work properly if the stderr is
-redirected to the /dev/null locaiton as is the case should pppd be run
-in the 'detached' mode. In that case, use the '-v' option to record
-the session on the SYSLOG device.
+pppd program.
+.TP
+.B -s
+Use stderr. All log messages from '-v' and all error messages will be
+sent to stderr.
+.TP
+.B -S
+Do not use the SYSLOG. By default, error messages are sent to the
+SYSLOG. The use of -S will prevent both log messages from '-v' and
+error messages from being sent to the SYSLOG.
+.TP
+.B -T \fI<phone number>
+Pass in an arbitary string, usually a phone number, that will be
+substituted for the \\T substitution metacharacter in a send string.
+.TP
+.B -U \fI<phone number 2>
+Pass in a second string, usually a phone number, that will be
+substituted for the \\U substitution metacharacter in a send string.
+This is useful when dialing an ISDN terminal adapter that requires two
+numbers.
.TP
.B script
If the script is not specified in a file with the \fI-f\fR option then
should include sub-expect sequences should the original string not be
received. For example, consider the following script:
.IP
-ogin:--ogin: ppp ssowrd: hello2u2
+ogin:--ogin: ppp ssword: hello2u2
.LP
This would be a better script than the simple one used earlier. This would look
for the same login: prompt, however, if one was not received, a single
return sequence is sent and then it will look for login: again. Should line
noise obscure the first login prompt then sending the empty line will
usually generate a login prompt again.
+.SH COMMENTS
+Comments can be embedded in the chat script. A comment is a line which
+starts with the \fB#\fR (hash) character in column 1. Such comment
+lines are just ignored by the chat program. If a '#' character is to
+be expected as the first character of the expect sequence, you should
+quote the expect string.
+If you want to wait for a prompt that starts with a # (hash)
+character, you would have to write something like this:
+.IP
+# Now wait for the prompt and send logout string
+.br
+\'# ' logout
+.LP
+
+.SH SENDING DATA FROM A FILE
+If the string to send starts with an at sign (@), the rest of the
+string is taken to be the name of a file to read to get the string to
+send. If the last character of the data read is a newline, it is
+removed. The file can be a named pipe (or fifo) instead of a regular
+file. This provides a way for \fBchat\fR to communicate with another
+program, for example, a program to prompt the user and receive a
+password typed in.
+.LP
+
.SH ABORT STRINGS
Many modems will report the status of the call as a string. These
strings may be \fBCONNECTED\fR or \fBNO CARRIER\fR or \fBBUSY\fR. It
the abort string. If it received the string \fINO CARRIER\fR, it will abort
for the same reason. Either string may be received. Either string will
terminate the \fIchat\fR script.
+.SH CLR_ABORT STRINGS
+This sequence allows for clearing previously set \fBABORT\fR strings.
+\fBABORT\fR strings are kept in an array of a pre-determined size (at
+compilation time); \fBCLR_ABORT\fR will reclaim the space for cleared
+entries so that new strings can use that space.
+.SH SAY STRINGS
+The \fBSAY\fR directive allows the script to send strings to the user
+at the terminal via standard error. If \fBchat\fR is being run by
+pppd, and pppd is running as a daemon (detached from its controlling
+terminal), standard error will normally be redirected to the file
+/etc/ppp/connect-errors.
+.LP
+\fBSAY\fR strings must be enclosed in single or double quotes. If
+carriage return and line feed are needed in the string to be output,
+you must explicitely add them to your string.
+.LP
+The SAY strings could be used to give progress messages in sections of
+the script where you want to have 'ECHO OFF' but still let the user
+know what is happening. An example is:
+.IP
+ABORT BUSY
+.br
+ECHO OFF
+.br
+SAY "Dialling your ISP...\\n"
+.br
+\'' ATDT5551212
+.br
+TIMEOUT 120
+.br
+SAY "Waiting up to 2 minutes for connection ... "
+.br
+CONNECT ''
+.br
+SAY "Connected, now logging in ...\n"
+.br
+ogin: account
+.br
+ssword: pass
+.br
+$ \c
+SAY "Logged in OK ...\n"
+\fIetc ...\fR
+.LP
+This sequence will only present the SAY strings to the user and all
+the details of the script will remain hidden. For example, if the
+above script works, the user will see:
+.IP
+Dialling your ISP...
+.br
+Waiting up to 2 minutes for connection ... Connected, now logging in ...
+.br
+Logged in OK ...
+.LP
.SH REPORT STRINGS
A \fBreport\fR string is similar to the ABORT string. The difference
of the script is executed. In addition the program will write to the
expect-file the string "CONNECT" plus any characters which follow it
such as the connection rate.
+.SH CLR_REPORT STRINGS
+This sequence allows for clearing previously set \fBREPORT\fR strings.
+\fBREPORT\fR strings are kept in an array of a pre-determined size (at
+compilation time); \fBCLR_REPORT\fR will reclaim the space for cleared
+entries so that new strings can use that space.
+.SH ECHO
+The echo options controls whether the output from the modem is echoed
+to \fIstderr\fR. This option may be set with the \fI-e\fR option, but
+it can also be controlled by the \fIECHO\fR keyword. The "expect-send"
+pair \fIECHO\fR \fION\fR enables echoing, and \fIECHO\fR \fIOFF\fR
+disables it. With this keyword you can select which parts of the
+conversation should be visible. For instance, with the following
+script:
+.IP
+ABORT 'BUSY'
+.br
+ABORT 'NO CARRIER'
+.br
+'' ATZ
+.br
+OK\\r\\n ATD1234567
+.br
+\\r\\n \\c
+.br
+ECHO ON
+.br
+CONNECT \\c
+.br
+ogin: account
+.LP
+all output resulting from modem configuration and dialing is not visible,
+but starting with the \fICONNECT\fR (or \fIBUSY\fR) message, everything
+will be echoed.
+.SH HANGUP
+The HANGUP options control whether a modem hangup should be considered
+as an error or not. This option is useful in scripts for dialling
+systems which will hang up and call your system back. The HANGUP
+options can be \fBON\fR or \fBOFF\fR.
+.br
+When HANGUP is set OFF and the modem hangs up (e.g., after the first
+stage of logging in to a callback system), \fBchat\fR will continue
+running the script (e.g., waiting for the incoming call and second
+stage login prompt). As soon as the incoming call is connected, you
+should use the \fBHANGUP ON\fR directive to reinstall normal hang up
+signal behavior. Here is an (simple) example script:
+.IP
+ABORT 'BUSY'
+.br
+'' ATZ
+.br
+OK\\r\\n ATD1234567
+.br
+\\r\\n \\c
+.br
+CONNECT \\c
+.br
+\'Callback login:' call_back_ID
+.br
+HANGUP OFF
+.br
+ABORT "Bad Login"
+.br
+\'Callback Password:' Call_back_password
+.br
+TIMEOUT 120
+.br
+CONNECT \\c
+.br
+HANGUP ON
+.br
+ABORT "NO CARRIER"
+.br
+ogin:--BREAK--ogin: real_account
+.br
+\fIetc ...\fR
+.LP
.SH TIMEOUT
The initial timeout value is 45 seconds. This may be changed using the \fB-t\fR
parameter.
To change the timeout value for the next expect string, the following
example may be used:
.IP
-ATZ OK ATDT5551212 CONNECT TIMEOUT 10 ogin:--ogin: TIMEOUT 5 assowrd: hello2u2
+ATZ OK ATDT5551212 CONNECT TIMEOUT 10 ogin:--ogin: TIMEOUT 5 assword: hello2u2
.LP
This will change the timeout to 10 seconds when it expects the login:
prompt. The timeout is then changed to 5 seconds when it looks for the
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