.\" -*- nroff -*-
.\" manual page [] for chat 1.8
-.\" $Id: chat.8,v 1.6 1997/11/27 06:00:06 paulus Exp $
+.\" $Id: chat.8,v 1.9 1999/09/06 05:10:23 paulus Exp $
.\" SH section heading
.\" SS subsection heading
.\" LP paragraph
.\" IP indented paragraph
.\" TP hanging label
-.TH CHAT 8 "27 Sep 1997" "Chat Version 1.17"
+.TH CHAT 8 "22 May 1999" "Chat Version 1.22"
.SH NAME
chat \- Automated conversational script with a modem
.SH SYNOPSIS
keyword. When echoing is enabled, all output from the modem is echoed
to \fIstderr\fR.
.TP
+.B -E
+Enables environment variable substituion within chat scripts using the
+standard \fI$xxx\fR syntax.
+.TP
.B -v
Request that the \fIchat\fR script be executed in a verbose mode. The
\fIchat\fR program will then log the execution state of the chat
mode. The \fIchat\fR program will then log all text received from the
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 location 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
\'# ' 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
.B \\\\t
Send or expect a tab character.
.TP
+.B \\\\T
+Send the phone number string as specified with the \fI-T\fR option
+.I (not valid in expect.)
+.TP
+.B \\\\U
+Send the phone number 2 string as specified with the \fI-U\fR option
+.I (not valid in expect.)
+.TP
.B \\\\\\\\
Send or expect a backslash character.
.TP
Substitute the sequence with the control character represented by C.
For example, the character DC1 (17) is shown as \^^Q.
.I (some characters are not valid in expect.)
+.SH ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
+Environment variables are available within chat scripts, if the \fI-E\fR
+option was specified in the command line. The metacharacter \fI$\fR is used
+to introduce the name of the environment variable to substitute. If the
+substition fails, because the requested environment variable is not set,
+\fInothing\fR is replaced for the variable.
.SH TERMINATION CODES
The \fIchat\fR program will terminate with the following completion
codes.