.\" -*- nroff -*-
.\" manual page [] for chat 1.8
-.\" $Id: chat.8,v 1.7 1998/02/04 01:35:49 paulus Exp $
+.\" $Id: chat.8,v 1.10 2002/01/11 18:02:45 etbe 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$xxx\fR syntax.
+.TP
.B -v
Request that the \fIchat\fR script be executed in a verbose mode. The
\fIchat\fR program will then log the execution state of the chat
.IP
# Now wait for the prompt and send logout string
.br
-\'# ' logout
+\&'# ' logout
+.LP
+
+.SH SENDING DATA FROM A FILE
+If the string to send starts with an at sign (@), the rest of the
+string is taken to be the name of a file to read to get the string to
+send. If the last character of the data read is a newline, it is
+removed. The file can be a named pipe (or fifo) instead of a regular
+file. This provides a way for \fBchat\fR to communicate with another
+program, for example, a program to prompt the user and receive a
+password typed in.
.LP
.SH ABORT STRINGS
.br
SAY "Dialling your ISP...\\n"
.br
-\'' ATDT5551212
+\&'' ATDT5551212
.br
TIMEOUT 120
.br
.br
CONNECT \\c
.br
-\'Callback login:' call_back_ID
+\&'Callback login:' call_back_ID
.br
HANGUP OFF
.br
ABORT "Bad Login"
.br
-\'Callback Password:' Call_back_password
+\&'Callback Password:' Call_back_password
.br
TIMEOUT 120
.br
.B \\\\t
Send or expect a tab character.
.TP
+.B \\\\T
+Send the phone number string as specified with the \fI-T\fR option
+.I (not valid in expect.)
+.TP
+.B \\\\U
+Send the phone number 2 string as specified with the \fI-U\fR option
+.I (not valid in expect.)
+.TP
.B \\\\\\\\
Send or expect a backslash character.
.TP
Substitute the sequence with the control character represented by C.
For example, the character DC1 (17) is shown as \^^Q.
.I (some characters are not valid in expect.)
+.SH ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
+Environment variables are available within chat scripts, if the \fI-E\fR
+option was specified in the command line. The metacharacter \fI$\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.