expect_kibitz(1) - man - phpMan

KIBITZ(1)                              General Commands Manual                             KIBITZ(1)



NAME
       kibitz - allow two people to interact with one shell

SYNOPSIS
       kibitz [ kibitz-args ] user [ program program-args...  ]
       kibitz [ kibitz-args ] user@host [ program program-args...  ]

INTRODUCTION
       kibitz  allows  two  (or  more) people to interact with one shell (or any arbitrary program).
       Uses include:

              •   A novice user can ask an expert user for help.  Using kibitz, the expert  can  see
                  what the user is doing, and offer advice or show how to do it right.

              •   By  running  kibitz and then starting a full-screen editor, people may carry out a
                  conversation, retaining the ability to scroll backwards, save the entire conversa‐
                  tion, or even edit it while in progress.

              •   People  can  team  up on games, document editing, or other cooperative tasks where
                  each person has strengths and weaknesses that complement one another.

USAGE
       To start kibitz, user1 runs kibitz with the argument of the user to kibitz.  For example:

            kibitz user2

       kibitz starts a new shell (or another program, if given on the command line), while prompting
       user2  to  run kibitz.  If user2 runs kibitz as directed, the keystrokes of both users become
       the input of the shell.  Similarly, both users receive the output from the shell.

       To terminate kibitz it suffices to terminate the shell itself.  For example, if  either  user
       types ^D (and the shell accepts this to be EOF), the shell terminates followed by kibitz.

       Normally,  all  characters  are  passed uninterpreted.  However, if the escape character (de‐
       scribed when kibitz starts) is issued, the user may talk directly to the kibitz  interpreter.
       Any  Expect(1)  or  Tcl(3) commands may be given.  Also, job control may be used while in the
       interpreter, to, for example, suspend or restart kibitz.

       Various processes can provide various effects.   For  example,  you  can  emulate  a  two-way
       write(1) session with the command:

            kibitz user2 sleep 1000000

ARGUMENTS
       kibitz takes arguments, these should also be separated by whitespace.

       The  -noproc flag runs kibitz with no process underneath.  Characters are passed to the other
       kibitz.  This is particularly useful for connecting multiple interactive processes  together.
       In this mode, characters are not echoed back to the typist.

       -noescape disables the escape character.

       -escape char sets the escape character.  The default escape character is ^].

       -silent  turns  off informational messages describing what kibitz is doing to initiate a con‐
       nection.

       -tty ttyname defines the tty to which the invitation should be sent.

       If you start kibitz to user2 on a remote computer, kibitz performs a  rlogin  to  the  remote
       computer  with  your current username. The flag -proxy username causes rlogin to use username
       for the remote login (e.g. if your account on the remote computer has a different  username).
       If  the -proxy flag is not given, kibitz tries to determine your current username by (in that
       order) inspecting the environment variables USER and LOGNAME,  then  by  using  the  commands
       whoami and logname.

       The arguments -noescape and -escape can also be given by user2 when prompted to run kibitz.


MORE THAN TWO USERS
       The  current  implementation  of kibitz explicitly understands only two users, however, it is
       nonetheless possible to have a three (or more) -way kibitz, by kibitzing another kibitz.  For
       example, the following command runs kibitz with the current user, user2, and user3:

            % kibitz user2 kibitz user3

       Additional users may be added by simply appending more "kibitz user" commands.

       The xkibitz script is similar to kibitz but supports the ability to add additional users (and
       drop them) dynamically.

CAVEATS
       kibitz assumes the 2nd user has the same terminal type and size as the 1st user.  If this as‐
       sumption is incorrect, graphical programs may display oddly.

       kibitz handles character graphics, but cannot handle bitmapped graphics.  Thus,

            % xterm -e kibitz    will work
            % kibitz xterm       will not work

       However,  you can get the effect of the latter command by using xkibitz (see SEE ALSO below).
       kibitz uses the same permissions as used by rlogin, rsh, etc.  Thus, you can only  kibitz  to
       users at hosts for which you can rlogin.  Similarly, kibitz will prompt for a password on the
       remote host if rlogin would.

       If you kibitz to users at remote hosts, kibitz needs to distinguish your  prompt  from  other
       things  that  may precede it during login.  (Ideally, the end of it is preferred but any part
       should suffice.)  If you have an unusual prompt, set the environment  variable  EXPECT_PROMPT
       to  an  egrep(1)-style regular expression.  Brackets should be preceded with one backslash in
       ranges, and three backslashes for literal brackets.  The default prompt r.e. is "($|%|#) ".

       kibitz requires the kibitz program on both hosts.  kibitz requires expect(1).

       By comparison, the xkibitz script uses the X authorization mechanism for inter-host  communi‐
       cation  so  it does not need to login, recognize your prompt, or require kibitz on the remote
       host.  It does however need permission to access the other X servers.

BUGS
       An early version of Sun's tmpfs had a bug in it that causes kibitz to blow up.  If kibitz re‐
       ports "error flushing ...: Is a directory" ask Sun for patch #100174.

       If your Expect is not compiled with multiple-process support (i.e., you do not have a working
       select or poll), you will not be able to run kibitz.

ENVIRONMENT
       The environment variable SHELL is used to determine the shell to start, if no  other  program
       is given on the command line.

       If  the  environment variable EXPECT_PROMPT exists, it is taken as a regular expression which
       matches the end of your login prompt (but does not otherwise occur  while  logging  in).  See
       also CAVEATS above.

       If the environment variables USER or LOGNAME are defined, they are used to determine the cur‐
       rent user name for a kibitz to a remote computer. See description of the -proxy option in AR‐
       GUMENTS above.

SEE ALSO
       Tcl(3), libexpect(3), xkibitz(1)
       "Exploring  Expect:  A  Tcl-Based  Toolkit for Automating Interactive Programs" by Don Libes,
       O'Reilly and Associates, January 1995.
       "Kibitz - Connecting Multiple Interactive Programs Together", by Don Libes, Software -  Prac‐
       tice & Experience, John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, England, Vol. 23, No. 5, May, 1993.

AUTHOR
       Don Libes, National Institute of Standards and Technology

       kibitz  is in the public domain.  NIST and I would appreciate credit if this program or parts
       of it are used.



                                           19 October 1994                                 KIBITZ(1)