z/OS V1R9.0 UNIX System Services Command ... - Christian Grothoff

Options
address
Indicates the user with whom you want to talk. The most common form of
address is the person’s user name (as given by the who command), but
other formats may be supported.
terminal
An optional identifier for use when the other user is logged in on more than
one terminal. The format of the terminal identifier is the same as given by
who.
Environment Variables
talk uses the following environment variables:
TERM Contains the name of your terminal.
TERMINFO
Contains the pathname of the terminfo database.
Localization
Usage notes
talk uses the following localization environment variables:
v LANG
v LC_ALL
v LC_CTYPE
v LC_MESSAGES
v NLSPATH
See Appendix F for more information.
1. When you issue a talk command to request a conversation with another user,
the other user receives a message of the form:
Message from name
talk: connection requested by your_address
talk: respond with: talk your_address
To set up the connection, your intended recipient must issue the system
command
talk your_address
which establishes the two-way connection. After this connection has been
established, both of you can type simultaneously. talk displays incoming
messages from the other person in one part of the screen and outgoing
messages in another part of the screen.
Some terminals may not be able to split the screen into parts in this way.
Depending on the terminal type, talk may try to simulate this effect. However, it
may not be possible for both users to enter messages simultaneously. talk
determines terminal type by looking for an environment variable named TERM.
If this variable exists, talk uses its value as a site-specific name giving a
terminal type. If TERM doesn’t exist, talk assumes a default type.
2. The character-erase and line-kill characters work as usual. Typing
refreshes both parts of the screen (for example, if some unusual character
messes up the display).
talk
Chapter 2. Shell command descriptions 617