term-utils/script.1

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  32 .\"     @(#)script.1    6.5 (Berkeley) 7/27/91
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  34 .TH SCRIPT "1" "June 2014" "util-linux" "User Commands"
  35 .SH NAME
  36 script \- make typescript of terminal session
  37 .SH SYNOPSIS
  38 .B script
  39 [options]
  40 .RI [ file ]
  41 .SH DESCRIPTION
  42 .B script
  43 makes a typescript of everything displayed on your terminal.  It is useful for
  44 students who need a hardcopy record of an interactive session as proof of an
  45 assignment, as the typescript file can be printed out later with
  46 .BR lpr (1).
  47 .PP
  48 If the argument
  49 .I file
  50 is given,
  51 .B script
  52 saves the dialogue in this
  53 .IR file .
  54 If no filename is given, the dialogue is saved in the file
  55 .BR typescript .
  56 .SH OPTIONS
  57 .TP
  58 \fB\-a\fR, \fB\-\-append\fR
  59 Append the output to
  60 .I file
  61 or to
  62 .BR typescript ,
  63 retaining the prior contents.
  64 .TP
  65 \fB\-c\fR, \fB\-\-command\fR \fIcommand\fR
  66 Run the
  67 .I command
  68 rather than an interactive shell.  This makes it easy for a script to capture
  69 the output of a program that behaves differently when its stdout is not a
  70 tty.
  71 .TP
  72 \fB\-e\fR, \fB\-\-return\fR
  73 Return the exit code of the child process.  Uses the same format as bash
  74 termination on signal termination exit code is 128+n.
  75 .TP
  76 \fB\-f\fR, \fB\-\-flush\fR
  77 Flush output after each write.  This is nice for telecooperation: one person
  78 does `mkfifo foo; script -f foo', and another can supervise real-time what is
  79 being done using `cat foo'.
  80 .TP
  81 \fB\-\-force\fR
  82 Allow the default output destination, i.e. the typescript file, to be a hard
  83 or symbolic link.  The command will follow a symbolic link.
  84 .TP
  85 \fB\-q\fR, \fB\-\-quiet\fR
  86 Be quiet (do not write start and done messages to either standard output
  87 or the typescript file).
  88 .TP
  89 \fB\-t\fR, \fB\-\-timing\fR[=\fIfile\fR]
  90 Output timing data to standard error, or to
  91 .I file
  92 when given.  This data contains two fields, separated by a space.  The first
  93 field indicates how much time elapsed since the previous output.  The second
  94 field indicates how many characters were output this time.  This information
  95 can be used to replay typescripts with realistic typing and output delays.
  96 .TP
  97 \fB\-V\fR, \fB\-\-version\fR
  98 Display version information and exit.
  99 .TP
 100 \fB\-h\fR, \fB\-\-help\fR
 101 Display help text and exit.
 102 .SH NOTES
 103 The script ends when the forked shell exits (a
 104 .I control-D
 105 for the Bourne shell
 106 .RB ( sh (1)),
 107 and
 108 .IR exit ,
 109 .I logout
 110 or
 111 .I control-d
 112 (if
 113 .I ignoreeof
 114 is not set) for the
 115 C-shell,
 116 .BR csh (1)).
 117 .PP
 118 Certain interactive commands, such as
 119 .BR vi (1),
 120 create garbage in the typescript file.
 121 .B script
 122 works best with commands that do not manipulate the screen, the results are
 123 meant to emulate a hardcopy terminal.
 124 .PP
 125 It is not recommended to run
 126 .B script
 127 in non-interactive shells.  The inner shell of
 128 .B script
 129 is always interactive, and this could lead to unexpected results.  If you use
 130 .B script
 131 in the shell initialization file, you have to avoid entering an infinite
 132 loop.  You can use for example the \fB\%.profile\fR file, which is read
 133 by login shells only:
 134 .RS
 135 .RE
 136 .sp
 137 .na
 138 .RS
 139 .nf
 140 if test -t 0 ; then
 141     script
 142     exit
 143 fi
 144 .fi
 145 .RE
 146 .ad
 147 .PP
 148 You should also avoid use of script in command pipes, as
 149 .B script
 150 can read more input than you would expect.
 151 .PP
 152 .SH ENVIRONMENT
 153 The following environment variable is utilized by
 154 .BR script :
 155 .TP
 156 .B SHELL
 157 If the variable
 158 .B SHELL
 159 exists, the shell forked by
 160 .B script
 161 will be that shell.  If
 162 .B SHELL
 163 is not set, the Bourne shell is assumed.  (Most shells set this variable
 164 automatically).
 165 .SH SEE ALSO
 166 .BR csh (1)
 167 (for the
 168 .I history
 169 mechanism),
 170 .BR scriptreplay (1)
 171 .SH HISTORY
 172 The
 173 .B script
 174 command appeared in 3.0BSD.
 175 .SH BUGS
 176 .B script
 177 places
 178 .I everything
 179 in the log file, including linefeeds and backspaces.  This is not what the
 180 naive user expects.
 181 .PP
 182 .B script
 183 is primarily designed for interactive terminal sessions.  When stdin
 184 is not a terminal (for example: \fBecho foo | script\fR), then the session
 185 can hang, because the interactive shell within the script session misses EOF and
 186 .B script
 187 has no clue when to close the session.  See the \fBNOTES\fR section for more information.
 188 .SH AVAILABILITY
 189 The script command is part of the util-linux package and is available from
 190 .UR ftp://\:ftp.kernel.org\:/pub\:/linux\:/utils\:/util-linux/
 191 Linux Kernel Archive
 192 .UE .