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 or option \fB\-\-log\-out\fR \fIfile\fR 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 Below, the \fIsize\fR argument may be followed by the multiplicative
  58 suffixes KiB (=1024), MiB (=1024*1024), and so on for GiB, TiB, PiB, EiB, ZiB and YiB
  59 (the "iB" is optional, e.g. "K" has the same meaning as "KiB"), or the suffixes
  60 KB (=1000), MB (=1000*1000), and so on for GB, TB, PB, EB, ZB and YB.
  61 .TP
  62 \fB\-a\fR, \fB\-\-append\fR
  63 Append the output to
  64 .I file
  65 or to
  66 .BR typescript ,
  67 retaining the prior contents.
  68 .TP
  69 \fB\-c\fR, \fB\-\-command\fR \fIcommand\fR
  70 Run the
  71 .I command
  72 rather than an interactive shell.  This makes it easy for a script to capture
  73 the output of a program that behaves differently when its stdout is not a
  74 tty.
  75 .TP
  76 \fB\-e\fR, \fB\-\-return\fR
  77 Return the exit code of the child process.  Uses the same format as bash
  78 termination on signal termination exit code is 128+n.  The exit code of
  79 the child process is always stored in type script file too.
  80 .TP
  81 \fB\-f\fR, \fB\-\-flush\fR
  82 Flush output after each write.  This is nice for telecooperation: one person
  83 does `mkfifo foo; script -f foo', and another can supervise real-time what is
  84 being done using `cat foo'.
  85 .TP
  86 \fB\-\-force\fR
  87 Allow the default output destination, i.e. the typescript file, to be a hard
  88 or symbolic link.  The command will follow a symbolic link.
  89 .TP
  90 \fB\-O\fR, \fB\-\-log\-out\fR \fIfile\fR
  91 Log output to the \fIfile\fR. The default is to log the file with name 'typescript'
  92 if the option is not given.
  93 .TP
  94 \fB\-o\fR, \fB\-\-output-limit\fR \fIsize\fR
  95 Limit the size of the typescript and timing files to
  96 .I size
  97 and stop the child process after this size is exceeded.  The calculated
  98 file size does not include the start and done messages that the
  99 .B script
 100 command prepends and appends to the child process output.
 101 Due to buffering, the resulting output file might be larger than the specified value.
 102 .TP
 103 \fB\-q\fR, \fB\-\-quiet\fR
 104 Be quiet (do not write start and done messages to standard output).
 105 .TP
 106 \fB\-t\fR[\fIfile\fR], \fB\-\-timing\fR[=\fIfile\fR]
 107 Output timing data to standard error, or to
 108 .I file
 109 when given.  This data contains two fields, separated by a space.  The first
 110 field indicates how much time elapsed since the previous output.  The second
 111 field indicates how many characters were output this time.  This information
 112 can be used to replay typescripts with realistic typing and output delays.
 113 .TP
 114 \fB\-V\fR, \fB\-\-version\fR
 115 Display version information and exit.
 116 .TP
 117 \fB\-h\fR, \fB\-\-help\fR
 118 Display help text and exit.
 119 .SH NOTES
 120 The script ends when the forked shell exits (a
 121 .I control-D
 122 for the Bourne shell
 123 .RB ( sh (1p)),
 124 and
 125 .IR exit ,
 126 .I logout
 127 or
 128 .I control-d
 129 (if
 130 .I ignoreeof
 131 is not set) for the
 132 C-shell,
 133 .BR csh (1)).
 134 .PP
 135 Certain interactive commands, such as
 136 .BR vi (1),
 137 create garbage in the typescript file.
 138 .B script
 139 works best with commands that do not manipulate the screen, the results are
 140 meant to emulate a hardcopy terminal.
 141 .PP
 142 It is not recommended to run
 143 .B script
 144 in non-interactive shells.  The inner shell of
 145 .B script
 146 is always interactive, and this could lead to unexpected results.  If you use
 147 .B script
 148 in the shell initialization file, you have to avoid entering an infinite
 149 loop.  You can use for example the \fB\%.profile\fR file, which is read
 150 by login shells only:
 151 .RS
 152 .RE
 153 .sp
 154 .na
 155 .RS
 156 .nf
 157 if test -t 0 ; then
 158     script
 159     exit
 160 fi
 161 .fi
 162 .RE
 163 .ad
 164 .PP
 165 You should also avoid use of script in command pipes, as
 166 .B script
 167 can read more input than you would expect.
 168 .PP
 169 .SH ENVIRONMENT
 170 The following environment variable is utilized by
 171 .BR script :
 172 .TP
 173 .B SHELL
 174 If the variable
 175 .B SHELL
 176 exists, the shell forked by
 177 .B script
 178 will be that shell.  If
 179 .B SHELL
 180 is not set, the Bourne shell is assumed.  (Most shells set this variable
 181 automatically).
 182 .SH SEE ALSO
 183 .BR csh (1)
 184 (for the
 185 .I history
 186 mechanism),
 187 .BR scriptreplay (1)
 188 .SH HISTORY
 189 The
 190 .B script
 191 command appeared in 3.0BSD.
 192 .SH BUGS
 193 .B script
 194 places
 195 .I everything
 196 in the log file, including linefeeds and backspaces.  This is not what the
 197 naive user expects.
 198 .PP
 199 .B script
 200 is primarily designed for interactive terminal sessions.  When stdin
 201 is not a terminal (for example: \fBecho foo | script\fR), then the session
 202 can hang, because the interactive shell within the script session misses EOF and
 203 .B script
 204 has no clue when to close the session.  See the \fBNOTES\fR section for more information.
 205 .SH AVAILABILITY
 206 The script command is part of the util-linux package and is available from
 207 .UR https://\:www.kernel.org\:/pub\:/linux\:/utils\:/util-linux/
 208 Linux Kernel Archive
 209 .UE .