--- name: "flon" section: "1" platform: "linux" package: "casu" version: "3.3.3-5" release: "Debian 5.0 (Lenny)" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/flon" --- # flon(1) show which of your friends are logged on ## NAME flon - show which of your friends are logged on ## SYNOPSIS **flon** \[**-a**\] \[**-A**\] \[**-b**\] \[**-B**\] \[**-d**\] \[**-D**\] \[**-e**\] \[**-E**\] \[**-h**\] \[**-H**\] \[**-i**\] \[**-I**\] \[**-p** *max\_idle*\] \[**-P** *min\_idle*\] \[**-t**\] \[**-T**\] \[**-f** *file*\] \[**-o** *format*\] \[**-O**\] \[**-y** *mesgy*\] \[**-Y**\] \[**-n** *mesgn*\] \[**-N**\] \[**-U** *file*\] \[**-v**\] \[**-V**\] \[**-w**\] ## DESCRIPTION *flon* shows which of your friends are currently logged on by matching entries in **/etc/utmp** with entries in **$HOME/.friends**, and displaying the matches. The output that can displayed by *flon* is extremely configurable, and a variety of information about your friends can be discovered. Even the output of *who* can be emulated, (but *flon* is often much faster.) The actual **friends file** that *flon* uses is user definable. The friends file has the following format: | | | | --- | --- | | userid | pseudonym | | userid | pseudonym | | userid | pseudonym | Any number of blank lines can occur between userid and pseudonym pairs, and field separators are any white space, **except** for one case: A pseudonym is only terminated by an end of line or EOF, because tabs and spaces can exist in pseudonyms. Information such as **user name**, **pseudonym**, **real name**, **login time**, **idle time**, **tty**, **remote host** (if supported on your system), and **mesg status** can all be displayed by *flon*. The **pseudonym** refers to the entry in the friends file corresponding to a particular **user name**. If *who* is linked to *flon*, then flon will act much the same as the BSD version of who. ## OPTIONS *flon* accepts the following options: - **-a** Show all entries, irrespective of whether or not they appear in the current friends file. If **%p** is present in the format string, and the current entry is in the friends file, the appropriate pseudonym is listed, otherwise a blank entry is displayed. - **-A** The opposite of **-a**, this only lists users in the friends file. - **-b** When used in conjunction with the format string specifier **%p**, then whenever a pseudonym cannot be found for the current entry, the appropriate real name for that user (obtained from the GCOS field of the **/etc/passwd** file) will be used (if there is one.) This option is only useful if **-a** is used. - **-B** The opposite of **-b**, which only prints pseudonyms with the **%p** format specifier. - **-d** Don't print duplicates (where the user name is the same.) For the **%l**, **%i**, **%m**, and **%t** options, *flon* prints the information of the session with the least idle time. - **-D** Do print duplicates. (Opposite of **-d**.) - **-e** Exclude the listing of your friends. This option implies **-a**. - **-E** Include the listing of your friends. (Opposite of **-e**.) - **-h** Don´t display the header at the top of the output of *flon*. - **-H** Display the header at the top of the output. - **-i** Don't display people that have been idle for longer than five minutes (This cutout time can be changed with **-p**.) - **-I** Display people that have been idle for longer than five minutes. (Opposite of **-i**.) - **-p** *limit* Sets the idle cutout limit for **-i** and **-I** to *limit*. The default unit for this limit is minutes, but a suffix of *s* or *S* indicates that the figure is in seconds. (A suffix of *m* or *M* explicitly specificies that the units are minutes.) - **-P** *limit* Set the minimum period at which the idle message switches from \`**...**´ to the actual value. Refer to **-p** for information on valid suffixes to this figure. - **-t** Don't display the trailer — the count of how many times you are logged on, and the total of how many people are logged on. - **-T** Display the trailer. - **-f** *file* Use *file* as the friends file (instead of **$HOME/.friends .)** - **-o** *format* Use *format* as the template for *flon*'s output. (See below for the specification of *format*.) - **-O** Use the default compiled-in format, which is usually:\ **%-u \| %p \| %12l \| %i \| %t \| %2mTalk** - **-y** *string* Use *string* as the string to print in **%p** when messages are on. - **-Y** Use the compiled in default for ontalk, usually \`**On**´. - **-n** *string* Use *string* as the string to print in **%p** when messages are off. - **-N** Use the compiled in default for notalk, usually \`**No**´. - **-U** *file* Use *file* as the utmp file (instead of **/etc/utmp**.) - **-v, -V** Display the version, usage and copyright information. - **-w** Invoke *flon* as if it was invoked as *who*. (I.e., simulate that it's name is *who*, to the point where \`*flon -w am I*´ acts as \`*who am I*´, etc.) ## FORMAT SPECIFIERS *flon* has a highly configurable output, which consists of a format string with static and variable fields. Much like [*printf*(3)](/printf/3.md), the format string of *flon* uses the **%** character as a specifier for the variable fields. This is the format of the specifier: **%** \[*flags*\] \[*width*\] *command*. *flags* are optional. There are two flags currently available: - **-** use right justification for formatting that field. - **.** use a variant width record (i.e, extra space won't be added as padding to fill out the field to the required width.) *width* can be anything from 0 to 255. If a width of **0**, or no width at all is specified, the default width for that field is assumed. *specifiers* can be any of: - **%** A single % sign. - **u** User name of the current entry. - **r** Real name of the current entry. (From the **/etc/passwd** file.) - **p** Pseudonym of this person. When *flon* is started with **-a**, a pseudonym will be shown only for those people who have one in your friends file. The only exception is when **-b** is used - then the real name will be printed instead ( **%p** acts the same as the **%r** in this case) - **l** Login time on that particular session. - **i** Idle time of that session. The value is in **minutes : seconds**. If the string \`**\>\>\>**´ is displayed, the session has been idle longer than 99 minutes, 59 seconds. If \`**...**´ is displayed, the terminal has not been idle for at least 5 minutes. (The latter time is changable with **-P**.) - **t** The tty of that particular session. - **m** *mesg* status of that session. If *y*, \`**On**´ is displayed (unless **-y** *mesgy* is defined, then *mesgy* will be displayed.) If it is *n*, \`**No**´ is displayed (or *mesgn* if **-n** *mesgn* is used.) - **c** Number of times that person is logged on. - **x** Prints an \`**x**´ if the number of times logged on is greater than 1. - **a** Prints the *mesgy* string if any of the sessions for that person have messages on. (The \`availability' field.) If all sessions have messages off, the *mesgn* string is printed. - **h** Print the host that the user logged in from, but only if your system supports it (via the existance of the *ut\_host* field in the **/etc/utmp**.) Otherwise, an empty string will be printed. - **b** Print the host (see **%h**) in parenthesis if the field is non-empty. ## ENVIRONMENT - **FLON** Contains default arguments that the user wants *flon* to use. Command line options override any settings in *FLON*. - The *FLON* variable can contain any of the command line arguments. If a string is to have a space in it, it should be quoted with single quotes, as: ´**word1**...**wordn**´ Note that some options (like **-V**) wont make sense in the environment variable. - For example (in [*csh*(1)](/csh/1.md)) - setenv FLON "-ip30 -o'%-u %32p'" - will mean that by default, *flon* won't print sessions idle longer than 30 minutes, and for each friend, only the username (right justified), and the pseudonym (field width of 32 characters) will be printed. ## FILES - **$HOME/.friends** - **/etc/utmp** - **/etc/passwd** ## EXAMPLE FRIENDS FILE | | | | --- | --- | | s902113 | Zak | | root | Deus ex Machina | | zrmitcs | Rmit Computer Society | | nroot | Root with a \_REAL\_ shell | ## SEE ALSO [*who*(1)](/who/1.md), [*utmp*(5)](/utmp/5.md). ## LIMITATIONS The maximum width of any specified field is 255 characters. ## WARNINGS If a tty in /dev cannot be statted, flon will print an entry for that user, but without the mesg or idle status. If the friends file is unavailable (due to permissions or non-existance), then flon will operate as if run with the *-a* (list all) option, with no pseudonyms. ## HISTORY *flon* has a long line of ancestors. Many years ago at RMIT, on the *Cyber 760* running *NOS*, Marc Boschma \[Tau\] wrote lon. Primitive as it was, it did the job, looking up your friends logged on. When UNIX arrived at RMIT, it was soon ported, with a version by Simon Burge \[Snark\] also appearing. Other versions were written, including a derivative *bcoh*. The problem was that *lon*, *bcoh*, and all the derivatives were slow, and lacked *rampant featuritus* (although some may consider this lack a **good thing**.) These factors prompted me to write *flon*. For their suggestions, bug fixes, and hints, thanks go to: | | | | --- | --- | | Albert Zvara | \ | | Andrew Vanderstock | \ | | Cedric | \ | | Craig Humphrey | \ | | David W. Sanderson | \ | | Howard Picaizen | \ | | Keith | \ | | Ken Weaverling | \ | | Marc Boschma | \ | | Matthew Korth | \ | | John DuBois | \ | | Stuart Bishop | \ | | Wes W. Price II | \ | | Willem Kasdorp | \ | ## AUTHOR Luke Mewburn, \. Portions of the environment variable code are derived from code from *gzip*, by Jean-loup Gailey, which in turn was derived from code I donated to that package. ## VERSION This manual documents *flon* version 3.3.3, 940421.