SCRIPT(1)                                          BSD General Commands Manual                                         SCRIPT(1)

NAME
     script -- make typescript of terminal session

SYNOPSIS
     script [-a] [-c COMMAND] [-e] [-f] [-q] [-t] [file]

DESCRIPTION
     Script makes a typescript of everything printed on your terminal.  It is useful for students who need a hardcopy record of
     an interactive session as proof of an assignment, as the typescript file can be printed out later with lpr(1).

     If the argument file is given, script saves all dialogue in file.  If no file name is given, the typescript is saved in the
     file typescript.

     Options:

     -a      Append the output to file or typescript, retaining the prior contents.

     -c COMMAND
             Run the COMMAND rather than an interactive shell.  This makes it easy for a script to capture the output of a pro-
             gram that behaves differently when its stdout is not a tty.

     -e      Return the exit code of the child process. Uses the same format as bash termination on signal termination exit code
             is 128+n.

     -f      Flush output after each write. This is nice for telecooperation: One person does `mkfifo foo; script -f foo' and
             another can supervise real-time what is being done using `cat foo'.

     -q      Be quiet.

     -t      Output timing data to standard error. This data contains two fields, separated by a space. The first field indi-
             cates how much time elapsed since the previous output. The second field indicates how many characters were output
             this time. This information can be used to replay typescripts with realistic typing and output delays.

     The script ends when the forked shell exits (a control-D to exit the Bourne shell (sh(1)), and exit, logout or control-d
     (if ignoreeof is not set) for the C-shell, csh(1)).

     Certain interactive commands, such as vi(1), create garbage in the typescript file.  Script works best with commands that
     do not manipulate the screen, the results are meant to emulate a hardcopy terminal.

ENVIRONMENT
     The following environment variable is utilized by script:

     SHELL  If the variable SHELL exists, the shell forked by script will be that shell. If SHELL is not set, the Bourne shell
            is assumed. (Most shells set this variable automatically).

SEE ALSO
     csh(1) (for the history mechanism), scriptreplay(1).

HISTORY
     The script command appeared in 3.0BSD.

BUGS
     Script places everything in the log file, including linefeeds and backspaces.  This is not what the naive user expects.

AVAILABILITY
     The script command is part of the util-linux-ng package and is available from ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-
     linux-ng/.

Linux                                                     July 30, 2000                                                    Linux