to check if someone's command prompt available

[cruel]

Hi,

I am making a script to see if some specific user has any terminal where the comand prompt is available. If yes, then execute the rest of the script. How do I do that? Thanks

p.s. If the question is not clear enough, please say so and I will try better

 

[dickiebird]

Do you mean :
a) The user is currently logged in ?
b) Their .profile allows them to drop into command line mode( rather than executing a program and then quitting?)
c) Has a screen in front of them ???
Please explain your problem again.

Dickie Bird (-)))

 

[cruel]

Thanks. This is the situation I meant by "the command prompt is available":
1)> sleep 300 &
>
This is the opposite:
2)> sleep

(the empty line above is where the cursor is).

Script will ask the user if they want to execute it now IF:
a) of course the user is logged on, b) there is one terminal has a prompt available, c) start the script pop up on that terminal only if possible.

 

[jad]

in csh it's $?prompt

 

[MikeLacey]

Could I ask why you want to run a script on someone elses terminal session? Mike

Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at faq219-2884

It's like this; even samurai have teddy bears, and even teddy bears get drunk.

 

[cruel]

Could you be a little more specific about the $?prompt, what about ksh? The thought is that the script should not disturb the user if the user is in an interactive mode or edit some file and so on. Thanks

 

[cruel]

Thanks. The script will be used by those users. This piece is the last job among a batch process. It might take an overnight to get to the last piece. If I make the last piece a separate script, the script would have to ask users to type in all the inputs all over again. I am adding the last piece to the batch process, so I thought of letting script to check periodically if the user has a prompt available, and if yes and if the user is willing, execute the last piece.