LOGIN - sign on to another userid with minimum fuss.

Syntax:

LOGIN userid[$password] [option]* [:[arg]*]
News=how (Some)          -Reconnect
Charge=chargenumber      NewPassword=password
-Fileopts                Usercommand=arg

Examples:

login
login fbaggins
login fbaggins$blotto npass=blart news=unread
login fbaggins$blotto :u=frodo page=20
login charge=chargeno fbaggins$blotto u="mail *p +u"
login "fbaggins$blo:to" :user -m

Options:

NewPassword=password
lets you change your LOGIN password. If the password is not supplied, LOGIN will prompt for the password and will issue a mask for security. It will then request verification of the password by having you retype it.
News=how
tells how much news should be printed. The possibilities for "how" are listed below.
News=All
prints all of the system news starting with the most recent entry.
News=None
prints no news.
News=Unread
only prints news that hasn't been shown to you before.
News=Some
prints all unread news. If this is less than one page (screen), the remainder of the page will be filled with the most recent system news.

News=Some is the default. LOGIN uses the profile file to keep track of which news you have already been shown -- see "expl login profile" for more details.

-Reconnect
prevents LOGIN from reconnecting you to a line which has been recently disconnected. You will still be informed of any lines to which you can connect. Connection can be made with the CONNECT command (see "expl connect").
-Fileopts
indicates that LOGIN should not check the profile for default login options; see "expl login profile" for more.
Charge=chargenumber
sets the charge number for the current session.
Usercommand=arg
gives an argument line which will be sent to the init file if one exists. Otherwise, the argument is sent to the system as a user command. This option is synonymous with the command line construct ":arg".

Description:

LOGIN is the command that signs you on to a userid. It is called automatically when you first connect to the system (e.g. by hitting carriage return on a terminal that is connected to the system but not signed on). It may also be called explicitly if you want to change userids in the middle of a session.

LOGIN begins by obtaining your userid and validating your password. It then checks the options given to it. These options may be specified on the command line, or they may appear in the profile on a line beginning with the keyword "LOGIN" (see "expl login profile"). If the NewPassword= option was specified, LOGIN then executes the password changing procedure.

Unless you have specified the -Reconnect option, LOGIN next checks to see if there are any recently disconnected lines to which you can be reconnected. If it finds exactly one, it will reconnect you automatically by executing the CONNECT command. In this case, it will ignore the "NewPassword=" option and leave you where you were when you were disconnected. If such a reconnection is made, a suitable message is displayed on the terminal.

LOGIN will not perform the automatic reconnect if it finds more than one line to which to reconnect. Instead, it will tell you the channel numbers of all lines to which you may connect and continue with the normal LOGIN. (In this case, the CONNECT command can be used. See "expl connect".)

Next, LOGIN notifies you if you have unread mail waiting. LOGIN will then print news on your terminal unless you have specified "News=None". In order to print only new news, LOGIN looks at the file "/_sysfiles/profile". If this file exists and if it contains information about the last news read, LOGIN will use this information to print only new news. If "News=All" or "News=None" is specified on the LOGIN command line, LOGIN will ignore any news information you have in "/_sysfiles/profile".

The news listing will pause every twenty lines or so and ask "more news?". Typing "no" or "n" will stop the news listing; typing "yes" or "y" will cause another twenty lines to be printed. You can also stop the news listing by hitting the "break" key.

Once news processing is finished, LOGIN will check for an init file under your userid. An init file is a file containing initialization instructions for the coming terminal session (e.g. STTY instructions which inform the system about any special characteristics of your terminal).

LOGIN will look for your init file under the name "/_sysfiles/login". If and when an init file has been located, LOGIN will attempt to execute the file's contents. If the file is random, LOGIN will invoke the command loader in an attempt to load the file and initiate its execution. If the file is linked (sequential), LOGIN will execute it with the EXEC command (see "expl exec").

Anything that follows a colon on your LOGIN command line will be sent as arguments to your init file if one exists. If LOGIN is unable to find an init file, anything following the colon will be executed as a system command. Note that if your password contains a colon you must enter your "userid$password" as a quoted string to avoid confusion.

When this entire process is finished (including the completion of init file execution), LOGIN will leave you in standard command mode (where commands are prompted for with a "*").

Restrictions on Passwords:

For security reasons, LOGIN will insist that you define a new password if your current password is eight numeric digits (i.e. something resembling your student number). It will also remind you if your password has not been changed in a while. For most users, this means once a month. If you have a CARDIN bit, the password should be changed every two weeks. Users with LODS privileges are asked to change their password once a week.

Note also that it is not possible to give a new password with a dash in it, or to change an existing password with a dash in it.

See Also:

expl login profile

Copyright © 1996, Thinkage Ltd.