Tty (Unix)

Command to print the file name of the terminal connected to standard input

tty
Initial release	November 3, 1971; 52 years ago (1971-11-03)
Operating system	Unix and Unix-like
Platform	Cross-platform
Type	Command

In computing, tty is a command in Unix and Unix-like operating systems to print the file name of the terminal connected to standard input.^[1]

tty stands for TeleTYpewriter.^[2]

Usage

The tty command is commonly used to check if the output medium is a terminal. The command prints the file name of the terminal connected to standard input. If no file is detected (in case, it's being run as part of a script or the command is being piped) "not a tty" is printed to stdout and the command exits with an exit status of 1. The command also can be run in silent mode (tty -s) where no output is produced, and the command exits with an appropriate exit status.^[3]

References

^ "tty". pubs.opengroup.org. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
^ "What does "TTY" stand for?". Ask Ubuntu. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
^ "tty(1) - Linux man page". linux.die.net. Retrieved 2020-02-14.

External links

tty – Shell and Utilities Reference, The Single UNIX Specification, Version 4 from The Open Group
tty(1) – FreeBSD General Commands Manual
tty(1) – NetBSD General Commands Manual
tty(1) – OpenBSD General Commands Manual
tty(1) – Solaris 11.4 User Commands Reference Manual
tty(1) – Linux User Commands Manual