PHONES(5)                 OpenBSD Programmer's Manual                PHONES(5)

NAME
     phones - remote host phone number file

DESCRIPTION
     phones files are used by tip(1) to find phone numbers not included in the
     remote(5) database(s) being used.

     The default file is /etc/phones, which is used unless the PHONES environ-
     ment variable has been set.  /etc/phones is world readable by default,
     and should not contain privileged information.

     The format of the file is a series of lines of the form:

           <system name>[ \t]*<phone number>

     The system name must start at the first character on the line.  The phone
     number is any sequence of characters terminated by a `,' or the end of
     the line.  Thus the phone number field can contain arbitrary dialing
     strings, not just phone numbers.

     Certain auto-call units or modems can use `,' in their dialing strings.
     For these units (currently Hayes, Courier and Telebit) tip(1) will trans-
     late a `=' in the phone number to a `,' when actually dialing the number.

     If the auto-call unit is a Racal-Vadic 831, tip(1) will translate a `_'
     in the phone number to a `='.

     tip(1) ignores all lines with a system name other than the one being
     looked up.  Comments can be inserted into the file by making the first
     character on a line something not used to start any system name in the
     remote(5) database(s) being used, such as `#'.

     Only one phone number per line is permitted.  To associate more than one
     phone number with a system name you must create multiple lines that have
     the same system name.  tip(1) will try each number in sequence until it
     makes a connection or reaches the end of the file.

FILES
     /etc/phones  The default phones file for tip(1).

SEE ALSO
     tip(1), remote(5)

HISTORY
     The phones file appeared in 4.2BSD.

OpenBSD 3.0                      June 5, 1993                                1
