send

Send text to the current query, falling back to the current channel.

Synopsis

/send [text]

Description

send sends the entire argument text to the current window's current target: its query, if one exists, or its current channel otherwise. This is the same target priority used for ordinary input text and me. With neither a query nor a channel, it silently does nothing.

say reverses that priority, choosing the channel before the query. Use msg when you want to specify a different destination explicitly.

There are no options or target argument. A nickname, dash-prefixed word, or leading slash in the supplied text is part of the body, rather than an explicit recipient or command. For example, /send /help sends /help to an IRC current target; it does not execute the help command. Ordinary surrounding script expansion can still occur before the handler receives that text.

A query can also select a process, EPIC command, file, or other destination supported by the shared sending path. Those destinations interpret the body according to their own rules. A query of /echo, for example, runs echo with the sent text as arguments. See msg for destination details; historical =nickname notation does not provide DCC-chat routing in the current sending path.

Output and restrictions

IRC destinations receive PRIVMSG. Private messages ordinarily echo *target*> text through the send_msg hook; channel messages echo channel> text through send_public. Suppressing these on hooks suppresses local display, not transmission. Nested sends can suppress hooks/output or be refused to limit recursion. Local output does not confirm delivery.

Destination encoding, byte-based message splitting, and server line limits apply to IRC messages, so long text can be split or truncated. This built-in does not automatically switch to a notice during incoming-message handling. See notice.

Empty text sends nothing to ordinary destinations but sends a blank input line to a process query. IRC destinations require a usable connection and remain subject to server restrictions. Local destinations have their own requirements. The command is always registered, prints no missing-target usage error, and returns no result value.

Examples

Send a line to the current conversation:

/send hello there

If both a query and channel exist, the query receives it. To send to the channel instead:

/say hello channel

Source

Registration, send_to_query_first, ordinary input dispatch, and shared send_text behavior are in source/commands.c. Query/channel target selection is in source/window.c, recoding in source/recode.c, and server transmission in source/server.c.