keywait(1)

📦
version 7.0.1 · 2 versions
, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, opensuse-leap 16.0, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💅 keywait — the manual page, bestie edition

okay so this is keywait, from the GNU Telephony family, and honestly? it's giving "the simplest little tool that just works". it's a section 1 command (so it's a user command, iykyk), and it does exactly one thing: it waits for you to press something. that's it. that's the whole vibe. 🎀

🌸 NAME 🌸

keywait — pause and wait for input, bestie. it literally just sits there and waits for your keyboard to do something.

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

keywait [options] [prompt]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so here's the tea: keywait pauses and waits for keyboard input. like, it just chills until you type something. 💅

you can show a prompt to the user so they know what you're waiting for (super helpful, iconic behaviour), and you can specify a timeout — the amount of time it'll wait for that keyboard input before it gives up on you.

and here's the important little detail: before waiting, any pending input is automatically flushed. so no sneaky keystrokes from earlier are gonna slide in and count. nope. flushed. gone. periodt. 🧹

and if you don't specify a timeout? then keywait will wait forever. no cap. forever forever. it will simply outlast you. 😭

👑 OPTIONS 👑

  • --timeout=seconds — set how many seconds to wait for input. that's the whole thing. specify the number, and that's your patience window. ⏳
  • --help — outputs the help screen for the user. the classic. the icon. the "just tell me what the flags are" button. 💖

💀 EXIT CODES 💀

the receipts on how it left:

  • returns 0 if keyboard entry was received — slay, you pressed something! 🎉
  • returns 1 if it timed out — oop, you took too long. 🙈
  • returns 2 for any error — something went sideways, bestie. 😭

🌈 AUTHOR 🌈

keywait was written by David Sugar <dyfet@gnutelephony.org>. absolute legend, we stan. 🫶

🍓 REPORTING BUGS 🍓

found a bug? do not suffer in silence, bestie. report it to:

  • bug-commoncpp@gnu.org
  • bugs@gnutelephony.org

they wanna hear it, fr fr. 📬

Copyright © 2013-2014 David Sugar, Tycho Softworks.

This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

like… none. zero warranty. if it breaks, it breaks, and that's the deal. 🫠

🌟 SEE ALSO 🌟

okay so technically the original page doesn't list a SEE ALSO section, so there's nothing to cross-reference here — but you can always hit up man keywait again if you forget something. 💫

and that's the whole page, bestie!! this came from the GNU uCommon crew, dated August 2013, and honestly? timeless. go wait on some keys. you got this. 💅✨🎀

📦 where this page comes from