FAXANSWER(8C)

💖 FAXANSWER 💖

ok so bestie, welcome to the faxanswer page — it lives in section 8C and it is literally the "pick up the phone!!" button for your HylaFAX server 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

faxanswer — tell a HylaFAX server to answer the telephone 📞💅

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

/usr/bin/faxanswer [ -q queue-dir ] [ -h how ] modem

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so here's the vibe: faxanswer sends a message to the HylaFAX faxgetty(8C) process that's servicing modem, and it tells that process to answer the telephone. iconic behavior fr fr.

when is this useful?? bestie, think about it — when a modem is used on a shared phone line and the server is configured to not normally answer the phone, this is how you're like "hey. actually. pick it up." 🙈

the modem you specify can be either:

• the name — typically the last component of the terminal port the modem is attached to, or
• the full name of the associated FIFO named pipe file, e.g. FIFO.ttym2 👑

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💅 OPTIONS 💅

• -q dir — use a spooling area other than /var/spool/hylafax. different spool, different vibe, no cap 🗂️
• -h — specify exactly how the phone should be answered. by default, the server process is instructed to answer the phone and accept any kind of call (voice, data, fax). discrimination of the type of call is dependent on a modem's adaptive-answer support. so like, it's giving "we'll see what shows up" 🤷♀️

the -h option can be used to force the server to answer the phone for a particular type of call, one of:

• fax
• data
• voice
• any
• extern — to force faxgetty to invoke an external application to to handle the call (yes, the original says "to to", and honestly? it ate 💀)
• dialX — where X is a dialstring to dial before initiating a fax reception

heads up bestie: if you're using dialX, the specified dialstring will likely need to end with a semicolon (;). don't forget it, i'm begging 🫶

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🍓 FILES 🍓

• /var/spool/hylafax — default spooling area 🗄️
• /var/spool/hylafax/FIFO — fifo for contacting faxq 📬

consult hylafax-server(5F) for a complete discussion of the structure and content of the spooling area. it's a whole read but it's worth it, i promise 💜

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• hylafax-server(5F)
• faxgetty(8C)

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! this one's from the May 23, 1996 era of the FAXANSWER(8C) manual, so go forth and answer that phone ✨☎️💖