static int chatSend_chatPort = 9751;

static DialogIO chatSend_dialog;
static String chatSend_id;

static void chatSend(S line) ctex {
  if (chatSend_dialog == null) {
    chatSend_dialog = talkTo("localhost", chatSend_chatPort);    
    chatSend_dialog.waitForLine();
    String l = chatSend_dialog.readLineNoBlock();
    if (l.startsWith("Your ID: "))
      chatSend_id = l.substring("Your ID: ".length());
  }

  chatSend_dialog.sendLine(line);
}

Began life as a copy of #1000928