version 1.3, 1997/02/09 23:58:42 |
version 1.4, 1998/04/25 23:02:26 |
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.\" $OpenBSD$ |
.\" $OpenBSD$ |
.\" $NetBSD: fmt.1,v 1.3 1995/09/01 01:29:40 jtc Exp $ |
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.\" |
.\" |
.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1990, 1993 |
.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1990, 1993 |
.\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. |
.\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. |
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.\" |
.\" |
.\" @(#)fmt.1 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93 |
.\" @(#)fmt.1 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93 |
.\" |
.\" |
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.\" Modified by Gareth McCaughan to describe the new version of `fmt' |
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.\" rather than the old one. |
.Dd June 6, 1993 |
.Dd June 6, 1993 |
.Dt FMT 1 |
.Dt FMT 1 |
.Os |
.Os |
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.Nm fmt |
.Nm fmt |
.Nd simple text formatter |
.Nd simple text formatter |
.Sh SYNOPSIS |
.Sh SYNOPSIS |
.Nm fmt |
.Nm |
.Fl c |
.Op Fl cmps |
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.Op Fl d Ar chars |
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.Op Fl l Ar num |
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.Op Fl t Ar num |
.Oo |
.Oo |
.Ar goal |
.Ar goal |
.Op Ar maximum |
.Op Ar maximum |
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output a version of its input with lines as close to the |
output a version of its input with lines as close to the |
.Ar goal |
.Ar goal |
length |
length |
as possible without exceeding the maximum. The |
as possible without exceeding the |
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.Ar maximum. |
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The |
.Ar goal |
.Ar goal |
length defaults |
length defaults |
to 65 and the maximum to 75. The spacing at the beginning of the |
to 65 and the |
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.Ar maximum |
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to 10 more than the goal length. The spacing at the beginning of the |
input lines is preserved in the output, as are blank lines and |
input lines is preserved in the output, as are blank lines and |
interword spacing. |
interword spacing. |
.Pp |
.Pp |
.Fl c |
The following options are available: |
instructs |
.Bl -tag -width indent |
.Nm fmt |
.It Fl c |
to center the text. |
Center the text, line by line. In this case, most of the other |
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options are ignored; no splitting or joining of lines is done. |
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.It Fl m |
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Try to format mail header lines contained in the input sensibly. |
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.It Fl p |
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Allow indented paragraphs. Without the |
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.Fl p |
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flag, any change in the amount of whitespace at the start of a line |
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results in a new paragraph being begun. |
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.It Fl s |
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Collapse whitespace inside lines, so that multiple whitespace |
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characters are turned into a single space. (Or, at the end of a |
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sentence, a double space.) |
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.It Fl d Ar chars |
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Treat the |
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.Ar chars |
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(and no others) as sentence-ending characters. By default the |
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sentence-ending characters are full stop, question mark and |
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exclamation mark. Remember that some characters may need to be |
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escaped to protect them from your shell. |
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.It Fl l Ar number |
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Replace multiple spaces with tabs at the start of each output |
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line, if possible. |
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.Ar number |
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spaces will be replaced with one tab. |
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.It Fl t Ar number |
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Assume that the input files' tabs assume |
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.Ar number |
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spaces per tab stop. The default is 8. |
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.El |
.Pp |
.Pp |
.Nm Fmt |
.Nm Fmt |
is meant to format mail messages prior to sending, but may also be useful |
is meant to format mail messages prior to sending, but may also be useful |
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will reformat a paragraph, |
will reformat a paragraph, |
evening the lines. |
evening the lines. |
.Sh SEE ALSO |
.Sh SEE ALSO |
.Xr nroff 1 , |
.Xr mail 1 , |
.Xr mail 1 |
.Xr nroff 1 |
.Sh HISTORY |
.Sh HISTORY |
The |
An |
.Nm fmt |
.Nm |
command appeared in |
command appeared in |
.Bx 3 . |
.Bx 3 . |
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.Pp |
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The version described herein is a complete rewrite and appeared in |
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.\" .Ox 2.4 . |
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.Bx Open |
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2.4. |
.\" .Sh AUTHOR |
.\" .Sh AUTHOR |
.\" Kurt Shoens |
.\" Kurt Shoens |
.\" .br |
.\" .br |
.\" Liz Allen (added goal length concept) |
.\" Liz Allen (added goal length concept) |
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.\" The above are the authors of the old `fmt' program; |
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.\" the present one was written by Gareth McCaughan. |
.Sh BUGS |
.Sh BUGS |
The program was designed to be simple and fast \- for more complex |
The program was designed to be simple and fast \- for more complex |
operations, the standard text processors are likely to be more appropriate. |
operations, the standard text processors are likely to be more appropriate. |
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.Pp |
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When the first line of an indented paragraph is very long (more than |
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about twice the goal length), the indentation in the output can be |
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wrong. |
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.Pp |
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.Nm |
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is not infallible in guessing what lines are mail headers and what |
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lines are not. |