xref: /minix/usr.bin/fmt/fmt.1 (revision fb9c64b2)
1.\"	$NetBSD: fmt.1,v 1.13 2012/06/30 21:31:15 christos Exp $
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30.\"     @(#)fmt.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
31.\"
32.Dd June 31, 2012
33.Dt FMT 1
34.Os
35.Sh NAME
36.Nm fmt
37.Nd simple text formatter
38.Sh SYNOPSIS
39.Nm
40.Op Fl Cr
41.Oo
42.Ar goal
43.Op Ar maximum
44.Oc
45.Op name ...
46.Nm
47.Op Fl Cr
48.Op Fl g Ar goal
49.Op Fl m Ar maximum
50.Op Fl w Ar maximum
51.Op name ...
52.Sh DESCRIPTION
53.Nm
54is a simple text formatter which reads the concatenation of input
55files (or standard input if none are given) and produces on standard
56output a version of its input with lines as close to the
57.Ar goal
58length as possible without exceeding the
59.Ar maximum .
60The
61.Ar goal
62length defaults to 65 and the
63.Ar maximum
64to 75.
65The spacing at the beginning of the input lines is preserved in
66the output, as are blank lines and interword spacing.
67In non raw mode, lines that look like mail headers or begin with
68a period are not formatted.
69.Pp
70.Bl -tag -width ".Fl m Ar maximum"
71.It Fl C
72instructs
73.Nm
74to center the text.
75.It Fl g Ar goal
76New way to set the goal length.
77.It Fl m Ar maximum
78New way to set the maximum length.
79.It Fl w Ar maximum
80New way to set the maximum length.
81.It Fl r
82Raw mode; formats all lines and does not make exceptions for lines
83that start with a period or look like mail headers.
84.El
85.Pp
86.Nm
87is meant to format mail messages prior to sending, but may also be useful
88for other simple tasks.
89For instance, within visual mode of the
90.Xr ex 1
91editor (e.g.,
92.Xr vi 1 )
93the command
94.Pp
95.Dl \&!}fmt
96.Pp
97will reformat a paragraph, evening the lines.
98.Sh SEE ALSO
99.Xr mail 1 ,
100.Xr nroff 1
101.Sh HISTORY
102The
103.Nm
104command appeared in
105.Bx 3 .
106.\" .Sh AUTHORS
107.\" Kurt Shoens
108.\" .Pp
109.\" Liz Allen (added goal length concept)
110.Sh BUGS
111The program was designed to be simple and fast \- for more complex
112operations, the standard text processors are likely to be more
113appropriate.
114