xref: /freebsd/usr.bin/fmt/fmt.1 (revision 4a0f765fbf09711e612e86fce8bb09ec43f482d9)
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32.\"     @(#)fmt.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
33.\"
34.Dd June 6, 1993
35.Dt FMT 1
36.Os
37.Sh NAME
38.Nm fmt
39.Nd simple text formatter
40.Sh SYNOPSIS
41.Nm fmt
42.Fl c
43.Oo
44.Ar goal
45.Op Ar maximum
46.Oc
47.Op name ...
48.Sh DESCRIPTION
49.Nm Fmt
50is a simple text formatter which reads the concatenation of input
51files (or standard input if none are given) and produces on standard
52output a version of its input with lines as close to the
53.Ar goal
54length
55as possible without exceeding the maximum.  The
56.Ar goal
57length defaults
58to 65 and the maximum to 75.  The spacing at the beginning of the
59input lines is preserved in the output, as are blank lines and
60interword spacing.
61.Pp
62.Fl c
63instructs
64.Nm fmt
65to center the text.
66.Pp
67.Nm Fmt
68is meant to format mail messages prior to sending, but may also be useful
69for other simple tasks.
70For instance,
71within visual mode of the
72.Xr ex 1
73editor (e.g.
74.Xr vi 1 )
75the command
76.Pp
77.Dl \&!}fmt
78.Pp
79will reformat a paragraph,
80evening the lines.
81.Sh SEE ALSO
82.Xr mail 1 ,
83.Xr nroff 1
84.Sh HISTORY
85The
86.Nm fmt
87command appeared in
88.Bx 3 .
89.\" .Sh AUTHOR
90.\" Kurt Shoens
91.\" .br
92.\" Liz Allen (added goal length concept)
93.Sh BUGS
94The program was designed to be simple and fast \- for more complex
95operations, the standard text processors are likely to be more appropriate.
96