NAME
fmt —
simple text formatter
SYNOPSIS
fmt |
[-Cr] [goal
[maximum]] [name ...] |
fmt |
[-Cr] [-g
goal] [-m
maximum] [-w
maximum] [name ...] |
DESCRIPTION
fmt is a simple text formatter which reads the
concatenation of input files (or standard input if none are given) and
produces on standard output a version of its input with lines as close to the
goal length as possible without exceeding the
maximum. The goal length defaults
to 65 and the maximum to 75. The spacing at the
beginning of the input lines is preserved in the output, as are blank lines
and interword spacing. In non raw mode, lines that look like mail headers or
begin with a period are not formatted.
-C- instructs
fmtto center the text. -ggoal- New way to set the goal length.
-mmaximum- New way to set the maximum length.
-wmaximum- New way to set the maximum length.
-r- Raw mode; formats all lines and does not make exceptions for lines that start with a period or look like mail headers.
fmt is meant to format mail messages prior
to sending, but may also be useful for other simple tasks. For instance,
within visual mode of the
ex(1)
editor (e.g., vi(1)) the command
!}fmtwill reformat a paragraph, evening the lines.
SEE ALSO
HISTORY
The fmt command appeared in
3BSD.
BUGS
The program was designed to be simple and fast - for more complex operations, the standard text processors are likely to be more appropriate.