fmt(1) - NetBSD Manual Pages

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FMT(1)                  NetBSD General Commands Manual                  FMT(1)


NAME

     fmt -- simple text formatter


SYNOPSIS

     fmt [-Cr] [goal [maximum]] [name ...]
     fmt [-Cr] [-g goal] [-m 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 out-
     put a version of its input with lines as close to the goal length as pos-
     sible 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 fmt to center the text.

     -g goal     New way to set the goal length.

     -m maximum  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

           !}fmt

     will reformat a paragraph, evening the lines.


SEE ALSO

     mail(1), nroff(1)


HISTORY

     The fmt command appeared in 3BSD.


BUGS

     The program was designed to be simple and fast - for more complex opera-
     tions, the standard text processors are likely to be more appropriate.

NetBSD 5.1                       May 29, 2007                       NetBSD 5.1