xref: /netbsd-src/usr.bin/fmt/fmt.1 (revision 4d7e773266e3c3f48566c86c0ad52d51c6454fd1)
1.\"	$NetBSD: fmt.1,v 1.4 1997/10/18 15:00:11 lukem Exp $
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3.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1990, 1993
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34.\"     @(#)fmt.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
35.\"
36.Dd June 6, 1993
37.Dt FMT 1
38.Os
39.Sh NAME
40.Nm fmt
41.Nd simple text formatter
42.Sh SYNOPSIS
43.Nm
44.Oo
45.Ar goal
46.Op Ar maximum
47.Oc
48.Op name ...
49.Sh DESCRIPTION
50.Nm
51is a simple text formatter which reads the concatenation of input
52files (or standard input if none are given) and produces on standard
53output a version of its input with lines as close to the
54.Ar goal
55length
56as possible without exceeding the maximum.  The
57.Ar goal
58length defaults
59to 65 and the maximum to 75.  The spacing at the beginning of the
60input lines is preserved in the output, as are blank lines and
61interword spacing.
62.Pp
63.Nm
64is meant to format mail messages prior to sending, but may also be useful
65for other simple tasks.
66For instance,
67within visual mode of the
68.Xr ex 1
69editor (e.g.
70.Xr vi 1 )
71the command
72.Pp
73.Dl \&!}fmt
74.Pp
75will reformat a paragraph,
76evening the lines.
77.Sh SEE ALSO
78.Xr nroff 1 ,
79.Xr mail 1
80.Sh HISTORY
81The
82.Nm
83command appeared in
84.Bx 3 .
85.\" .Sh AUTHOR
86.\" Kurt Shoens
87.\" .br
88.\" Liz Allen (added goal length concept)
89.Sh BUGS
90The program was designed to be simple and fast \- for more complex
91operations, the standard text processors are likely to be more appropriate.
92