[unix-history] / usr / man / man1 / fmt.1

.TH FMT 1 2/24/79
.UC
.SH NAME
fmt \- simple text formatter
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B fmt
[
name ...
]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I 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
72 characters long as possible.  The spacing at the beginning
of the input lines is preserved in the output, as are blank lines
and interword spacing.
.PP
.I 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
.I ex
editor (e.g.
.IR vi )
the command
.br
	!}fmt
.br
will reformat a paragraph,
evening the lines.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
nroff(1), mail(1)
.SH AUTHOR
Kurt Shoens
.SH BUGS
The program was designed to be simple and fast \- for more complex
operations, the standard text processors are likely to be more appropriate.
Commit	Line	Data
e3758c96 C	1	.TH FMT 1 2/24/79
	2	.UC
	3	.SH NAME
	4	fmt \- simple text formatter
	5	.SH SYNOPSIS
	6	.B fmt
	7	[
	8	name ...
	9	]
	10	.SH DESCRIPTION
	11	.I Fmt
	12	is a simple text formatter which reads the concatenation of input
	13	files (or standard input if none are given) and produces on
	14	standard output a version of its input with lines as close to
	15	72 characters long as possible. The spacing at the beginning
	16	of the input lines is preserved in the output, as are blank lines
	17	and interword spacing.
	18	.PP
	19	.I Fmt
	20	is meant to format mail messages prior to sending, but may also be useful
	21	for other simple tasks.
	22	For instance,
	23	within visual mode of the
	24	.I ex
	25	editor (e.g.
	26	.IR vi )
	27	the command
	28	.br
	29	!}fmt
	30	.br
	31	will reformat a paragraph,
	32	evening the lines.
	33	.SH "SEE ALSO"
	34	nroff(1), mail(1)
	35	.SH AUTHOR
	36	Kurt Shoens
	37	.SH BUGS
	38	The program was designed to be simple and fast \- for more complex
	39	operations, the standard text processors are likely to be more appropriate.