BSD 4_4_Lite2 development

[unix-history] / usr / share / man / cat6 / fortune.0

FORTUNE(6)                   BSD Reference Manual                   FORTUNE(6)

N\bNA\bAM\bME\bE
    f\bfo\bor\brt\btu\bun\bne\be - print a random, hopefully interesting, adage

S\bSY\bYN\bNO\bOP\bPS\bSI\bIS\bS
    f\bfo\bor\brt\btu\bun\bne\be [-\b-a\bae\bef\bfi\bil\blo\bos\bsw\bw] [-\b-m\bm _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn] [[_\bN_\b%] _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\b/_\bd_\bi_\br_\b/_\ba_\bl_\bl]

D\bDE\bES\bSC\bCR\bRI\bIP\bPT\bTI\bIO\bON\bN
    When f\bfo\bor\brt\btu\bun\bne\be is run with no arguments it prints out a random epigram.
    Epigrams are divided into several categories, where each category is sub-
    divided into those which are potentially offensive and those which are
    not.  The options are as follows:

    -\b-a\ba    Choose from all lists of maxims, both offensive and not.  (See the
          -\b-o\bo option for more information on offensive fortunes.)

    -\b-e\be    Consider all fortune files to be of equal size (see discussion be-
          low on multiple files).

    -\b-f\bf    Print out the list of files which would be searched, but don't
          print a fortune.

    -\b-l\bl    Long dictums only.

    -\b-m\bm    Print out all fortunes which match the regular expression _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn.
          See regex(3) for a description of patterns.

    -\b-o\bo    Choose only from potentially offensive aphorisms.  P\bPl\ble\bea\bas\bse\be,\b, p\bpl\ble\bea\bas\bse\be,\b,
          p\bpl\ble\bea\bas\bse\be r\bre\beq\bqu\bue\bes\bst\bt a\ba p\bpo\bot\bte\ben\bnt\bti\bia\bal\bll\bly\by o\bof\bff\bfe\ben\bns\bsi\biv\bve\be f\bfo\bor\brt\btu\bun\bne\be i\bif\bf a\ban\bnd\bd o\bon\bnl\bly\by i\bif\bf y\byo\bou\bu
          b\bbe\bel\bli\bie\bev\bve\be,\b, d\bde\bee\bep\bp d\bdo\bow\bwn\bn i\bin\bn y\byo\bou\bur\br h\bhe\bea\bar\brt\bt,\b, t\bth\bha\bat\bt y\byo\bou\bu a\bar\bre\be w\bwi\bil\bll\bli\bin\bng\bg t\bto\bo b\bbe\be o\bof\bf-\b-
          f\bfe\ben\bnd\bde\bed\bd.\b.  (\b(A\bAn\bnd\bd t\bth\bha\bat\bt i\bif\bf y\byo\bou\bu a\bar\bre\be,\b, y\byo\bou\bu'\b'l\bll\bl j\bju\bus\bst\bt q\bqu\bui\bit\bt u\bus\bsi\bin\bng\bg -\b-o\bo r\bra\bat\bth\bhe\ber\br
          t\bth\bha\ban\bn g\bgi\biv\bve\be u\bus\bs g\bgr\bri\bie\bef\bf a\bab\bbo\bou\but\bt i\bit\bt,\b, o\bok\bka\bay\by?\b?)\b)

                ... let us keep in mind the basic governing philosophy of The
                Brotherhood, as handsomely summarized in these words: we be-
                lieve in healthy, hearty laughter -- at the expense of the
                whole human race, if needs be.  Needs be.
                            --H. Allen Smith, "Rude Jokes"

    -\b-s\bs    Short apothegms only.

    -\b-i\bi    Ignore case for -\b-m\bm patterns.

    -\b-w\bw    Wait before termination for an amount of time calculated from the
          number of characters in the message.  This is useful if it is exe-
          cuted as part of the logout procedure to guarantee that the message
          can be read before the screen is cleared.

    The user may specify alternate sayings.  You can specify a specific file,
    a directory which contains one or more files, or the special word _\ba_\bl_\bl
    which says to use all the standard databases.  Any of these may be pre-
    ceded by a percentage, which is a number _\bN between 0 and 100 inclusive,
    followed by a _\b%. If it is, there will be a _\bN percent probability that an
    adage will be picked from that file or directory.  If the percentages do
    not sum to 100, and there are specifications without percentages, the re-
    maining percent will apply to those files and/or directories, in which
    case the probability of selecting from one of them will be based on their
    relative sizes.

    As an example, given two databases _\bf_\bu_\bn_\bn_\by and _\bn_\bo_\bt_\b-_\bf_\bu_\bn_\bn_\by, with _\bf_\bu_\bn_\bn_\by twice
    as big, saying

          fortune funny not-funny


    will get you fortunes out of _\bf_\bu_\bn_\bn_\by two-thirds of the time.  The command

          fortune 90% funny 10% not-funny

    will pick out 90% of its fortunes from _\bf_\bu_\bn_\bn_\by (the ``10% not-funny'' is
    unnecessary, since 10% is all that's left).  The -\b-e\be option says to con-
    sider all files equal; thus

          fortune -e

    is equivalent to

          fortune 50% funny 50% not
          _\b-_\bf_\bu_\bn_\bn_\by

F\bFI\bIL\bLE\bES\bS
    /usr/share/games/fortune

S\bSE\bEE\bE A\bAL\bLS\bSO\bO
    regex(3),  regcmp(3),

4th Berkeley Distribution       April 19, 1994                               2