usr/src/usr.bin/fmt/fmt.1

.\" Copyright (c) 1980 Regents of the University of California.
.\" All rights reserved.  The Berkeley software License Agreement
.\" specifies the terms and conditions for redistribution.
.\"
.\"     @(#)fmt.1       6.2 (Berkeley) %G%
.\"
.TH FMT 1 ""
.UC
.SH NAME
fmt \- simple text formatter
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B fmt
[ goal [ maximum ] ]
[
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 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.
.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
.br
Liz Allen (added goal length concept)
.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.