fmt(1)




NAME

     fmt - simple text formatters


SYNOPSIS

     fmt [-cs] [-w width | -width]  [inputfile...]


DESCRIPTION

     fmt is a simple text formatter that fills  and  joins  lines
     to  produce output lines of (up to) the number of characters
     specified in the -w width option. The default  width is  72.
     fmt concatenates the inputfiles listed as arguments. If none
     are given, fmt formats text from the standard input.

     Blank lines are preserved in the output, as is  the  spacing
     between  words.  fmt does not fill nor split lines beginning
     with a `.' (dot), for compatibility with
      nroff(1). Nor does it fill or split  a  set  of  contiguous
     non-blank lines which is determined to be a mail header, the
     first line of which must begin with "From".

     Indentation is preserved in the output, and input lines with
     differing indentation are not joined (unless -c is used).

     fmt can also be used as an in-line text  filter  for  vi(1).
     The  vi command:

          !}fmt

     reformats the text between the cursor location and  the  end
     of the paragraph.


OPTIONS

     -c    Crown margin mode. Preserve  the  indentation  of  the
           first two lines within a paragraph, and align the left
           margin of each subsequent line with that of the second
           line. This is useful for tagged paragraphs.

     -s    Split lines only. Do not  join  short  lines  to  form
           longer  ones.  This prevents sample lines of code, and
           other such formatted text, from being unduly combined.

     -w width | -width
           Fill output lines to up to  width columns.


OPERANDS

     inputfile
           Input file.


ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

     See environ(5) for a description of the LC_CTYPE environment
     variable that affects the execution of fmt.


ATTRIBUTES

     See attributes(5) for descriptions of the  following  attri-
     butes:

     ____________________________________________________________
    |       ATTRIBUTE TYPE        |       ATTRIBUTE VALUE       |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Availability                | SUNWcsu                     |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|


SEE ALSO

     nroff(1), vi(1), attributes(5), environ(5)


NOTES

     The -width option is acceptable for BSD  compatibility,  but
     it may go away in future releases.


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