newform(1) (Directory and File Management Utilities) newform(1)
NAME
newform - change the format of a text file
SYNOPSIS
newform [-s] [-itabspec] [-otabspec] [-bn] [-en] [-pn] [-an] [-f]
[-cchar] [-ln] [files]
DESCRIPTION
newform reads lines from the named files, or the standard input if no
input file is named, and reproduces the lines on the standard output.
Lines are reformatted in accordance with command line options in
effect.
Except for -s, command line options may appear in any order, may be
repeated, and may be intermingled with the optional files. Command
line options are processed in the order specified. This means that
option sequences like ``-e15 -l60'' will yield results different from
``-l60 -e15''. Options are applied to all files on the command line.
-s Shears off leading characters on each line up to the first
tab and places up to 8 of the sheared characters at the end
of the line. If more than 8 characters (not counting the
first tab) are sheared, the eighth character is replaced by
a * and any characters to the right of it are discarded.
The first tab is always discarded.
An error message and program exit will occur if this option
is used on a file without a tab on each line. The
characters sheared off are saved internally until all other
options specified are applied to that line. The characters
are then added at the end of the processed line.
For example, to convert a file with leading digits, one or
more tabs, and text on each line, to a file beginning with
the text, all tabs after the first expanded to spaces,
padded with spaces out to column 72 (or truncated to column
72), and the leading digits placed starting at column 73,
the command would be:
newform -s -i -l -a -e file-name
-itabspec Input tab specification: expands tabs to spaces, according
to the tab specifications given. Tabspec recognizes all
tab specification forms described in tabs(1). In addition,
tabspec may be --, in which newform assumes that the tab
specification is to be found in the first line read from
the standard input (see fspec(4)). If no tabspec is given,
tabspec defaults to -8. A tabspec of -0 expects no tabs;
if any are found, they are treated as -1.
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newform(1) (Directory and File Management Utilities) newform(1)
-otabspec Output tab specification: replaces spaces by tabs,
according to the tab specifications given. The tab
specifications are the same as for -itabspec. If no
tabspec is given, tabspec defaults to -8. A tabspec of -0
means that no spaces will be converted to tabs on output.
-bn Truncate n characters from the beginning of the line when
the line length is greater than the effective line length
(see -ln). Default is to truncate the number of characters
necessary to obtain the effective line length. The default
value is used when -b with no n is used. This option can
be used to delete the sequence numbers from a COBOL program
as follows:
newform -l1 -b7 file-name
-en Same as -bn except that characters are truncated from
the end of the line.
-pn Prefix n characters (see -ck) to the beginning of a
line when the line length is less than the effective
line length. Default is to prefix the number of
characters necessary to obtain the effective line
length.
-an Same as -pn except characters are appended to the end
of a line.
-f Write the tab specification format line on the
standard output before any other lines are output.
The tab specification format line which is printed
will correspond to the format specified in the last -o
option. If no -o option is specified, the line which
is printed will contain the default specification of
-8.
-ck Change the prefix/append character to k. Default
character for k is a space.
-ln Set the effective line length to n characters. If n
is not entered, -l defaults to 72. The default line
length without the -l option is 80 characters. Note
that tabs and backspaces are considered to be one
character (use -i to expand tabs to spaces).
The -l1 must be used to set the effective line length
shorter than any existing line in the file so that the -b
option is activated.
DIAGNOSTICS
All diagnostics are fatal.
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newform(1) (Directory and File Management Utilities) newform(1)
usage: ... newform was called with a bad option.
"not -s format" There was no tab on one line.
"can't open file" Self-explanatory.
"internal line too long" A line exceeds 512 characters after
being expanded in the internal work
buffer.
"tabspec in error" A tab specification is incorrectly
formatted, or specified tab stops are
not ascending.
"tabspec indirection illegal"
A tabspec read from a file (or standard
input) may not contain a tabspec
referencing another file (or standard
input).
0 - normal execution
1 - for any error
SEE ALSO
csplit(1), tabs(1).
fspec(4) in the Programmer's Reference Manual.
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newform(1) (Directory and File Management Utilities) newform(1)
NOTES
newform normally only keeps track of physical characters; however,
for the -i and -o options, newform will keep track of backspaces in
order to line up tabs in the appropriate logical columns.
newform will not prompt the user if a tabspec is to be read from the
standard input (by use of -i-- or -o--).
If the -f option is used, and the last -o option specified was -o--,
and was preceded by either a -o-- or a -i--, the tab specification
format line will be incorrect.
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