fmt(1)                                                               fmt(1)

NAME
     fmt - simple text formatter

SYNOPSIS
     fmt [option ...] [file] ...

DESCRIPTION
     fmt is a simple text formatter which can be used to format text files
     or text read in from the standard input. It is capable of splitting,
     joining, and filling lines to produce output lines of a specified
     length. The result is written to standard output.

OPTIONS
     No option specified:
          fmt joins and splits input lines to produce output lines of up to
          72 characters and writes the new lines to standard output.

     -c   (crown margin mode) fmt preserves the indentation of the first
          two lines within a paragraph and aligns the left margin of each
          subsequent line within the paragraph with that of the second
          line. This option is useful for multiple tagged paragraphs.

     -s   (split lines only) fmt does not join short lines to form longer
          ones. This prevents sample lines of program code, and other such
          formatted text, from being inappropriately combined.

     -w width
          Output lines are to be up to width columns long. If this option
          is not specified, fmt produces output lines with a default width
          of 72 characters.

     file Name of the text file to be reformatted. You may name more than
          one file; in this case the fmt options you specify are applied to
          all files, and all the files are concatenated.

          file not specified:

          fmt reads from standard input.

   Mode of operation

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

     Blank lines and the spacing between words are preserved in the output.

     Words longer than width characters are not split. The maximum permis-
     sible line length is exceeded in this case.

     Lines beginning with a . (dot) are not filled by fmt (for compatibil-
     ity with nroff).




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fmt(1)                                                               fmt(1)

     Lines starting with "From:", e.g. header lines in mail (see mail), are
     also preserved.

LOCALE
     The LCMESSAGES environment variable governs the language in which
     message texts are displayed. If LCMESSAGES is undefined or is defined
     as the null string, it defaults to the value of LANG. If LANG is like-
     wise undefined or null, the system acts as if it were not internation-
     alized.

     The LCALL environment variable governs the entire locale. LCALL
     takes precedence over all the other environment variables which affect
     internationalization.

EXAMPLES
     The file named text is displayed first in its original state with the
     cat command and then formatted to a width of 40 columns with fmt:

     $ cat text
     It is evening, and time for the flowers to close
     their petals. Give me leave to sit
     by your side and bid my lips do the work that can
     be done in silence,
     and in the dim light of the stars.

     $ fmt -w 40 text
     It is evening, and time for the flowers
     to close their petals. Give me leave to
     sit by your side and bid my lips do the
     work that can be done in silence, and in
     the dim light of the stars.

SEE ALSO
     vi(1), nroff(1M).




















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