newform(1) 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. newform processes
supplementary code set characters according to the locale
specified in the LC_CTYPE environment variable [see LANG on
environ(5)], except as noted under the -c option below.
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.
References to ``characters'' below should be interpreted as
``bytes'' in multibyte character environments.
-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
Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc. Page 1
newform(1) newform(1)
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
accepts four types of tab specifications: canned,
repetitive, arbitrary and file. -n represents the
repetitive tab specification. This format can be
used to replace each tab in a file with n spaces.
For example,
newform -i-4 file-name
replaces tabs with 4 spaces. For more information
about the tabspec formats see 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.
-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.
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newform(1) newform(1)
-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. k must be a single-byte
character.
-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.
REFERENCES
csplit(1), fspec(4), tabs(1)
DIAGNOSTICS
All diagnostics are fatal.
UX:newform:ERROR:usage: ...
newform was called with a bad option.
UX:newform:ERROR:not -s format
There was no tab on one line.
UX:newform:ERROR:can't open file
Self-explanatory.
UX:newform:ERROR:internal line too long
A line exceeds 512 characters after being expanded in
the internal work buffer.
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newform(1) newform(1)
UX:newform:ERROR:tabspec in error
A tab specification is incorrectly formatted, or
specified tab stops are not ascending.
UX:newform:ERROR: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
NOTICES
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.
Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc. Page 4