FMT(1)              RISC/os Reference Manual               FMT(1)



NAME
     fmt - simple text formatters

SYNOPSIS
     fmt [ -cs ] [ -w width ] [ file...  ]

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 lines beginning with a
     ``.'' (dot), for compatibility with nroff(1).  Nor does it
     fill lines starting 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
      the command vi(1):

          !}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     Fill output lines to up to width columns.

SEE ALSO
     nroff(1), vi(1)

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






                        Printed 11/19/92                   Page 1