NEWFORM(1) RISC/os Reference Manual 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 dis-
carded. 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 specifi-
cation 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
Printed 11/19/92 Page 1
NEWFORM(1) RISC/os Reference Manual NEWFORM(1)
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 trun-
cated from the end of the line.
-pn Prefix n characters (see -ck) to the begin-
ning 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 specifica-
tion 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 charac-
ters. 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).
Page 2 Printed 11/19/92
NEWFORM(1) RISC/os Reference Manual NEWFORM(1)
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.
INTERNATIONAL FUNCTIONALITY
newform can perform processing of characters from supplemen-
tary code sets as well as ASCII characters.
Options:
-bn n must be in columns, not the number of characters.
-en n must be in columns, not the number of characters.
-pn n must be in columns, not the number of characters.
-an n must be in columns, not the number of characters.
-ln n must be in columns, not the number of characters.
-ck The prefix/append character k must be one single-byte
character.
DIAGNOSTICS
All diagnostics are fatal.
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 con-
tain 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 System Administrator's Reference Manual.
NOTES
newform normally only keeps track of physical characters;
Printed 11/19/92 Page 3
NEWFORM(1) RISC/os Reference Manual NEWFORM(1)
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.
Page 4 Printed 11/19/92