fmt(1)fmt(1)NAMEfmt - Formats mail messages prior to sending
SYNOPSISfmt [-cs] [-w width] file...
OPTIONS
Crown margin mode. Preserves the indentation of the first two lines
within a paragraph and aligns the left margin of each subsequent line
with that of the second line. This is useful for tagged paragraphs.
Splits only lines. Does not join short lines to form longer ones. This
prevents lines of code and other such formatted text from being unduly
combined. Fills output lines upto width columns.
DESCRIPTION
The fmt command reads the input file or files, or standard input if no
files are specified, and writes to standard output a version of the
input with lines of a length as close as possible to -w width columns.
(Because fmt is internationalized software, the number of display col‐
umns is not necessarily equivalent to the number of bytes.)
The fmt command both joins and splits lines to achieve the desired
width, but words are never joined or split; spaces are always pre‐
served, and lines are split at spaces only. In effect, fmt ignores new‐
line characters in the input and wraps words to make lines a close as
possible to width columns, resulting in individual lines of varying
length but a consistent (new) text width overall. Because blank lines
are always preserved, fmt does not merge paragraphs separated by blank
lines.
If you specify more than one file, the files are concatenated as input
to fmt. If you do not specify -width, the default line length is 72
columns. Spacing at the beginning of input lines is always preserved in
the output.
The fmt command is generally used to format mail messages to improve
their appearance before they are sent. It may also be useful, however,
for other simple formatting tasks. For example, when you are using vi,
you can use the command :%!fmt -60 to reformat your text so that all
lines are approximately 60 columns long.
Indentation is preserved in the output. Input lines with differing
indentation are not joined unless -c is used.
NOTES
The fmt command is a fast, simple formatting program. Standard text
editing programs are more appropriate than fmt for complex formatting
operations. Do not use the fmt command if the message contains embed‐
ded messages or preformatted information from other files. This command
formats the heading information in embedded messages and may change the
format of preformatted information.
EXAMPLES
file1 contains these lines:
Australia is an island-continent, home to many very interesting
plants and animals.
To reformat this text to a narrower width, enter: fmt-30 file1
This results in the following display on your screen: Australia
is an island-continent, home to many very interesting plants and
animals.
To make file1 wider, enter: fmt-60 file1
This results in: Australia is an island-continent, home to many
very interesting plants and animals. To format file1 using -c,
enter: fmt-c file1
This results in:
Australia is an island-continent, home to many very interesting
plants and animals. To format a message you have created with
the mailx editor at the left margin, enter: ~|fmt
After you enter the command, your message is formatted, in this
case to the default line length of 72 columns and the word con‐
tinue is displayed to indicate that you can enter more informa‐
tion or send your message.
SEE ALSO
Commands: mail(1), mailx(1), vi(1)fmt(1)