Linux in a Nutshell, Fourth Edition

Name

fmt

Synopsis

                  fmt [options] [files]

Convert text to specified width by filling lines and removing newlines. Concatenate files on the command line, or read text from standard input if - (or no file) is specified. By default, preserve blank lines, spacing, and indentation. fmt attempts to break lines at the end of sentences and avoid breaking lines after a sentence’s first word or before its last.

Options

-c, --crown-margin

Crown margin mode. Do not change indentation of each paragraph’s first two lines. Use the second line’s indentation as the default for subsequent lines.

-p prefix, --prefix= prefix

Format only lines beginning with prefix.

-s, --split-only

Suppress line-joining.

-t, --tagged-paragraph

Tagged paragraph mode. Same as crown mode when the indentations of the first and second lines differ. If the indentation is the same, treat the first line as its own separate paragraph.

-u, --uniform-spacing

Reduce spacing to a maximum of one space between words and two between sentences.

-w width, --width= width

Set output width to width. The default is 75.

--help

Print help message and then exit.

--version

Print version information and then exit.