FOLD(1) BSD General Commands Manual FOLD(1)NAME
fold -- fold long lines for finite width output device
SYNOPSIS
fold [-bs] [-w width] [file ...]
DESCRIPTION
The fold utility is a filter which folds the contents of the specified files, or the standard input if no files are specified, breaking the
lines to have a maximum of 80 columns.
The options are as follows:
-b Count width in bytes rather than column positions.
-s Fold line after the last blank character within the first width column positions (or bytes).
-w width
Specify a line width to use instead of the default 80 columns. Width should be a multiple of 8 if tabs are present, or the tabs
should be expanded using expand(1) before using fold.
ENVIRONMENT
The LANG, LC_ALL and LC_CTYPE environment variables affect the execution of fold as described in environ(7).
SEE ALSO expand(1), fmt(1)STANDARDS
The fold utility conforms to IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 (``POSIX.1'').
BUGS
If underlining is present it may be messed up by folding.
BSD August 2, 2004 BSD
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fold(1) General Commands Manual fold(1)NAME
fold - fold long lines for finite width output device
SYNOPSIS
width] [file ...]
Obsolete form:
width] [file ...]
DESCRIPTION
The command is a filter that folds the contents of the specified files, breaking the lines to have a maximum of width column positions (or
bytes, if the option is specified). The command breaks lines by inserting a newline character so that each output line is the maximum
width possible that does not exceed the specified number of column positions (or bytes). A line cannot be broken in the middle of a char-
acter. If no files are specified or if a file name of is specified, the standard input is used.
The command is often used to send text files to line printers that truncate, rather than fold, lines wider than the printer is able to
print.
If the backspace, tab, or carriage-return characters are encountered in the input, and the option is not specified, they are treated spe-
cially as follows:
Backspace The current count of line width is decremented by one, although the count never becomes negative. Thus, the char-
acter sequence character-backspace-character counts as using one column position, assuming both characters each
occupy a single column position. does not insert a newline character immediately before or after any backspace
character.
Tab Each tab character encountered advances the column position pointer to the next tab stop. Tab stops are set 8 col-
umns apart at column positions 1, 9, 17, 25, 33, etc.
Carriage-return The current count of line width is set to zero. does not insert a newline character immediately before or after
any carriage-return character.
Note that may affect any underlining that is present.
Options
The command recognizes the following options and command-line arguments:
Count width in bytes rather than in column positions.
Break the line on the last blank character found
before the specified number of column positions (or bytes). If none are found, break the line at the specified
line length.
Specify the maximum line length, in column positions (or bytes if
is specified). The default value is 80. width should be a multiple of 8 if tabs are present, or the tabs should
be expanded using before processing by (see expand(1)). The option is obsolescent and may be removed in a future
release.
EXTERNAL INFLUENCES
Environment Variables
determines the interpretation of text as single- and/or multi-byte characters.
determines the language in which messages are displayed.
If or is not specified in the environment or is set to the empty string, the value of is used as a default for each unspecified or empty
variable. If is not specified or is set to the empty string, a default of "C" (see lang(5)) is used instead of
If any internationalization variable contains an invalid setting, behaves as if all internationalization variables are set to "C". See
environ(5).
International Code Set Support
Single- and multi-byte character code sets are supported.
SEE ALSO expand(1).
STANDARDS CONFORMANCE fold(1)