fmt(1) General Commands Manual fmt(1)
Name
fmt - simple text formatter
Syntax
fmt [name...]
Description
The command is a simple text formatter which reads the concatenation of input files (or standard input if none are given) and produces on
standard output a version of its input with lines as close to 72 characters long as possible. The spacing at the beginning of the input
lines is preserved in the output, as are blank lines and interword spacing.
The command is meant to format mail messages prior to sending, but may also be useful for other simple tasks. For instance, within visual
mode of the editor (for example, the command
!}fmt
will reformat a paragraph, evening the lines.
Restrictions
The program was designed to be simple and fast - for more complex operations, the standard text processors are likely to be more appropri-
ate.
See Also
mail(1), nroff(1)
fmt(1)
