newform(1)newform(1)NAMEnewform - Changes the format of a text file
SYNOPSISnewform [-s] [-itabspec] [-otabspec] [-bn] [-en] [-pn] [-an] [-f]
[-cchar] [-ln] [files]
OPTIONS
Shears off leading characters from 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, then
the eighth character is replaced by * and character to the right of it
is discarded. The first tab is always discarded.
An error message is displayed and the program will exit if this
option is used on a file without a tab on each line. The charac‐
ters 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. Input tab specifica‐
tion: expands tabs to spaces, according to the tab specifica‐
tions given. Tabspec recognizes all tab specification forms
described in tabs(1). In addition, tabspec may be --, in which
newform assumes that the tab specification is to be found in the
first line read from the standard input. If no tabspec is
given, tabspec defaults to -8. A tabspec of -0 expects no tabs;
if any are found, they are treated as -1. Output tab specifica‐
tion: replaces spaces by tabs, according to the tab specifica‐
tions given. The tab specifications are the same as for -itab‐
spec. If no tabspec is given, tabspec defaults to -8. A tabspec
of -0 means that no spaces are converted to tabs on output.
Truncates n characters from the beginning of the line when the
line length is greater than the effective line length (see -ln).
The 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 in the following manner: $
newform-l1 -b7 file-name
Same as -bn except that characters are truncated from the end of
the line. Prefix n characters (see -ck) to the beginning of a
line when the line length is less than the effective line
length. The default is to prefix the number of characters neces‐
sary to obtain the effective line length. Same as -pn except
that characters are appended to the end of a line. Writes 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 that is
printed will contain the default specification of -8. Changes
the prefix/append character to k. Default character for k is a
space. Sets the effective line length to n characters. If 'n'
is not entered, -l defaults to 72. The default line length with‐
out the -l option is 80 characters. Attention is drawn to the
fact that tabs and backspaces are considered to be one character
(-i is used to expand tabs to spaces).
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.
OPERANDS
The name of the file containing lines to be read.
DESCRIPTION
The command newform reads lines from the named files, or the standard
input if no input file is named. It reproduces the lines on the stan‐
dard 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.
NOTES
The command newform usually keeps track of only physical characters;
however, for the -i and -o options, newform keeps track of backspaces
in order to line up tabs in the appropriate logical columns.
The newform command does 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 for‐
mat line will be incorrect.
EXIT STATUS
Success. An error occurred.
ERRORS
The newform command displays the following error messages: The newform
command was called with a bad option. There was no tab on one line.
Self explanatory. A line exceeds 512 characters after being expanded
in the internal work buffer. A tab specification is incorrectly for‐
matted, or specified tab stops are not ascending. A tabspec read from
a file (or standard input) may not contain a tabspec referencing
another file (or standard input).
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
SEE ALSO
Commands: csplit(1), tabs(1)newform(1)
