'\" te
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.TH fold 1 "17 Aug 2011" "SunOS 5.11" "User Commands"
.SH NAME
fold \- filter for folding lines
.SH SYNOPSIS
.LP
.nf
\fBfold\fR [\fB-bs\fR] [\fB-w\fR \fIwidth\fR | \fB-width\fR] [\fIfile\fR]...
.fi

.SH DESCRIPTION
.sp
.LP
The \fBfold\fR utility is a filter that folds lines from its input files, breaking the lines to have a maximum of \fIwidth\fR column positions (or bytes, if the \fB-b\fR option is specified). Lines are broken by the insertion of a NEWLINE character such that each output line (referred to later in this section as a segment) is the maximum width possible that does not exceed the specified number of column positions (or bytes). A line is not broken in the middle of a character. The behavior is undefined if \fIwidth\fR is less than the number of columns any single character in the input would occupy.
.sp
.LP
If the CARRIAGE-RETURN, BACKSPACE, or TAB characters are encountered in the input, and the \fB-b\fR option is not specified, they are treated specially:
.sp
.ne 2
.mk
.na
\fBBACKSPACE\fR
.ad
.RS 19n
.rt  
The current count of line width is decremented by one, although the count never becomes negative. \fBfold\fR does not insert a NEWLINE character immediately before or after any BACKSPACE character.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.mk
.na
\fBCARRIAGE-RETURN\fR
.ad
.RS 19n
.rt  
The current count of line width is set to \fB0\fR. \fBfold\fR does not insert a NEWLINE character immediately before or after any CARRIAGE-RETURN character.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.mk
.na
\fBTAB\fR
.ad
.RS 19n
.rt  
Each TAB character encountered advances the column position pointer to the next tab stop. Tab stops are at each column position \fIn\fR such that \fIn\fR modulo 8 equals 1.
.RE

.SH OPTIONS
.sp
.LP
The following options are supported:
.sp
.ne 2
.mk
.na
\fB\fB-b\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 19n
.rt  
Counts \fIwidth\fR in bytes rather than column positions.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.mk
.na
\fB\fB-s\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 19n
.rt  
If a segment of a line contains a blank character within the first \fIwidth\fR column positions (or bytes), breaks the line after the last such blank character meeting the width constraints. If there is no blank character meeting the requirements, the \fB-s\fR option has no effect for that output segment of the input line.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.mk
.na
\fB\fB-w\fR \fIwidth\fR\fB|\fR\fB-\fR\fIwidth\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 19n
.rt  
Specifies the maximum line length, in column positions (or bytes if \fB-b\fR is specified). If \fIwidth\fR is not a positive decimal number, an error is returned. The default value is 80.
.RE

.SH OPERANDS
.sp
.LP
The following operand is supported:
.sp
.ne 2
.mk
.na
\fB\fB\fIfile\fR\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 8n
.rt  
A path name of a text file to be folded. If no \fIfile\fR operands are specified, the standard input is used.
.RE

.SH ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
.sp
.LP
See \fBenviron\fR(5) for descriptions of the following environment variables that affect the execution of \fBfold\fR: \fBLANG\fR, \fBLC_ALL\fR, \fBLC_CTYPE\fR, \fBLC_MESSAGES\fR, and \fBNLSPATH\fR.
.SH EXIT STATUS
.sp
.LP
The following exit values are returned:
.sp
.ne 2
.mk
.na
\fB\fB0\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 6n
.rt  
All input files were processed successfully.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.mk
.na
\fB\fB>0\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 6n
.rt  
An error occurred.
.RE

.SH ATTRIBUTES
.sp
.LP
See \fBattributes\fR(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
.sp

.sp
.TS
tab() box;
cw(2.75i) |cw(2.75i) 
lw(2.75i) |lw(2.75i) 
.
ATTRIBUTE TYPEATTRIBUTE VALUE
_
Availabilitysystem/core-os
_
CSIenabled
_
Interface StabilityCommitted
_
StandardSee \fBstandards\fR(5).
.TE

.SH SEE ALSO
.sp
.LP
\fBcut\fR(1), \fBpr\fR(1), \fBattributes\fR(5), \fBenviron\fR(5), \fBstandards\fR(5)
.SH NOTES
.sp
.LP
\fBfold\fR and \fBcut\fR(1) can be used to create text files out of files with arbitrary line lengths. \fBfold\fR should be used when the contents of long lines need to be kept contiguous. \fBcut\fR should be used when the number of lines (or records) needs to remain constant.
.sp
.LP
\fBfold\fR is frequently used to send text files to line printers that truncate, rather than fold, lines wider than the printer is able to print (usually 80 or 132 column positions).
.sp
.LP
\fBfold\fR might not work correctly if underlining is present.