1REFLOW(1) User Contributed Perl Documentation REFLOW(1)
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6 reflow - Perl script for reflowing text files using Knuth's
7 paragraphing algorithm.
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10 reflow < input > output
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12 reflow file1 file2 ... > output
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15 Uses Knuth's paragraphing algorithm (as used in TeX) to "reflow" text
16 files by picking "good" places to break the line.
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18 It takes an ascii text file (with paragraphs separated by blank lines)
19 and reflows the paragraphs. If two or more lines in a row are
20 "indented" then they are assumed to be a quoted poem and are passed
21 through unchanged. (The -skipindented causes ALL indented lines to be
22 passed unchanged)
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24 The algorithm tries to keep the lines the same length but also tries to
25 break at punctuation, and avoid breaking within a proper name or after
26 certain "connectives" ("a", "the", etc.).
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28 OPTIONS
29 -skipindented
30 Cause ALL indented lines to be passed unchanged. Normally a single
31 indented line is included in the paragraph, while two or more
32 indented lines are considered to be a quotation or poem and are
33 passed through unchanged.
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35 -fast
36 Sets the optimum line width to 65 characters. This is the default.
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38 -slow
39 Tries line widths of 60, 65 and 70 characters and picks the best
40 one.
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42 -veryslow
43 Tries all line widths between 60 and 70 characters inclusive, and
44 picks the best one. With the -slow and -veryslow options the line
45 widths within a paragraph will vary less, but the line widths may
46 vary from one paragraph to the next.
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48 -skipto pattern
49 Skip to the first line starting with the given pattern before
50 starting to reflow. This is useful for skipping Project Gutenberg
51 headers or contents tables.
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53 See Text::Reflow(3) for more options: all the keyword options
54 defined in Text::Reflow are also available via the reflow script.
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57 Original "reflow" perl script written by Michael Larsen,
58 larsen@edu.upenn.math.
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60 Modified, enhanced and converted to a perl module with XSUB by Martin
61 Ward, martin@gkc.org.uk
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64 Text::Reflow(3).
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66 perl(1).
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68 See "TeX the Program" by Donald Knuth for a description of the
69 algorithm used.
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73perl v5.32.1 2021-01-27 REFLOW(1)