1REFLOW(1)             User Contributed Perl Documentation            REFLOW(1)
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NAME

6       reflow - Perl script for reflowing text files using Knuth's
7       paragraphing algorithm.
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SYNOPSIS

10       reflow < input > output
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12       reflow file1 file2 ... > output
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DESCRIPTION

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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AUTHOR

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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SEE ALSO

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 v5.38.0                      2023-07-21                         REFLOW(1)