NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

       fold - Breaks or wraps lines in a file

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

       fold [-bs] [-w width | -width] [file...]

       The fold command wraps lines in the specified files.  If a
       file is not specified, standard input is the default.  All
       lines are wrapped to meet the maximum width specified.

STANDARDS    [Toc]    [Back]

       Interfaces  documented  on  this reference page conform to
       industry standards as follows:

       fold:  XCU5.0

       Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information
 about industry standards and associated tags.

OPTIONS    [Toc]    [Back]

       Specifies  that  width  be counted in bytes rather than in
       column positions.  Using the  -b  option  does  not  limit
       lines  to  LINE_MAX  bytes.  Breaks (or wraps) a line if a
       segment of the line contains  a  blank  character  in  the
       first  width column position (or bytes).  This enables the
       line to meet width constraints.  If a blank  character  is
       not  in  the  correct width column position, the -s option
       has no affect on that input line.  Specifies  the  maximum
       width  to  use  when lines are wrapped in column positions
       (or bytes if the -b option is specified).  Either -w width
       or -width is acceptable input where width is the number of
       column positions (or bytes).  The default value is 80.

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

       The fold command is a filter that  wraps  lines  from  the
       specified  input  files  or standard input to a maximum of
       width (or bytes, if the -b option is specified).  The fold
       command  wraps lines by inserting a newline character into
       the output so that each output line is the maximum  column
       positions  or bytes specified.  A line cannot be broken in
       the middle of a character.

       The fold command is often used to send text files to  line
       printers that truncate, rather than wrap, lines wider than
       the printer is able to print (usually  80  or  132  column
       positions).

       If the <backspace>, <tab>, or <carriage return> characters
       are encountered in the input, and the  -b  option  is  not
       specified,  these  characters  are  treated specially: The
       current  count  of  line  width  is  decremented  by  one,
       although  the count never becomes negative.  The fold command
 does  not  insert  a  newline  character  immediately
       before or after any backspace character.  Each tab character
 encountered advances the column  position  pointer  to
       the  position of the next tab stop.  Tab stops are at each
       column position number, such that number modulo  8  equals
       1.   The  current  count  of the line width is set to zero
       (0).  The fold command does not insert a  newline  immediately
 before or after any carriage return.

       [Tru64    UNIX]  The   fold   command   possibly   affects
       underlining in a file.

EXIT STATUS    [Toc]    [Back]

       The fold command returns the following values:  All  input
       files  were successfully processed.  [Tru64 UNIX]  A usage
       error occurred.  [Tru64 UNIX]  An  input  file  cannot  be
       opened.   The  fold command continues processing the other
       input files specified on the command line.

EXAMPLES    [Toc]    [Back]

       The fold command can be used to prepare files to be joined
       side-by-side  with  the  paste  command.  For example, the
       contents of two files, az and AZ follows:

       aaaa bbbb cccc dddd eeee ffff gggg  hhhh  iiii  jjjj  kkkk
       llll  mmmm  nnnn  oooo  pppp qqqq rrrr ssss tttt uuuu vvvv
       wwww xxxx yyyy zzzz

       AAAA BBBB CCCC DDDD EEEE FFFF GGGG  HHHH  IIII  JJJJ  KKKK
       LLLL  MMMM  NNNN  OOOO  PPPP QQQQ RRRR SSSS TTTT UUUU VVVV
       WWWW XXXX YYYY ZZZZ

       To display the az and AZ files side-by-side, use the  following
  command line: fold -w 32 az > az2; fold -w 32 AZ >
       AZ2; paste -d" " az2 AZ2

       Executing the previous command line results in the following
 output:

       aaaa  bbbb cccc dddd eeee ffff gg AAAA BBBB CCCC DDDD EEEE
       FFFF GG gg hhhh iiii jjjj kkkk llll mmmm GG HHHH IIII JJJJ
       KKKK  LLLL MMMM nnnn oooo pppp qqqq rrrr ssss tt NNNN OOOO
       PPPP QQQQ RRRR SSSS TT tt uuuu vvvv wwww xxxx yyyy zzzz TT
       UUUU VVVV WWWW XXXX YYYY ZZZZ

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES    [Toc]    [Back]

       The  following  environment variables affect the execution
       of fold: Provides a default value for  the  internationalization
 variables that are unset or null. If LANG is unset
       or null, the corresponding value from the  default  locale
       is  used.   If  any  of the internationalization variables
       contain an invalid setting, the utility behaves as if none
       of  the variables had been defined.  If set to a non-empty
       string value, overrides the values of all the other internationalization
  variables.  Determines the locale for the
       interpretation of sequences of bytes of text data as characters
  (for  example, single-byte as opposed to multibyte
       characters in arguments) and for the determination of  the
       width in column positions each character would occupy on a
       constant-width font output device.  Determines the  locale
       for the format and contents of diagnostic messages written
       to standard error.  Determines  the  location  of  message
       catalogues for the processing of LC_MESSAGES.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

       Commands:  cut(1), expand(1), paste(1)

       Standards:  standards(5)



                                                          fold(1)