[misc] / space.1

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.TH space 1 "27 January 2007" "Straylight/Edgeware"
.SH NAME
space \- check and fix whitespace in files
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B space
.RB [ \-cmtuv ]
.RB [ \-i \c
.RI [ backup ]]
.RI [ file ...]
.SH DESCRIPTION
The (low-budget)
.B space
program identifies and fixes problematic use of whitespace in text
files.  In particular, it will notice and (if you want) fix
.hP \*o
.I trailing whitespace
\(en tabs and spaces just before a newline;
.hP \*o
.I spaces before tabs
\(en which are obviously pointless;
.hP \*o
.I end-of-file in mid-line
\(en which confuses a number of programs,
.BR diff (1)
not least;
.hP \*o
.I groups of spaces which could be replaced by tabs
\(en replacing them with the appropriate tab characters; or
.hP \*o
.I all tab characters
\(en replacing them with appropriate numbers of spaces.
.PP
The program is capable of fixing files in place (leaving backups if you
ask for them).
.PP
The following command-line options are recognized.
.TP
.B \-h
Give a short help message describing the options available.
.TP
.B \-c
Just check files, exiting zero if they're all OK, or 1 if there are
whitespace problems with any of them; exit 32 if there are actual
errors.  You may want the
.B \-v
option with this; without it,
.B space
is silent.
.TP
.BR \-i [ \fIbackup ]
Modify all the
.IR file s
in place.  During processing, the fixed copy of the file is written to
some new name not currently in use.  If the processing was successful,
the old
.I file
is renamed to
.I file "" backup
and the new file is renamed to
.IR file .
If something very complicated goes wrong at just the right moment, it's
possible that you'll be left with just
.I filebackup
but that's not very likely.  The new file is created with the same
permissions as the old file, but no attempt is made to give it the same
owner or anything like that.
.TP
.B \-m
Worry about tabs in the middle of lines as well as tabs forming the
initial indentation.  Normally, identify (and fix) tabs preceded by
spaces in the middle of lines; with
.BR \-t ,
fix all groups of whitespace which could be turned into tabs.
.TP
.B \-t
Turn runs of horizontal whitespace into tabs where possible.
With
.BR \-c ,
only complain about runs of space which could be turned into tabs but
don't actually do anything.  By default, only runs of whitespace at the
starts of lines are affected.  With
.BR \-m ,
however, all runs of whitespace are considered to be fair game.  The
rules for internal whitespace are as follows.  A run at the start of a
line, or which contains a tab is always fair game; a run of two or more
spaces is fair game
.I unless
it follows a
.RB ` . '
or
.RB ` : '
character, either immediately or separated only by
.RB ` """" '
or
.RB ` ' '
characters, in which case three spaces are required.  This is because
some typists (including the author) put two spaces after a full stop,
and don't want them randomly turning into tabs for no good reason.
.TP
.B \-u
Turn tabs into appropriate numbers of spaces.  With
.BR \-c ,
only complain about finding tabs, but don't actually do anything.  All
tabs are considered fair game here and the
.B \-m
option is ignored.
.PP
Tab stops are assumed to occur every eight columns, as is usual.
.SH BUGS
There's no way yet of controlling where the tab stops are.
.PP
This space program doesn't even attempt moon landings.  The space man
page doesn't have wiggly antennae.
.PP
The jokes in the man page are somewhat lame.
.SH AUTHOR
Mark Wooding, <mdw@distorted.org.uk>
Commit	Line	Data
df33ee54 MW	1	.\" --nroff--
	2	.ie t .ds o \(bu
	3	.el .ds o *
	4	.de hP
	5	.IP
	6	\fB\h'-\w'\\$1'u-1m'\\$1\h'1m'\fP\c
	7	..
	8	.TH space 1 "27 January 2007" "Straylight/Edgeware"
	9	.SH NAME
	10	space \- check and fix whitespace in files
	11	.SH SYNOPSIS
	12	.B space
	13	.RB [ \-cmtuv ]
	14	.RB [ \-i \c
	15	.RI [ backup ]]
	16	.RI [ file ...]
	17	.SH DESCRIPTION
	18	The (low-budget)
	19	.B space
	20	program identifies and fixes problematic use of whitespace in text
	21	files. In particular, it will notice and (if you want) fix
	22	.hP \*o
	23	.I trailing whitespace
	24	\(en tabs and spaces just before a newline;
	25	.hP \*o
	26	.I spaces before tabs
	27	\(en which are obviously pointless;
	28	.hP \*o
	29	.I end-of-file in mid-line
	30	\(en which confuses a number of programs,
	31	.BR diff (1)
	32	not least;
c5ed60be MW	33	.hP \*o
	34	.I groups of spaces which could be replaced by tabs
	35	\(en replacing them with the appropriate tab characters; or
df33ee54 MW	36	.hP \*o
	37	.I all tab characters
	38	\(en replacing them with appropriate numbers of spaces.
	39	.PP
	40	The program is capable of fixing files in place (leaving backups if you
	41	ask for them).
	42	.PP
	43	The following command-line options are recognized.
	44	.TP
	45	.B \-h
	46	Give a short help message describing the options available.
	47	.TP
	48	.B \-c
	49	Just check files, exiting zero if they're all OK, or 1 if there are
	50	whitespace problems with any of them; exit 32 if there are actual
	51	errors. You may want the
	52	.B \-v
	53	option with this; without it,
	54	.B space
	55	is silent.
	56	.TP
	57	.BR \-i [ \fIbackup ]
	58	Modify all the
	59	.IR file s
	60	in place. During processing, the fixed copy of the file is written to
	61	some new name not currently in use. If the processing was successful,
	62	the old
	63	.I file
	64	is renamed to
c5ed60be	65	.I file "" backup
df33ee54 MW	66	and the new file is renamed to
	67	.IR file .
	68	If something very complicated goes wrong at just the right moment, it's
	69	possible that you'll be left with just
	70	.I filebackup
	71	but that's not very likely. The new file is created with the same
	72	permissions as the old file, but no attempt is made to give it the same
	73	owner or anything like that.
	74	.TP
	75	.B \-m
	76	Worry about tabs in the middle of lines as well as tabs forming the
	77	initial indentation. Normally, identify (and fix) tabs preceded by
	78	spaces in the middle of lines; with
	79	.BR \-t ,
	80	fix all groups of whitespace which could be turned into tabs.
	81	.TP
	82	.B \-t
	83	Turn runs of horizontal whitespace into tabs where possible.
	84	With
	85	.BR \-c ,
	86	only complain about runs of space which could be turned into tabs but
	87	don't actually do anything. By default, only runs of whitespace at the
	88	starts of lines are affected. With
	89	.BR \-m ,
	90	however, all runs of whitespace are considered to be fair game. The
	91	rules for internal whitespace are as follows. A run at the start of a
	92	line, or which contains a tab is always fair game; a run of two or more
	93	spaces is fair game
	94	.I unless
	95	it follows a
	96	.RB ` . '
	97	or
	98	.RB ` : '
	99	character, either immediately or separated only by
	100	.RB ` """" '
	101	or
	102	.RB ` ' '
	103	characters, in which case three spaces are required. This is because
	104	some typists (including the author) put two spaces after a full stop,
	105	and don't want them randomly turning into tabs for no good reason.
	106	.TP
	107	.B \-u
	108	Turn tabs into appropriate numbers of spaces. With
	109	.BR \-c ,
	110	only complain about finding tabs, but don't actually do anything. All
	111	tabs are considered fair game here and the
	112	.B \-m
	113	option is ignored.
	114	.PP
	115	Tab stops are assumed to occur every eight columns, as is usual.
	116	.SH BUGS
	117	There's no way yet of controlling where the tab stops are.
	118	.PP
	119	This space program doesn't even attempt moon landings. The space man
	120	page doesn't have wiggly antennae.
c5ed60be MW	121	.PP
c5ed60be MW	122	The jokes in the man page are somewhat lame.
df33ee54 MW	123	.SH AUTHOR
df33ee54 MW	124	Mark Wooding, <mdw@distorted.org.uk>