[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 groups of spaces
which could be replaced by tabs; 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 filebackup
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.
.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;
	33	.hP \*o groups of spaces
	34	which could be replaced by tabs; or
	35	.hP \*o
	36	.I all tab characters
	37	\(en replacing them with appropriate numbers of spaces.
	38	.PP
	39	The program is capable of fixing files in place (leaving backups if you
	40	ask for them).
	41	.PP
	42	The following command-line options are recognized.
	43	.TP
	44	.B \-h
	45	Give a short help message describing the options available.
	46	.TP
	47	.B \-c
	48	Just check files, exiting zero if they're all OK, or 1 if there are
	49	whitespace problems with any of them; exit 32 if there are actual
	50	errors. You may want the
	51	.B \-v
	52	option with this; without it,
	53	.B space
	54	is silent.
	55	.TP
	56	.BR \-i [ \fIbackup ]
	57	Modify all the
	58	.IR file s
	59	in place. During processing, the fixed copy of the file is written to
	60	some new name not currently in use. If the processing was successful,
	61	the old
	62	.I file
	63	is renamed to
	64	.I filebackup
65	and the new file is renamed to
66	.IR file .
67	If something very complicated goes wrong at just the right moment, it's
68	possible that you'll be left with just
69	.I filebackup
70	but that's not very likely. The new file is created with the same
71	permissions as the old file, but no attempt is made to give it the same
72	owner or anything like that.
73	.TP
74	.B \-m
75	Worry about tabs in the middle of lines as well as tabs forming the
76	initial indentation. Normally, identify (and fix) tabs preceded by
77	spaces in the middle of lines; with
78	.BR \-t ,
79	fix all groups of whitespace which could be turned into tabs.
80	.TP
81	.B \-t
82	Turn runs of horizontal whitespace into tabs where possible.
83	With
84	.BR \-c ,
85	only complain about runs of space which could be turned into tabs but
86	don't actually do anything. By default, only runs of whitespace at the
87	starts of lines are affected. With
88	.BR \-m ,
89	however, all runs of whitespace are considered to be fair game. The
90	rules for internal whitespace are as follows. A run at the start of a
91	line, or which contains a tab is always fair game; a run of two or more
92	spaces is fair game
93	.I unless
94	it follows a
95	.RB ` . '
96	or
97	.RB ` : '
98	character, either immediately or separated only by
99	.RB ` """" '
100	or
101	.RB ` ' '
102	characters, in which case three spaces are required. This is because
103	some typists (including the author) put two spaces after a full stop,
104	and don't want them randomly turning into tabs for no good reason.
105	.TP
106	.B \-u
107	Turn tabs into appropriate numbers of spaces. With
108	.BR \-c ,
109	only complain about finding tabs, but don't actually do anything. All
110	tabs are considered fair game here and the
111	.B \-m
112	option is ignored.
113	.PP
114	Tab stops are assumed to occur every eight columns, as is usual.
115	.SH BUGS
116	There's no way yet of controlling where the tab stops are.
117	.PP
118	This space program doesn't even attempt moon landings. The space man
119	page doesn't have wiggly antennae.
120	.SH AUTHOR
121	Mark Wooding, <mdw@distorted.org.uk>