fold Command

Purpose

Folds long lines for finite-width output device.

Syntax

fold [ -b ] [ -s ] [ -w Width ] [ File... ]

Description

The fold command is a filter that folds long lines for a finite-width output device. By default, the command folds the contents of standard input, breaking the lines to a line width of 80 (eighty). You can also specify one or more files as input to the command.

The fold command inserts a new-line character in the input lines so that each output line is as wide as possible without exceeding the value specified by the Width parameter. If the -b flag is specified, line width is counted in bytes. If the -b flag is not specified:

• Width is counted in columns as determined by the LC_CTYPE environment variable.
• A backspace character decreases the length of an output line by 1.
• A tab character advances to the next column where the column position is 1 plus a multiple of 8.

The fold command accepts -w Width values in multiples of 8 if the file contains tabs. To use other width values when the file contains tabs, use the expand command before using the fold command.

Notes:

1. The fold command may affect any underlining that is present.
2. The fold command does not insert new-line characters in the middle of multibyte characters even when the -b flag is used.

Flags

Exit Status

This command returns the following exit values:

Examples

To fold the lines of a file named longlines into width 72 (seventy-two), enter:

fold -w 72 longlines

Files

Related Information

The expand command, tab command.

Devices Overview for System Management in AIX Version 4.3 System Management Guide: Operating System and Devices.