Re:Ask HN: What is the most amazing Awk program you've used
by ksherlock on Sunday February 11, 2024 @08:26PM
(#39340505)
Speaking of AWK and Henry Spencer, let me quote from the awf readme:
This is awf, the Amazingly Workable Formatter -- a "nroff -man" or
(subset) "nroff -ms" clone written entirely in (old) awk.
It is slow and has many restrictions, but does a decent job on most
manual pages and simple -ms documents, and isn't subject to AT&T's
brain-damaged licensing that denies many System V users any text
formatter at all. It is also a text formatter that is simple enough
to be tinkered with, for people who want to experiment.
Type "make r" to run a regression test, formatting the manual page
(awf.1) and comparing it to a preformatted copy (awf.1.out). Type
"make install" to install it. Pathnames may need changing.
I don't know whether awf will run on 16-bit machines. Data requirements
are modest, but I fear the programs are probably big enough to run awk
out of space.
This is awf, the Amazingly Workable Formatter -- a "nroff -man" or (subset) "nroff -ms" clone written entirely in (old) awk.
It is slow and has many restrictions, but does a decent job on most manual pages and simple -ms documents, and isn't subject to AT&T's brain-damaged licensing that denies many System V users any text formatter at all. It is also a text formatter that is simple enough to be tinkered with, for people who want to experiment.
Type "make r" to run a regression test, formatting the manual page (awf.1) and comparing it to a preformatted copy (awf.1.out). Type "make install" to install it. Pathnames may need changing.
I don't know whether awf will run on 16-bit machines. Data requirements are modest, but I fear the programs are probably big enough to run awk out of space.
I can't believe I really wrote this.
Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
[email protected] utzoo!henry
13 July 1990
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(n.b. the first release of groff was June 1990)