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Annotation of researchv10dc/dist/man/v3/man1/form.1, revision 1.1

1.1     ! root        1: .pa 1
        !             2: .he 'FORM (I)'6/15/72'FORM (I)'
        !             3: .ti 0
        !             4: NAME
        !             5: .br
        !             6: form -- form letter generator
        !             7: .sp
        !             8: .ti 0
        !             9: SYNOPSIS
        !            10: .br
        !            11: form____ proto arg918 ...
        !            12: .sp
        !            13: .ti 0
        !            14: DESCRIPTION
        !            15: .br
        !            16: form____ generates a form letter from a prototype
        !            17: letter, an associative memory, arguments and in a special case, the
        !            18: current date.
        !            19: .sp
        !            20: If form____ is invoked with the proto_____ argument 'x', the associative memory is
        !            21: searched for an entry with name 'x' and the contents filed under that name are
        !            22: used as the prototype.  If the search fails, the message "[x]:" is typed on
        !            23: the console and whatever text is typed in from the console, terminated by
        !            24: two new lines, is used as the prototype.
        !            25: .sp
        !            26: If the prototype argument is missing, '{letter}' is assumed.
        !            27: .sp
        !            28: Basically, form____ is a copy process from the prototype to the output file.
        !            29: If an element of the form [n] (where n_ is a digit from 1 to 9) is encountered,
        !            30: the n_th argument arg___9n8 is inserted in its place, and that argument is then
        !            31: rescanned.  If [0] is encountered, the current date is inserted.  If
        !            32: the desired argument has not been given, a message of the form "[n]:" is
        !            33: typed.  The response typed in then is used for that argument.
        !            34: .sp
        !            35: If an element of the form [name] or {name} is encountered, the name is looked up in the
        !            36: associative memory.  If it is found, the contents of the memory under this
        !            37: name replaces the original element (again rescanned).  If
        !            38: the name is not found, a message of the form "[name]:" is typed.
        !            39: The response typed in is used for that element.  The response is
        !            40: entered in the memory under the name if the name is enclosed in [].
        !            41: The response is not entered in the memory but is remembered for the
        !            42: duration of the letter if the name is enclosed in {}.
        !            43: .sp
        !            44: In both of the above cases, the response is typed in by entering
        !            45: arbitrary text terminated by two new lines.  Only the first of the
        !            46: two new lines is passed with the text.
        !            47: .sp
        !            48: If one of the special characters [{]}\\ is preceded by
        !            49: a \\, it loses its special character.
        !            50: .sp
        !            51: If a file named "forma" already exists in the users directory, "formb" is
        !            52: used as the output file and so forth to "formz".
        !            53: .sp
        !            54: The file "form.m" is created if none exists.  Because form.m is
        !            55: operated on by the disc allocater, it should only be changed by using
        !            56: fed___, the form letter editor, or form____.
        !            57: .sp
        !            58: .fi
        !            59: .ti 0
        !            60: FILES
        !            61: .br
        !            62: form.m associative memory
        !            63: .br
        !            64: form?  output file (read only)
        !            65: .sp
        !            66: .fi
        !            67: .ti 0
        !            68: SEE ALSO
        !            69: .br
        !            70: fed(I), type(I), roff(I)
        !            71: .sp
        !            72: .fi
        !            73: .ti 0
        !            74: DIAGNOSTICS
        !            75: .br
        !            76: "cannot open output file" "cannot open memory file"
        !            77: when the appropriate files cannot be located or created.
        !            78: .sp
        !            79: .fi
        !            80: .ti 0
        !            81: BUGS
        !            82: .br
        !            83: An unbalanced ] or } acts as an end of file but
        !            84: may add a few strange entries to the associative memory.

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