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Annotation of researchv10dc/dist/man/v4/man1/form.1, revision 1.1

1.1     ! root        1: .th FORM I 6/15/72
        !             2: .sh NAME
        !             3: form \*- form letter generator
        !             4: .sh SYNOPSIS
        !             5: .bd form
        !             6: proto arg ...
        !             7: .sh DESCRIPTION
        !             8: .it Form
        !             9: generates a form letter from a prototype
        !            10: letter, an associative memory, arguments and in a special case, the
        !            11: current date.
        !            12: .s3
        !            13: If
        !            14: .it form
        !            15: is invoked with the
        !            16: .it proto
        !            17: argument \fIx\fR, the associative memory is
        !            18: searched for an entry with name \fIx\fR and the contents filed under that name are
        !            19: used as the prototype.  If the search fails, the message `[\fIx\fR]:' is typed on
        !            20: the console and whatever text is typed in from the console, terminated by
        !            21: two new lines, is used as the prototype.
        !            22: If the prototype argument is missing, `{letter}' is assumed.
        !            23: .s3
        !            24: Basically,
        !            25: .it form
        !            26: is a copy process from the prototype to the output file.
        !            27: If an element of the form [\fIn\fR] (where \fIn\fR is a digit from 1 to 9) is encountered,
        !            28: the \fIn\fR-th argument is inserted in its place, and that argument is then
        !            29: rescanned.  If [0] is encountered, the current date is inserted.  If
        !            30: the desired argument has not been given, a message of the form `[\fIn\fR]:' is
        !            31: typed.  The response typed in then is used for that argument.
        !            32: .s3
        !            33: If an element of the form [\fIname\fR] or {\fIname\fR} is encountered, the \fIname\fR is looked up in the
        !            34: associative memory.  If it is found, the contents of the memory under this
        !            35: \fIname\fR replaces the original element (again rescanned).  If
        !            36: the \fIname\fR is not found, a message of the form `[\fIname\fR]:' is typed.
        !            37: The response typed in is used for that element.  The response is
        !            38: entered in the memory under the name if the name is enclosed in [ ].
        !            39: The response is not entered in the memory but is remembered for the
        !            40: duration of the letter if the name is enclosed in {}.
        !            41: .s3
        !            42: In both of the above cases, the response is typed in by entering
        !            43: arbitrary text terminated by two new lines.  Only the first of the
        !            44: two new lines is passed with the text.
        !            45: .s3
        !            46: If one of the special characters [{]}\\ is preceded by
        !            47: a \\, it loses its special character.
        !            48: .s3
        !            49: If a file named `forma' already exists in the user's directory, `formb' is
        !            50: used as the output file and so forth to `formz'.
        !            51: .s3
        !            52: The file `form.m' is created if none exists.  Because form.m is
        !            53: operated on by the disc allocator, it should only be changed by using
        !            54: .it fed,
        !            55: the form letter editor, or
        !            56: .it form.
        !            57: .s3
        !            58: .sh FILES
        !            59: form.m associative memory
        !            60: .br
        !            61: form?  output file (read only)
        !            62: .sh "SEE ALSO"
        !            63: fed(I), type(I), roff(I)
        !            64: .sh BUGS
        !            65: An unbalanced ] or } acts as an end of file but
        !            66: may add a few strange entries to the associative memory.

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