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Annotation of researchv10dc/dist/man/v4/man1/form.1, revision 1.1.1.1

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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