textproc/par 1.53.0_2 DragonFly

Par is similar but superior to the fmt(1) command included in the base system.

Par is a filter that copies its input to its output, changing all white characters (except newlines) to spaces, and reformatting each paragraph. Paragraphs are separated by protected, blank, and bodiless lines (see the Terminology section for definitions), and optionally delimited by indentation (see the d option in the Options section).

Each output paragraph is generated from the corresponding input paragraph as follows:

1. An optional prefix and/or suffix is removed from each input line.
2. The remainder is divided into words (separated by spaces).
3. The words are joined into lines to make an eye-pleasing paragraph.
4. The prefixes and suffixes are reattached.

If there are suffixes, spaces are inserted before them so that they all end in the same column.