Provided by: boxes_1.1.1-3_amd64 bug

NAME

       boxes - text mode box and comment drawing filter

SYNOPSIS

       boxes  [-hlmrv] [-a format] [-d design] [-f file] [-i indent] [-k bool] [-p pad] [-s size]
       [-t tabopts] [infile [outfile]]

DESCRIPTION

       Boxes is a text filter which can draw any kind of box around its input  text.  Box  design
       choices  range  from  simple  boxes  to  complex  ASCII art. A box can also be removed and
       repaired, even if it has been badly damaged by editing of the text inside. Since boxes may
       be open on any side, boxes can also be used to create regional comments in any programming
       language.  New box designs of all sorts can easily be added and shared by appending  to  a
       free format configuration file.
       boxes  was  originally intended to be used with the vim(1) text editor, but it can be tied
       to any text editor which supports filters, as well as called from the command  line  as  a
       standalone tool.

OPTIONS

       Options offered by boxes are the following:

       -a string
             Alignment/positioning of text inside box. This option takes a format string argument
             which is read from left to right. The format string may not contain  whitespace  and
             must consist of one or more of the following components:

             hx  -  horizontal alignment of the input text block inside a potentially larger box.
             Possible values for x are l (ell, for left alignment), c  (center),  or  r  (right).
             This  does  not  affect  the justification of text lines within the input text block
             (use the j argument instead).
             vx - vertical alignment of the input text block inside  a  potentially  larger  box.
             Possible values for x are t (for top alignment), c (center), or b (bottom).
             jx - justification of lines within the input text block. Possible values for x are l
             (ell, for left justification), c (center), or r (right). This does  not  affect  the
             alignment  of  the input text block itself within the box. Use the h and v arguments
             for input text block positioning.

             Short hand notations (can be combined with the above arguments):
             l (ell) - short for hlvcjl
             c - short for hcvcjc
             r - short for hrvcjr

             The factory default setting for -a is hlvt.

       -c string
             Command line design definition for simple cases. The argument of this option is  the
             definition  for  the "west" (W) shape. The defined shape must consist of exactly one
             line, i.e. no multi-line shapes are allowed. The -c option is intended as a shortcut
             for  those cases where simple regional comments are to be created, which only need a
             certain character or sequence of characters to be placed in front of every line.  In
             such  cases,  it  is much more convenient to simply specify -c than to do a complete
             design definition in one's config file, where the only shape  defined  is  the  west
             shape.
             This  option  implies a -d and does not access the config file.  -c may of course be
             used in conjunction with any of the other options. By default, -c is not specified.

       -d string
             Design selection. The one argument of this option is the name of the design to use.

       -f string
             Use alternate config file. The one argument of this option is the name  of  a  valid
             boxes config file, containing new and exciting designs!

       -h    Print usage information.

       -i string
             Indentation  mode.  Possible arguments are "text" (indent text inside of box), "box"
             (indent box, not text inside of box), or "none" (throw away indentation).  Arguments
             may be abbreviated. The default is to indent the box, but not the text.

       -k bool
             Kill  leading/trailing blank lines on removal. The value of bool can be specified as
             on, yes, true, 1, or t, all meaning yes, or off, no, false, 0, or f, which mean  no.
             This  is  case-insensitive. This option only takes effect in connection with -r.  If
             set to yes, leading and trailing blank lines will be removed from the output. If set
             to no, the entire content of the former box is returned.  The default is no, if both
             the top and the bottom part of the box are open, as is the case with  most  regional
             comments.  If  the  box's design defines a top part or a bottom part, the default is
             yes.

       -l    (ell) List designs. Produces a listing of all available box designs  in  the  config
             file,  along  with  a  sample  box  and information about it's creator.  Also checks
             syntax of the entire config file. If used in connection with -d,  displays  detailed
             information about the specified design.

       -m    Mend  box.  This  removes  a  (potentially  broken)  box  as with -r, and redraws it
             afterwards. The mended box is drawn according to the  options  given.  This  may  be
             important  to  know  when  it  comes  to restoring padding, identation, etc. for the
             mended box. Implies -k false.

       -p string
             Padding. Specify padding in spaces around the input text block for all sides of  the
             box.  The  argument  string  may  not  contain  whitespace  and  must  consist  of a
             combination of the following characters, each followed by a  number  indicating  the
             padding in spaces:
             a - (all) give padding for all sides at once
             h - (horiz) give padding for both horizontal sides
             v - (vertical) give padding for both vertical sides
             b - (bottom) give padding for bottom (south) side
             l - (left) give padding for left (west) side
             t - (top) give padding for top (north) side
             r - (right) give padding for right (east) side
             Example:  -p  a4t2  would define the padding to be 4 characters on all sides, except
             for the top of the box, where the input text block will be only 2  lines  away  from
             the box.
             By default, unless specified otherwise in the config file, no padding is used.

       -r    Remove  box.  Removes  an existing box instead of drawing it. Which design to use is
             detected automatically. In order to save time or in  case  the  detection  does  not
             decide  correctly,  combine  with -d to specify the design. The default is to draw a
             new box.

       -s widthxheight
             Box size. This option specifies the desired box size in units of columns (for width)
             and  lines  (for height).  If only a single number is given as argument, this number
             specifies the desired box width. A single number prefixed by 'x' specifies only  the
             box  height.   The  actual  resulting  box size may vary depending on the individual
             shape sizes of the chosen design. Also, other command line options may influence the
             box size (such as -p).
             By default, the smallest possible box is created around the text.

       -t string
             Tab handling. This option controls how tab characters in the input text are handled.
             The option string must always begin with  a  uint  number  indicating  the  distance
             between  tab  stops.  It is important that this value be set correctly, or tabulator
             characters will upset your input text.  The correct tab distance  value  depends  on
             the settings used for the text you are processing. A common value is 8.
             Immediately  following  the  tab  distance,  an  optional character can be appended,
             telling boxes how to treat the leading tabs. The following options are available:
             e - expand tabs into spaces
             k - keep tabs as close to what they were as possible
             u - unexpand tabs. This makes boxes turn as many spaces as possible into tabs.

             In order to maintain backwards compatibility, the -t string can be just a number. In
             that  case,  e is assumed for tab handling, which removes all tabs and replaces them
             with spaces. The factory default for the -t option is simply 8, which is just such a
             case.
             For  example, you could specify -t 4u in order to have your leading tabs unexpanded.
             In the box content, tabs are always converted into spaces. The tab distance in  this
             example is 4.

       -v    Print out current version number.

CONFIGURATION FILES

       Boxes  will  use  the  configuration file specified on the command line (using -f).  If no
       config file is specified on the command line, boxes will check for the  BOXES  environment
       variable, which may contain a filename to use. If BOXES is not set, boxes will try to read
       $HOME/.boxes and use it as a config file.  Failing  that,  boxes  will  try  to  read  the
       system-wide config file (see FILES).

       The  syntax  of boxes config files is described on the website (see below). They are quite
       self-explanatory, though.

AVAILABILITY

       Boxes is available from its website at <URL:http://boxes.thomasjensen.com/>.  The  website
       also  features a number of examples illustrating this manual page as well as more in-depth
       documentation.

       Check out vim(1) at <URL:http://www.vim.org/>!

AUTHOR

       Boxes was made by Thomas Jensen <boxes@thomasjensen.com>.
       Please see the boxes website for a current email address.

VERSION

       This is boxes version 1.1.1.

BUGS

       Although it is doing fine in most cases, imho the  design  autodetector  needs  some  more
       work.
       Should you notice any other unspecified behavior, please tell the author!

ENVIRONMENT

       Boxes recognizes the following environment variables:

       HOME      The user's home directory.

       BOXES     Name of boxes configuration file, if different from ~/.boxes.

FILES

       $HOME/.boxes
                 boxes configuration file

       /etc/boxes/boxes-config
                 system-wide configuration file

SEE ALSO

       tal(1) , vim(1)