NAME

       aft - "free form" document preparation system

SYNOPSIS

       aft [--verbose] [--autonumber] [--output=file | --output=-] [--type=output-type] infile ..

DESCRIPTION

       AFT  is a nearly free format documentation system which can be typed in using any editor or wordprocessor
       that supports tabs or hard spaces (column-based spaces whose number  doesn't  shrink  or  grow  based  on
       formatting).  By  using  AFT,  you are no longer constrained to one wordprocessing file standard (such as
       Microsoft Word), nor do you have to enter a plethora of weird syntactical  incantations  of  an  embedded
       mark up language (such as LaTeX or HTML).

       Unlike  other  mark  up  languages,  AFT  is  designed to parse and recognize patterns rather than formal
       commands. That is why there is no single escape or command sequence that tells AFT what to  do.  In  this
       regard, AFT will process almost anything you throw at it.

       An  AFT  document is easily converted into such popular formats as HTML, RTF and LaTeX. Because there are
       few commands, learning to write a document in AFT requires little effort. This doesn't mean that  AFT  is
       not powerful. In fact, this very document was conceived and written using AFT.

USAGE

       Running AFT is as simple as typing:

       aft NAME_OF_YOUR_FILE.aft

OPTIONS

       --verbose
              Generate  a  lot  of  commentary.  By default, AFT will just silently process files (unless errors
              occur). Using this option causes AFT to keep you informed about what it is doing.

       --autonumber
              This switch tells AFT to automatically number your sections.--output=file |

       --output=-
              This tells AFT where to send its processed output. You can supply a filename  (file)  or  -  which
              tells AFT to write to your standard output (your display or stdout).

       --type=output_type
              This  tells  AFT  what  type of output to do. For example HTML output is used for html and DocBook
              output is used for docbook. As a side effect, this will also specify the file name  extension  for
              the output file if the --output option isn't specified.

       infile ..
              One or more AFT documents to be processed.

Almost Free Text                                 22. April 2003                                           aft(1)