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diff --git a/doc/manual.xml.head b/doc/manual.xml.head index 09873698..b6a6d3d8 100644 --- a/doc/manual.xml.head +++ b/doc/manual.xml.head @@ -3259,6 +3259,72 @@ something like <literal>unhook send-hook</literal>. </sect1> +<sect1 id="formatstrings"> +<title>Format Strings</title> + +<para> +Format strings are a general concept you'll find in several locations +through the mutt configuration, especially in the +<link linkend="index-format">$index_format"</link>, +<link linkend="pager-format">$pager_format"</link>, +<link linkend="status-format">$status_format"</link>, +and other ``*_format'' variables. These can be very straightforward, +and it's quite possible you already know how to use them. +</para> + +<para> +The most basic format string element is a percent symbol followed +by another character. For example, <literal>%s</literal> +represents a message's Subject: header in the <link +linkend="index-format">$index_format"</link> variable. The +``expandos'' available are documented with each format variable, but +there are general modifiers available with all formatting expandos, +too. Those are our concern here. +</para> + +<para> +Some of the modifers are borrowed right out of C (though you might +know them from Perl, Python, shell, or another langugage). These are +the [-]m.n modifiers, as in <literal>%-12.12s</literal>. As with +such programming languages, these modifiers allow you to specify the +minumum and maximum size of the resulting string, as well as its +justification. If the ``-'' sign follows the percent, the string will +be left-justified instead of right-justified. If there's a number +immediately following that, it's the minimum amount of space the +formatted string will occupy -- if it's naturally smaller than that, it +will be padded out with spaces. If a decimal point and another number +follow, that's the maximum space allowable -- the string will not be +permitted to exceed that width, no matter its natural size. Each of +these three elements is optional, so that all these are legal format +strings: +<literal>%-12s</literal> +<literal>%4c</literal> +<literal>%.15F</literal> +<literal>%-12.15L</literal> +</para> + +<para> +Mutt adds some other modifiers to format strings. If you use an equals +symbol (<literal>=</literal>) as a numeric prefix (like the minus +above), it will force the string to be centered within its minimum +space range. For example, <literal>%=14y</literal> will reserve 14 +characters for the %y expansion -- that's the X-Label: header, in +<literal>$index_format</literal>. If the expansion +results in a string less than 14 characters, it will be centered in a +14-character space. If the X-Label for a message were "test", that +expansion would look like `` test ''. +</para> + +<para> +There are two very little-known modifiers that affect the way that an +expando is replaced. If there is an underline (``_'') character +between any format modifiers (as above) and the expando letter, it will +expands in all lower case. And if you use a colon (``:''), it will +replace all decimal points with underlines. +</para> + +</sect1> + </chapter> <chapter id="advancedusage"> |