aft - "free form" document preparation system
aft [
--verbose] [
--autonumber] [
--output=file |
--output=-] [
--type=output-type]
infile ..
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.
Running AFT is as simple as typing:
aft NAME_OF_YOUR_FILE.aft
- --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.