FMTDUMP(8)

📦
version 1.8 · 7 versions
, in alpine 3.24, epel 10, epel 9, fedora 43, fedora 44

💅 FMTDUMP(8) — like, the nmh format-file decoder bestie

okay so real quick, this is a page from the System Manager's Manual, and the tool is called fmtdump. it lives at /usr/libexec/nmh/fmtdump. let's get into it 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

fmtdump — decode nmh's mh-format(5) files

no cap, that's the whole vibe. it takes your format files and tells you what they actually mean. 💖

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

/usr/libexec/nmh/fmtdump [-help] [-version] [-form formatfile] [-format string]

yes bestie, that's the full path. she's not in your PATH by default, she's tucked away in /usr/libexec/nmh/. iconic behaviour honestly. 👑

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so here's the tea: fmtdump parses an nmh format file and produces a pseudo-language listing of how nmh interprets that file. it's giving translator. it's giving "let me show you what the computer actually thinks you said."

this is so useful when you're debugging a complicated format file. like when your format file is doing the absolute most and nothing renders right and you're just sitting there like 😭 — that's when you run fmtdump and it spills everything.

the -format string and -form formatfile switches may be used to specify a format string or format file to read. so you can point her at a literal string, or at a whole file, your choice, main character energy either way. ✨

if you want the full deets on format strings and format files, go read mh-format(5). that's the homework. 📚

🎀 FILES 🎀

  • $HOME/.mh_profile — the user's profile. your personal config, your little corner. 💜
  • /etc/nmh/scan.default — the default format file. the system-wide fallback, the group chat default, the "if nobody says anything else we're doing this" option. 🌈

💫 PROFILE COMPONENTS 💫

  • Path: — to determine the user's nmh directory. yeah she reads your profile to figure out where your nmh stuff lives. 🫶

💖 SEE ALSO 💖

go read all of them, they're all part of the same friend group fr fr. 📖

🌟 CONTEXT 🌟

None

literally none. no context needed. she's independent. she doesn't need the surrounding message state to do her thing. slay. 💅

quick vibe check bestie: this one's a debug tool, so use it when you're confused, not in your everyday scripts. it's for looking, not for doing. 🔍

and that's the page!! this gem comes from nmh-1.8, dated 1999-04-30 — yeah she's an old soul but she still ate 💖✨ thanks for reading, ily, go debug your format files 🎀🦋

📦 where this page comes from