FIGlet
| Original author(s) | Glenn Chappell |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 1991 (as "newban") / 1993 (figlet 2.0)[1] |
| Stable release | 2.2.2[2]
/ July 2005 |
| Repository | |
| Written in | C |
| Operating system | Unix-like |
| Platform | Cross-platform |
| Type | Typesetting |
| License | AFL v2.1[3] |
| Website | http://www.figlet.org |
FIGlet is a computer program that generates text banners, in a variety of typefaces, comprised of letters made up of conglomerations of smaller ASCII characters (see ASCII art). FIGlet is a term for the FIGlet fonts, FIGlet works or other FIGlet-related stuff.
Being free software, FIGlet is commonly included as part of many Unix-like operating system (Linux[4], BSD, etc.) distributions, but it has been ported to other platforms as well. The official FIGlet FTP site includes precompiled ports for the Acorn, Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, BeOS, Macintosh, MS-DOS, NextStep, OS/2, and Windows platforms, as well as a reimplementation in Perl (Text::FIGlet).[5] There are third-party reimplementations of FIGLet in Java[6] (including one embedded in the JavE ASCII art editor), JavaScript[7] and PHP[8]. FIGlet was featured as a Debian Package of the Day in 2007.[9]
Behavior
FIGlet can read from standard input or accept a message as part of the command line. It prints to standard output. Some common arguments (options) are:
- -f to select a font file.
- -d to change the directory for fonts.
- -c centers the output.
- -l left-aligns the output.
- -r right-aligns the output.
- -t sets the output width to the terminal width.
- -w specifies a custom output width.
- -k enables kerning, printing each letter of the message individually, instead of merged into the adjacent letters.
Sample usage
An example of output generated by FIGlet is shown below.
__ ___ _ _ _ _
\ \ / (_) | _(_)_ __ ___ __| (_) __ _
\ \ /\ / /| | |/ / | '_ \ / _ \/ _` | |/ _` |
\ V V / | | <| | |_) | __/ (_| | | (_| |
\_/\_/ |_|_|\_\_| .__/ \___|\__,_|_|\__,_|
|_|
The following code:
figlet -ct -f roman Wikipedia
generates this output:
oooooo oooooo oooo o8o oooo o8o .o8 o8o
`888. `888. .8' `"' `888 `"' "888 `"'
`888. .8888. .8' oooo 888 oooo oooo oo.ooooo. .ooooo. .oooo888 oooo .oooo.
`888 .8'`888. .8' `888 888 .8P' `888 888' `88b d88' `88b d88' `888 `888 `P )88b
`888.8' `888.8' 888 888888. 888 888 888 888ooo888 888 888 888 .oP"888
`888' `888' 888 888 `88b. 888 888 888 888 .o 888 888 888 d8( 888
`8' `8' o888o o888o o888o o888o 888bod8P' `Y8bod8P' `Y8bod88P" o888o `Y888""8o
888
o888o
The -ct options centers the text and makes it take up the full width of the terminal. The '-f roman' option specifies the 'roman' font file.
FIGlet based ASCII typefaces
Eric Olson's 2002 FIG typeface family is a series of OpenType fonts similar to the output of FIGlet.
See also
References
- ^ Chappell, Glen (1995). ""Why does FIGlet exist?" a history of FIGlet". Retrieved 2008-04-25.
- ^ "FIGLet home page". Retrieved 2008-04-25.
- ^ "FIGLet 2.2.2 license". Retrieved 2008-04-25.
- ^ Stutz, Michael (2001). "Text Fonts". The Linux Cookbook. No Starch Press. ISBN 1886411484.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); External link in|chapterurl=|chapterurl=ignored (|chapter-url=suggested) (help) - ^ "Official FIGlet FTP site". Retrieved 2008-04-25.
- ^ Rigaut, Benoît (1996). "Figlet Java". Retrieved 2008-04-25.
- ^ Gillespie, Pat (2006). "TAAG". Retrieved 2008-05-01.
- ^ Baltes, Lucas. "PHP Figlet". Retrieved 2008-04-25.
- ^ Tincho (2007-03-25). "FIGLET: a totally useless, therefore essential tool". Retrieved 2008-04-20.
