FIGlet
| Original author(s) | Glenn Chappell, Ian Chai |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 1991 (as "newban") / 1993 (figlet 2.0)[1] |
| Stable release | 2.2.5[2]
/ May 2012 |
| Repository | |
| Written in | C |
| Operating system | Unix-like |
| Platform | Cross-platform |
| Type | Typesetting |
| License | New BSD[3] |
| Website | http://www.figlet.org |
FIGlet is a computer program that generates text banners, in a variety of typefaces, composed of letters made up of conglomerations of smaller ASCII characters (see ASCII art). The name derives from "Frank, Ian and Glen's letters"[4].
Being free software, FIGlet is commonly included as part of many Unix-like operating system (Linux,[5] 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).[6] There are third-party reimplementations of FIGlet in Java[7] (including one embedded in the JavE ASCII art editor), JavaScript[8] and PHP.[9][10] FIGlet was featured as a Debian Package of the Day in 2007.[11]
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:
-fto select a font file.-dto change the directory for fonts.-ccenters the output.-lleft-aligns the output.-rright-aligns the output.-tsets the output width to the terminal width.-wspecifies a custom output width.-kenables 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.
TOIlet seeks to extend FIGlet to use colour text.[12] FIGlet supports TOIlet fonts as of version 2.2.4.
See also
References
- ^ Chappell, Glen (1995). ""Why does FIGlet exist?" a history of FIGlet". Retrieved 2008-04-25.
- ^ "FIGLet home page". Retrieved 2012-06-18.
- ^ ""Why does FIGlet exist?" a history of FIGlet". Retrieved 2011-01-15.
- ^ "FIGlet FAQ". Retrieved 2013-09-19.
- ^ Stutz, Michael (2001). "Text Fonts". The Linux Cookbook. No Starch Press. ISBN 1-886411-48-4.
{{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.
- ^ "Zend Framework – Zend_Text_Figlet Component".
- ^ Tincho (2007-03-25). "FIGLET: a totally useless, therefore essential tool". Retrieved 2008-04-20.
- ^ "TOIlet". Retrieved 2010-01-29.