#!yourshellbang

$st = "Do not believe anything, no matter who says it-- not even if I 
+say it, unless you first validate what you've understood against your
+ own experiences. -One Buddha Or Another";

print "\n\n\@25 width: \n" . &fixparagraphwidth($st,25) . "\n\n\n";
print "\@50 width: \n" . &fixparagraphwidth($st,50) . "\n\n\n";
exit;



## accepts string and line length
## returns scalar with embedded newlines
# known bug: width must be greater than shortest word 
# if you fix it, tell Bliss at perlmonks.org
#
sub fixparagraphwidth
{
    ($paragraph, $width) = @_;

    $paragraph =~ s/\n/ /g; #\n into spaces
    $paragraph =~ s/  / /g; #remove doubled up

    $pos = ++$width; 
    while ()     {
        substr($paragraph, ($pos = rindex $paragraph, ' ', $pos) , 1) 
+= "\n"; 
        if ( ($pos eq -1) || (($pos += $width) > length($paragraph)) )
+ {last;}
    }
    return $paragraph;
}
[download]