Linux Cookbook: Tips and Techniques for Everyday Use

544 Pages·2004·8.09 MB·English

by  Stutz M.

The Linux Cookbook: Tips and Techniques for Everyday Use:
The Linux Cookbook: Tips and Techniques for Everyday Use:
Table of Contents
The Linux Cookbook: Tips and Techniques for Everyday Use.....................................................................1
Preface ................................................................................................................................................................3
1.0 Format of Recipes ............................................................................................................................4
1.1 Assumptions, Scope, and Exclusions ..............................................................................................5
1.2 Typographical Conventions .............................................................................................................6
1.3 Versions, Latest Edition, and Errata ................................................................................................7
1.4 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................8
PART ONE: Working with Linux .................................................................................................................10
2. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................11
2.1 Background and History ................................................................................................................11
2.1.1 What's Unix? ..................................................................................................................11
2.1.2 What's Free Software? ...................................................................................................12
2.1.3 What's Open Source? .....................................................................................................13
2.1.4 What's Linux? ................................................................................................................14
2.1.5 What's Debian? ..............................................................................................................14
2.1.6 Unix and the Tools Philosophy ......................................................................................15
2.2 What to Try First ............................................................................................................................17
2.3 If You Need More Help .................................................................................................................18
3. What Every Linux User Knows .................................................................................................................20
3.1 Controlling Power to the System ...................................................................................................20
3.1.1 Powering Up the System ................................................................................................21
3.1.2 Turning Off the System .................................................................................................21
3.2 Accounts and Privileges .................................................................................................................21
3.2.1 Logging In to the System ...............................................................................................22
3.2.2 Logging Out of the System ............................................................................................24
3.3 Console Basics ...............................................................................................................................24
3.3.1 Switching between Consoles .........................................................................................25
3.3.2 Scrolling the Console Text ............................................................................................26
3.3.3 Keys for Console Manipulation .....................................................................................26
3.4 Running a Command .....................................................................................................................27
3.5 Changing Your Password ..............................................................................................................28
3.6 Listing User Activity .....................................................................................................................29
3.6.1 Listing Your Username ..................................................................................................29
3.6.2 Listing Who Is on the System ........................................................................................30
3.6.3 Listing Who Is on and What They're Doing ..................................................................30
3.6.4 Listing the Last Times a User Logged In ......................................................................31
3.7 Listing System Activity .................................................................................................................32
3.7.1 Listing Your Current Processes .....................................................................................32
3.7.2 Listing All of a User's Processes ...................................................................................33
3.7.3 Listing All Processes on the System ..............................................................................33
3.7.4 Listing Processes by Name or Number ..........................................................................34
3.8 Help Facilities ................................................................................................................................34
3.8.1 Finding the Right Tool for the Job .................................................................................35
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3.8.2 Listing a Description of a Program ................................................................................36
3.8.3 Listing the Usage of a Tool ............................................................................................36
3.8.4 Reading a Page from the System Manual ......................................................................37
3.8.5 Using the GNU Info System ..........................................................................................38
3.8.6 Reading System Documentation and Help Files ...........................................................40
4. The Shell ......................................................................................................................................................42
4.1 Keys for Command Line Editing ...................................................................................................42
4.1.1 Passing Special Characters to Commands .....................................................................44
4.1.2 Letting the Shell Complete What You Type .................................................................45
4.1.3 Repeating the Last Command You Typed .....................................................................46
4.1.4 Running a List of Commands ........................................................................................47
4.2 Redirecting Input and Output .........................................................................................................47
4.2.1 Redirecting Input to a File .............................................................................................48
4.2.2 Redirecting Output to a File ...........................................................................................48
4.2.3 Redirecting Error Messages to a File .............................................................................49
4.2.4 Redirecting Output to Another Command's Input .........................................................49
4.3 Managing Jobs ...............................................................................................................................50
4.3.1 Suspending a Job ...........................................................................................................50
4.3.2 Putting a Job in the Background ....................................................................................51
4.3.3 Putting a Job in the Foreground .....................................................................................52
4.3.4 Listing Your Jobs ...........................................................................................................52
4.3.5 Stopping a Job ................................................................................................................53
4.4 Command History ..........................................................................................................................53
4.4.1 Viewing Your Command History ..................................................................................54
4.4.2 Specifying a Command from Your History ...................................................................55
4.5 Recording a Shell Session ..............................................................................................................55
4.6 Customizing Your Shell .................................................................................................................56
4.6.1 Changing the Shell Prompt ............................................................................................57
4.6.2 Making a Command Alias .............................................................................................58
4.6.3 Adding to Your Path ......................................................................................................59
4.6.4 Customizing Future Shells .............................................................................................59
5. The X Window System ...............................................................................................................................62
5.1 Running X ......................................................................................................................................62
5.1.1 Starting X .......................................................................................................................65
5.1.2 Stopping X .....................................................................................................................65
5.2 Running a Program in X ................................................................................................................66
5.2.1 Specifying Window Size and Location .........................................................................67
5.2.2 Specifying Window Colors ............................................................................................69
5.2.3 Specifying Window Font ...............................................................................................69
5.2.4 Specifying Additional Window Attributes ....................................................................70
5.3 Manipulating X Client Windows ...................................................................................................70
5.3.1 Moving a Window .........................................................................................................71
5.3.2 Resizing a Window ........................................................................................................71
5.3.3 Destroying a Window ....................................................................................................71
5.3.4 Minimizing a Window ...................................................................................................72
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5.3.5 Maximizing a Window ..................................................................................................72
5.4 Moving around the Desktop ...........................................................................................................72
5.5 Running a Shell in X ......................................................................................................................73
5.6 Configuring X ................................................................................................................................74
5.6.1 Switching between Video Modes ..................................................................................74
5.6.2 Running X Clients Automatically ..................................................................................75
5.6.3 Changing the Root Window Parameters ........................................................................75
5.6.4 Choosing a Window Manager .......................................................................................76
PART TWO: Files ...........................................................................................................................................78
6. Files and Directories ...................................................................................................................................79
6.1 Naming Files and Directories ........................................................................................................83
6.1.1 Making an Empty File ...................................................................................................84
6.1.2 Making a Directory ........................................................................................................84
6.1.3 Making a Directory Tree ................................................................................................85
6.2 Changing Directories .....................................................................................................................85
6.2.1 Changing to Your Home Directory ...............................................................................86
6.2.2 Changing to the Last Directory You Visited .................................................................86
6.2.3 Getting the Name of the Current Directory ...................................................................86
6.3 Listing Directories .........................................................................................................................87
6.3.1 Listing File Attributes ....................................................................................................88
6.3.2 Listing Directories Recursively .....................................................................................89
6.3.3 Listing Newest Files First ..............................................................................................90
6.3.4 Listing Hidden Files .......................................................................................................90
6.3.5 Listing Directories in Color ...........................................................................................91
6.3.6 Listing Directory Tree Graphs .......................................................................................91
6.3.7 Additional Directory Listing Options ............................................................................92
6.4 Copying Files and Directories .......................................................................................................93
6.5 Moving Files and Directories .........................................................................................................94
6.5.1 Changing File Names to Lowercase ..............................................................................95
6.5.2 Renaming Multiple Files with the Same Extension .......................................................96
6.6 Removing Files and Directories .....................................................................................................97
6.6.1 Removing a File with a Strange Name ..........................................................................98
6.6.2 A Safe Way to Remove a File .......................................................................................99
6.7 Giving a File More than One Name ...............................................................................................99
6.8 Specifying File Names with Patterns ...........................................................................................100
6.9 Browsing Files .............................................................................................................................102
7. Sharing Files ..............................................................................................................................................103
7.1 Groups and How to Work in Them ..............................................................................................103
7.1.1 Listing the Groups a User Belongs To .........................................................................103
7.1.2 Listing the Members of a Group ..................................................................................104
7.2 File Ownership .............................................................................................................................105
7.2.1 Determining the Ownership of a File ..........................................................................105
7.2.2 Changing the Ownership of a File ...............................................................................105
7.3 Controlling Access to Files ..........................................................................................................106
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7.3.1 Listing the Permissions of a File ..................................................................................107
7.3.2 Changing the Permissions of a File .............................................................................108
7.3.3 Write−Protecting a File ................................................................................................108
7.3.4 Making a File Private ...................................................................................................109
7.3.5 Making a File Public ....................................................................................................109
7.3.6 Making a File Executable ............................................................................................110
8. Finding Files ..............................................................................................................................................111
8.1 Finding All Files That Match a Pattern .......................................................................................111
8.2 Finding Files in a Directory Tree .................................................................................................112
8.2.1 Finding Files in a Directory Tree by Name .................................................................112
8.2.2 Finding Files in a Directory Tree by Size ....................................................................114
8.2.3 Finding Files in a Directory Tree by Modification Time ............................................115
8.2.4 Finding Files in a Directory Tree by Owner ................................................................116
8.2.5 Running Commands on the Files You Find .................................................................117
8.2.6 Finding Files by Multiple Criteria ...............................................................................117
8.3 Finding Files in Directory Listings ..............................................................................................120
8.3.1 Finding the Largest Files in a Directory ......................................................................120
8.3.2 Finding the Smallest Files in a Directory ....................................................................121
8.3.3 Finding the Smallest Directories ..................................................................................121
8.3.4 Finding the Largest Directories ...................................................................................121
8.3.5 Finding the Number of Files in a Listing .....................................................................122
8.4 Finding Where a Command Is Located .......................................................................................123
9. Managing Files ..........................................................................................................................................124
9.1 Determining File Type and Format ..............................................................................................124
9.2 Changing File Modification Time ...............................................................................................125
9.3 Splitting a File into Smaller Ones ................................................................................................126
9.4 Comparing Files ...........................................................................................................................127
9.4.1 Determining Whether Two Files Differ .......................................................................127
9.4.2 Finding the Differences between Files ........................................................................127
9.4.3 Patching a File with a Difference Report .....................................................................128
9.5 Compressed Files .........................................................................................................................129
9.5.1 Compressing a File ......................................................................................................129
9.5.2 Decompressing a File ...................................................................................................129
9.6 File Archives ................................................................................................................................130
9.6.1 Creating a File Archive ................................................................................................131
9.6.2 Listing the Contents of an Archive ..............................................................................131
9.6.3 Extracting Files from an Archive .................................................................................132
9.7 Tracking Revisions to a File ........................................................................................................133
9.7.1 Checking In a File Revision .........................................................................................133
9.7.2 Checking Out a File Revision ......................................................................................135
9.7.3 Viewing a File's Revision Log .....................................................................................136
PART THREE: Text .....................................................................................................................................137
10. Viewing Text ............................................................................................................................................138
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10.1 Perusing Text .............................................................................................................................138
10.1.1 Perusing a Text File ...................................................................................................139
10.1.2 Perusing Multiple Text Files ......................................................................................139
10.1.3 Commands Available While Perusing Text ...............................................................140
10.2 Outputting Text ..........................................................................................................................141
10.2.1 Showing Non−printing Characters ............................................................................141
10.2.2 Outputting a Beginning Part of a Text .......................................................................142
10.2.3 Outputting an Ending Part of a Text ..........................................................................143
10.2.4 Outputting a Middle Part of a Text ............................................................................143
10.2.5 Outputting the Text between Strings .........................................................................144
10.2.6 Outputting Text in a Dialect ......................................................................................145
10.3 Streaming Text ...........................................................................................................................146
10.4 Viewing a Character Chart .........................................................................................................148
11. Text Editing .............................................................................................................................................149
11.1 Choosing the Perfect Text Editor ...............................................................................................149
11.2 Emacs .........................................................................................................................................151
11.2.1 Getting Acquainted with Emacs ................................................................................151
11.2.2 Basic Emacs Editing Keys .........................................................................................155
11.2.3 Making Abbreviations in Emacs ................................................................................156
11.2.4 Recording and Running Macros in Emacs ................................................................157
11.2.5 Inserting Special Characters in Emacs .......................................................................158
11.3 Running a Vi Tutorial ................................................................................................................160
11.4 Selecting Text ............................................................................................................................161
11.4.1 Cutting Text ...............................................................................................................161
11.4.2 Pasting Text ...............................................................................................................162
11.5 Editing Streams of Text .............................................................................................................162
11.6 Concatenating Text ....................................................................................................................163
11.6.1 Writing Text to Files ..................................................................................................164
11.6.2 Appending Text to a File ...........................................................................................165
11.6.3 Inserting Text at the Beginning of a File ...................................................................165
11.7 Including Text Files ...................................................................................................................166
12. Grammar and Reference ........................................................................................................................169
12.1 Spelling ......................................................................................................................................169
12.1.1 Finding the Correct Spelling of a Word .....................................................................170
12.1.2 Listing the Misspellings in a Text ..............................................................................170
12.1.3 Keeping a Spelling Word List ...................................................................................171
12.1.4 Interactive Spell Checking .........................................................................................172
12.1.5 Spell Checking in Emacs ...........................................................................................173
12.2 Dictionaries ................................................................................................................................175
12.2.1 Listing Words that Match a Pattern ...........................................................................176
12.2.2 Listing the Definitions of a Word ..............................................................................177
12.2.3 Listing the Synonyms of a Word ...............................................................................178
12.2.4 Listing the Antonyms of a Word ...............................................................................178
12.2.5 Listing the Hypernyms of a Word .............................................................................179
12.2.6 Online Dictionaries ....................................................................................................179
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12.3 Checking Grammar ....................................................................................................................179
12.3.1 Checking Text for Misused Phrases ..........................................................................180
12.3.2 Checking Text for Doubled Words ............................................................................181
12.3.3 Checking Text for Readability ...................................................................................182
12.3.4 Checking Text for Difficult Sentences ......................................................................183
12.3.5 Checking Text for Long Sentences ............................................................................183
12.4 Word Lists and Reference Files .................................................................................................183
13. Analyzing Text ........................................................................................................................................186
13.1 Counting Text ............................................................................................................................186
13.1.1 Counting the Characters in a Text .............................................................................187
13.1.2 Counting the Words in a Text ....................................................................................187
13.1.3 Counting the Lines in a Text ......................................................................................188
13.1.4 Counting the Occurrences of Something ...................................................................188
13.1.5 Counting Lines per Page in Emacs ............................................................................188
13.2 Making a Concordance of a Text ...............................................................................................189
13.3 Text Relevance. ..........................................................................................................................189
13.3.1 Sorting Text in Order of Relevance ...........................................................................190
13.3.2 Listing Relevant Files in Emacs ................................................................................191
13.4 Finding Anagrams in Text .........................................................................................................192
13.5 Finding Palindromes in Text ......................................................................................................193
13.6 Text Cut−Ups .............................................................................................................................193
13.6.1 Making Simple Text Cut−Ups ...................................................................................194
13.6.2 Making Random Word Cut−Ups ...............................................................................194
13.6.3 Making Cut−Ups in Emacs ........................................................................................195
14. Formatting Text ......................................................................................................................................196
14.1 Spacing Text ..............................................................................................................................196
14.1.1 Eliminating Extra Spaces in Text ..............................................................................197
14.1.2 Single−Spacing Text ..................................................................................................197
14.1.3 Double−Spacing Text ................................................................................................198
14.1.4 Triple−Spacing Text ..................................................................................................199
14.1.5 Adding Line Breaks to Text .......................................................................................199
14.1.6 Adding Margins to Text .............................................................................................200
14.1.7 Swapping Tab and Space Characters .........................................................................201
14.2 Paginating Text ..........................................................................................................................202
14.2.1 Placing Headers on Each Page ...................................................................................203
14.2.2 Placing Text in Columns ............................................................................................203
14.2.3 Options Available When Paginating Text .................................................................203
14.3 Underlining Text ........................................................................................................................204
14.4 Sorting Text ...............................................................................................................................205
14.5 Numbering Lines of Text ...........................................................................................................207
14.6 Reversing Text ...........................................................................................................................208
15. Searching Text .........................................................................................................................................210
15.1 Searching for a Word or Phrase .................................................................................................210
15.2 Regular Expressions−−Matching Text Patterns ........................................................................212
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15.2.1 Matching Lines Beginning with Certain Text ...........................................................214
15.2.2 Matching Lines Ending with Certain Text ................................................................214
15.2.3 Matching Lines of a Certain Length ..........................................................................215
15.2.4 Matching Lines That Contain Any of Some Regexps ...............................................215
15.2.5 Matching Lines That Contain All of Some Regexps .................................................216
15.2.6 Matching Lines That Don't Contain a Regexp ..........................................................216
15.2.7 Matching Lines That Only Contain Certain Characters ............................................216
15.2.8 Finding Phrases Regardless of Spacing .....................................................................217
15.2.9 Finding Patterns in Certain Contexts .........................................................................217
15.2.10 Using a List of Regexps to Match From ..................................................................218
15.2.11 Regexps for Common Situations .............................................................................218
15.3 Searching More than Plain Text Files ........................................................................................219
15.3.1 Matching Lines in Compressed Files .........................................................................219
15.3.2 Matching Lines in Web Pages ...................................................................................220
15.4 Outputting the Context of a Search ............................................................................................220
15.5 Searching and Replacing Text ...................................................................................................221
15.6 Searching Text in Emacs ...........................................................................................................222
15.6.1 Searching Incrementally in Emacs ............................................................................222
15.6.2 Searching for a Phrase in Emacs ................................................................................223
15.6.3 Searching for a Regexp in Emacs ..............................................................................223
15.6.4 Searching and Replacing in Emacs ............................................................................224
15.7 Searching Text in Less ...............................................................................................................224
16. Typesetting and Word Processing .........................................................................................................226
16.1 Choosing the Right Typesetting System for the Job ..................................................................227
16.2 Converting Plain Text for Output ..............................................................................................228
16.2.1 Outputting Text in a Font ...........................................................................................229
16.2.2 Outputting Text as a Poster or Sign ...........................................................................230
16.2.3 Outputting Text with Language Highlighting ...........................................................231
16.2.4 Outputting Text with Fancy Headers .........................................................................233
16.2.5 Outputting Text in Landscape Orientation ................................................................234
16.2.6 Outputting Multiple Copies of Text ...........................................................................234
16.2.7 Selecting the Pages of Text to Output .......................................................................234
16.2.8 Additional PostScript Output Options .......................................................................235
16.3 LyX Document Processing ........................................................................................................236
16.3.1 Features of LyX .........................................................................................................237
16.3.2 Writing Documents with LyX ...................................................................................237
16.3.3 Learning More about LyX .........................................................................................238
16.4 Typesetting with TeX and Friends .............................................................................................240
16.4.1 Is It a TeX or LaTeX File? .........................................................................................241
16.4.2 Processing TeX Files .................................................................................................241
16.4.3 Processing LaTeX Files .............................................................................................242
16.4.4 Writing Documents with TeX and LaTeX ................................................................243
16.4.5 TeX and LaTeX Document Templates ......................................................................244
16.5 Writing Documents with SGMLtools ........................................................................................245
16.5.1 Elements of an SGML Document ..............................................................................246
16.5.2 Checking SGML Document Syntax ..........................................................................247
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16.5.3 Generating Output from SGML .................................................................................247
16.6 Other Word Processors and Typesetting Systems .....................................................................248
17. Fonts .........................................................................................................................................................250
17.1 X Fonts .......................................................................................................................................250
17.1.1 Selecting an X Font Name .........................................................................................251
17.1.2 Listing Available X Fonts ..........................................................................................252
17.1.3 Displaying the Characters in an X Font .....................................................................253
17.1.4 Resizing the Xterm Font ............................................................................................253
17.2 Console Fonts ............................................................................................................................253
17.2.1 Setting the Console Font ............................................................................................254
17.2.2 Displaying the Characters in a Console Font .............................................................254
17.3 Text Fonts ..................................................................................................................................255
17.3.1 Horizontal Text Fonts ................................................................................................255
17.3.2 Making a Text Banner ...............................................................................................256
17.4 Other Font Tools ........................................................................................................................257
PART FOUR: Images ...................................................................................................................................258
18. Viewing Images .......................................................................................................................................259
18.1 Previewing Print Files ................................................................................................................259
18.1.1 Previewing a DVI File ...............................................................................................259
18.1.2 Previewing a PostScript File ......................................................................................260
18.1.3 Previewing a PDF File ...............................................................................................261
18.2 Viewing an Image in X ..............................................................................................................261
18.2.1 Browsing Image Collections in X ..............................................................................264
18.2.2 Putting an Image in the Root Window .......................................................................264
18.3 Browsing Images in a Console ..................................................................................................265
18.4 Viewing an Image in a Web Browser ........................................................................................266
18.5 Browsing PhotoCD Archives .....................................................................................................266
18.6 Additional Image Viewers .........................................................................................................267
19. Editing Images .........................................................................................................................................268
19.1 Transforming Images .................................................................................................................268
19.1.1 Changing the Size of an Image ..................................................................................269
19.1.2 Rotating an Image ......................................................................................................272
19.1.3 Adjusting the Colors of an Image ..............................................................................272
19.1.4 Annotating an Image ..................................................................................................274
19.1.5 Adding Borders to an Image ......................................................................................275
19.1.6 Making an Image Montage ........................................................................................276
19.1.7 Combining Images .....................................................................................................276
19.1.8 Morphing Two Images Together ...............................................................................277
19.2 Converting Images between Formats .........................................................................................278
19.3 Editing Images with the GIMP ..................................................................................................280
19.4 Interactive Image Editors and Tools ..........................................................................................281
20. Importing Images ....................................................................................................................................283
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20.1 Taking Screen Shots ..................................................................................................................283
20.1.1 Taking a Screen Shot in X .........................................................................................283
20.1.2 Taking a Screen Shot in a Console ............................................................................284
20.2 Scanning Images ........................................................................................................................285
20.2.1 Listing Available Scanner Devices ............................................................................285
20.2.2 Testing a Scanner .......................................................................................................286
20.2.3 Scanning an Image .....................................................................................................286
20.3 Extracting PhotoCD Images ......................................................................................................287
20.3.1 Converting a PhotoCD Image ....................................................................................288
20.3.2 Removing PhotoCD Haze ..........................................................................................288
21. PostScript .................................................................................................................................................290
21.1 Manipulating PostScript Pages ..................................................................................................291
21.1.1 Extracting DVI Pages to PostScript ...........................................................................291
21.1.2 Extracting Pages from a PostScript File ....................................................................291
21.1.3 Combining PostScript Pages ......................................................................................293
21.1.4 Arranging PostScript Pages in Signatures .................................................................294
21.2 Manipulating PostScript Documents .........................................................................................294
21.2.1 Resizing a PostScript Document ................................................................................295
21.2.2 Combining PostScript Documents .............................................................................295
21.2.3 Arranging a PostScript Document in a Booklet .........................................................296
21.3 Converting PostScript ................................................................................................................297
21.3.1 Converting PostScript to PDF ....................................................................................297
21.3.2 Converting PostScript to Plain Text ..........................................................................297
PART FIVE: Sound ......................................................................................................................................299
22. Sound Files ...............................................................................................................................................300
22.1 Sound File Formats ....................................................................................................................300
22.2 Adjusting the Audio Controls ....................................................................................................301
22.2.1 Listing the Current Audio Settings ............................................................................301
22.2.2 Changing the Volume Level ......................................................................................302
22.2.3 Muting an Audio Device ............................................................................................303
22.2.4 Selecting an Audio Recording Source .......................................................................303
22.3 Playing a Sound File ..................................................................................................................304
22.3.1 Playing an MP3 File ..................................................................................................305
22.3.2 Playing a MIDI File ...................................................................................................305
22.4 Recording a Sound File ..............................................................................................................306
22.5 Other Sound File Tools ..............................................................................................................307
23. Audio Compact Discs ..............................................................................................................................309
23.1 Controlling CD Audio ...............................................................................................................309
23.1.1 Playing an Audio CD .................................................................................................310
23.1.2 Pausing an Audio CD ................................................................................................310
23.1.3 Stopping an Audio CD ...............................................................................................311
23.1.4 Shuffling Audio CD Tracks .......................................................................................311
23.1.5 Displaying Information about an Audio CD ..............................................................312
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