# Pstext \[COMPATIBILITY\]: Use of old style pstext input is deprecated
**URL:** https://forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/t/pstext-compatibility-use-of-old-style-pstext-input-is-deprecated/2927
**Category:** Q&A
**Created:** [May 14, 2022, 9:46pm UTC](https://forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/t/pstext-compatibility-use-of-old-style-pstext-input-is-deprecated/2927 "2022-05-14T21:46:36Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Kompass17](https://forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/u/Kompass17)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2022, 9:46pm UTC](https://forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/t/pstext-compatibility-use-of-old-style-pstext-input-is-deprecated/2927/1 "2022-05-14T21:46:36Z")
gmt --version 6.0.0 installed on 5.4.0-107-generic #121-Ubuntu SMP
Hi! Nobody else seems to have aired this kind of trouble in the forum:
pstext [COMPATIBILITY]: Use of old style pstext input is deprecated.
Where in what manual is the new style described?
The self-doc says
Reads (x,y[,fontinfo,angle,justify],text) from [or stdin].
The kind of input, e.g.
1.5 0.1 12 0 0 CB Semi-diurnal
appears to me coherent with the example Paul has presented @hijrah ([https://flint.soest.hawaii.edu/u/hijrah1982](https://flint.soest.hawaii.edu/u/hijrah1982)).
Meanwhile I’m using a clumsy workaround,
#!/bin/bash
# This is $HOME/bin/pstext [sic]
…
gmt pstext $\* 2\> \>(fgrep -v “Use of old style pstext input is deprecated.”)
exit
Cunnier advice is welcome
/Kompass17 a.k.a. Hans-Georg Scherneck
---
### Author:  [@pwessel](https://forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/u/pwessel)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2022, 6:46am UTC](https://forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/t/pstext-compatibility-use-of-old-style-pstext-input-is-deprecated/2927/2 "2022-05-15T06:46:45Z")
I tried
**echo 1.5 0.1 12 0 0 CB Semi-diurnal | gmt pstext -R0/4/0/4 -JX5i -Baf \> t.ps**
and it seems OK to me. You are getting that message because your default verbosity level is set to GMT\_MSG\_COMPAT. It is just an informational message - I did not see it in my case due to the settings.
This GMT 4 syntax is equivalent to GMT 6 syntax of
**gmt pstext -R0/4/0/4 -JX5i -B -F+f+a+j**
In GMT6 you can supply things like font, angle, and justification via -F on the command line, e.g
**echo 1.5 0.1 Semi-diurnal | gmt pstext -R0/4/0/4 -JX5i -Baf -F+f12p+jCB \> t.ps**
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### Author:  [@Kompass17](https://forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/u/Kompass17)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2022, 8:14am UTC](https://forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/t/pstext-compatibility-use-of-old-style-pstext-input-is-deprecated/2927/3 "2022-05-15T08:14:55Z")
Thanks Paul,
I just was left confused reading the manual pages.
With GMT\_MSG\_COMPAT = 4 I got this message also with justify 2.
Had it said
@ “Reads (x,y[,fontinfo,angle,justify],text) from [or stdin]”,
“Use option -F+f+a+j if input includes fontinfo,angle,justify”,
and
@ “-F … Without attributes, expects x,y,text, which also is the default” (i.e. without -F) I could have found my way without bothering you and the crowd. And had gmt5syntax added the -F-option it had saved me a few hours of mind-boggling.
Regretting by-passing GMT5 to find myself in new waters
cheers /Kompass17
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### Author:  [@pwessel](https://forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/u/pwessel)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2022, 6:52am UTC](https://forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/t/pstext-compatibility-use-of-old-style-pstext-input-is-deprecated/2927/4 "2022-05-16T06:52:47Z")
No worries, and we are happy to improve the docs. But I see it crurently says:
This is one or more files containing 1 or more records with (_x_ _y_ [_font_ _angle_ _justify_] _text_ ). The presence or absence of items in the brackets are determined by [**-F**](https://docs.generic-mapping-tools.org/dev/pstext.html#f).
Isn’t that what your first sentence says as well? Or do you want it to be more explicit about tieing each element to the specific -F modifier?