2 Invoking tabfmt

tabfmt reads lines from one or more files, breaks the lines into fields given a set of input field delimiters, and prints a table with constant-width columns to standard output. Standard input is used for a file name of `-' or if no input files are given.

The format for running the tabfmt program is:

     tabfmt option... file...

In the table which follows, the width-list, padding-list and alignment-list are comma-separated lists. Each list element refers to the corresponding field in the input. If the number of fields exceeds the number of list elements, the last element counts for all remaining fields.

The program accepts the following options:

`-d string'

`--delimiter=string'

Break the input lines into fields at any of the characters in string. By default, input fields are delimited by the characters in the IFS environment variable. If this environment variable is not set, `TAB' and `SPC' will be used as the default.

The following backslash-escaped characters are recognized:

`\a'

alert (`BEL')

`\b'

backspace (`BS')

`\f'

form feed (`FF')

`\n'

new line (`LF')

`\r'

carriage return (`CR')

`\t'

horizontal tab (`TAB')

`\v'

vertical tab (`VT')

`\\'

backslash (`\')

`\nnn'

the character whose ASCII code is nnn (octal); if nnn is not a valid octal number, its value is taken literally.

The input delimiter does not appear in the output (see the description of --output-delimiter instead). If a sequence of input delimiters appears in the input, each pair of delimiters is taken to enclose an empty field.

`-w width-list'

`--widths=width-list'

Determine the minimum and maximum output width of each field. By default, the width of a field is determined by its widest entry in all lines.

Each element of width-list has one of the following forms:

`'

An empty element poses no constraints on the width of a field. The width is determined by the widest entry occurring at this field in all lines.

`n-'

Use at least n characters for this field. If an entry has less characters, the missing characters are filled with spaces, or the character specified with the option --filler.

`-n'

Use at most n characters for this field. If an entry has more characters, the remaining characters are cut off.

`n-m'

Use at least n and at most m characters for this field.

`n'

Use exactly n characters for this field.

`-e'

`--equal-width'

Use the same width for all fields. The width is determined by the widest entry in all fields. If a minimum or maximum width is specified (see the description of --widths), all but the first element of width-list are ignored.

`-f character'

`--filler=character'

If an entry has less characters than the field width, fill the missing characters with character; default is `SPC'. The same backslash-escaped characters are recognized as for the option --delimiter.

`-a alignment-list'

`--align=alignment-list'

Determine the alignment of each field. By default, all fields are left-aligned. Elements of alignment-list have the following form:

`l' or `L'

Align the entry to the left of the field.

`r' or `R'

Align the entry to the right of the field.

`c' or `C'

Center the entry in the field.

`-p padding-list'

`--padding=padding-list'

Determine the number of padding characters of each field. By default, fields have no padding. The padding will appear both at the left and the right of the field. Note that the padding does not contribute to the field width.

`-l padding-list'

`--left-padding=padding-list'

Determine the left padding of each field (see the description of --padding).

`-r padding-list'

`--right-padding=padding-list'

Determine the right padding of each field (see the description of --padding).

`-P character'

`--padder=character'

If a padding is specified for any field, fill it with character; default is `SPC' (see the description of --padding). The same backslash-escaped characters are recognized as for the option --delimiter.

`-D string'

`--output-delimiter=string'

Separate the fields by string in the output; default is `TAB'. The same backslash-escaped characters are recognized as for the option --delimiter.

`-o file'

`--output=file'

Write the output to the file file. By default, the table is written to standard output.

`--debug'

Produce debugging information.

`-h'

`--help'

Print an informative help message describing the options and then exit.

`-V'

`--version'

Print the version number of tabfmt and then exit.

An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value indicates failure.

Note that each line in the input can have a different number of fields; in this case, the lines will also have different numbers of fields in the output. In other words, no fields are added in the output.

If multiple files are specified, they will be treated as a single dataset. In particular, the field widths are not computed per input file; they are computed over the entire input.