ttbl.1 - plan9port - [fork] Plan 9 from user space
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ttbl.1 (4309B)
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1 .TH TBL 1
2 .SH NAME
3 tbl \- format tables for nroff or troff
4 .SH SYNOPSIS
5 .B tbl
6 [
7 .I file ...
8 ]
9 .SH DESCRIPTION
10 .I Tbl
11 is a preprocessor for formatting tables for
12 .I nroff
13 or
14 .MR troff (1) .
15 The input
16 .I files
17 are copied to the standard output,
18 except for segments of the form
19 .IP
20 .nf
21 .B .TS
22 .IB options " ;
23 .IB format " .
24 .I data
25 .B .T&
26 .IB format " .
27 .I data
28 \&. . .
29 .B .TE
30 .fi
31 .LP
32 which describe tables
33 and are replaced by
34 .I troff
35 requests to lay out the tables.
36 If no arguments are given,
37 .I tbl
38 reads the standard input.
39 .PP
40 The (optional)
41 .I options
42 line is terminated by a semicolon and contains one or more
43 of
44 .RS
45 .TF linesize(n)
46 .TP
47 .B center
48 center the table; default is left-adjust
49 .TP
50 .B expand
51 make table as wide as current line length
52 .TP
53 .B box
54 .TP
55 .B doublebox
56 enclose the table in a box or double box
57 .TP
58 .B allbox
59 enclose every item in a box
60 .TP
61 .BI tab( x )
62 use
63 .I x
64 to separate input items; default is tab
65 .TP
66 .BI linesize( n )
67 set rules in
68 .IR n -point
69 type
70 .TP
71 .BI delim( xy )
72 recognize
73 .I x
74 and
75 .I y
76 as
77 .MR eqn (1)
78 delimiters
79 .PD
80 .RE
81 .PP
82 Each line, except the last, of the obligatory
83 .I format
84 describes one row of the table.
85 The last line describes all rows until the next
86 .BR .T& ,
87 where the format changes,
88 or the end of the table at
89 .BR .TE .
90 A format is specified by key letters, one per column, either upper or lower case:
91 .RS
92 .TP 0
93 .B L
94 Left justify: the default for
95 columns without format keys.
96 .PD0
97 .TP
98 .B R
99 Right justify.
100 .TP
101 .B C
102 Center.
103 .TP
104 .B N
105 Numeric: align at decimal point (inferred for integers) or at
106 .LR \e& .
107 .TP
108 .B S
109 Span: extend previous column across this one.
110 .TP
111 .B A
112 Alphabetic: left-aligned within column, widest item centered, indented relative to
113 .B L
114 rows.
115 .TP
116 .B ^
117 Vertical span: continue item from previous row into this row.
118 .TP
119 .B -
120 Draw a horizontal rule in this column.
121 .TP
122 .B =
123 Draw a double horizontal rule in this column.
124 .PD
125 .RE
126 .PP
127 Key letters may be followed by modifiers, also either case:
128 .RS
129 .TP \w'\fLF\fIfont\fLXX'u
130 .B |
131 Draw vertical rule between columns.
132 .PD0
133 .TP
134 .B ||
135 Draw a double vertical rule between columns.
136 .TP
137 .I n
138 Gap between column is
139 .I n
140 ens wide.
141 Default is 3.
142 .TP
143 .BI F font
144 Use specified
145 .IR font .
146 .B B
147 and
148 .B I
149 mean
150 .B FB
151 and
152 .BR FI .
153 .TP
154 .B T
155 Begin vertically-spanned item at top row of range; default is
156 vertical centering (with
157 .LR ^ ).
158 .TP
159 .BI P n
160 Use point size
161 .IR n .
162 .TP
163 .BI V n
164 Use
165 .IR n -point
166 vertical spacing in text block; signed
167 .I n
168 means relative change.
169 .TP
170 .BI W( n )
171 Column width as a
172 .I troff
173 width specification.
174 Parens are optional if
175 .I n
176 is a simple integer.
177 .TP
178 .B E
179 Equalize the widths of all columns marked
180 .BR E .
181 .PD
182 .RE
183 .PP
184 Each line of
185 .I data
186 becomes one row of the table; tabs separate items.
187 Lines beginning with
188 .L .
189 are
190 .I troff
191 requests.
192 Certain special data items are recognized:
193 .RS
194 .TP 0
195 .B _
196 Draw a horizontal rule in this column.
197 .PD0
198 .TP
199 .B =
200 Draw a double horizontal rule in this column.
201 A data line consisting of a single
202 .L _
203 or
204 .L =
205 draws the rule across the whole table.
206 .TP
207 .B \e_
208 Draw a rule only as wide as the contents of the column.
209 .TP
210 .BI \eR x
211 Repeat character
212 .I x
213 across the column.
214 .TP
215 .B \e^
216 Span the previous item in this column down into this row.
217 .TP
218 .B T{
219 The item is a text block to be separately formatted
220 by
221 .I troff
222 and placed in the table.
223 The block continues to the next line beginning with
224 .BR T} .
225 The remainder of the data line follows at that point.
226 .PD
227 .RE
228 .PP
229 When it is used in a pipeline with
230 .IR eqn ,
231 the
232 .I tbl
233 command should be first, to minimize the volume
234 of data passed through
235 pipes.
236 .SH EXAMPLES
237 .ds tb \fR<tab>\fP
238 Let \*(tb
239 represent a tab (which should
240 be typed as a genuine tab).
241 .if t .2C
242 .EX
243 \&.TS
244 c s s
245 c c s
246 c c c
247 l n n.
248 Household Population
249 Town\*(tbHouseholds
250 \*(tbNumber\*(tbSize
251 Bedminster\*(tb789\*(tb3.26
252 Bernards Twp.\*(tb3087\*(tb3.74
253 Bernardsville\*(tb2018\*(tb3.30
254 \&.TE
255 .if t \{\0
256 \0
257 \0\}
258 .if n .PP
259 .TS
260 c s s
261 c c s
262 c c c
263 l n n.
264 Household Population
265 Town Households
266 Number Size
267 Bedminster 789 3.26
268 Bernards Twp. 3087 3.74
269 Bernardsville 2018 3.30
270 .TE
271 .EE
272 .if t \{.sp3
273 .1C\}
274 .SH SOURCE
275 .B \*9/src/cmd/tbl
276 .SH SEE ALSO
277 .IR troff (1),
278 .MR eqn (1) ,
279 .MR doctype (1)
280 .br
281 M. E. Lesk and L. L. Cherry,
282 ``TBL\(ema Program to Format Tables'',
283 .I
284 Unix Research System Programmer's Manual,
285 Tenth Edition, Volume 2.