tbl(1) tbl(1)NAME tbl - table formatter for nroff or troff SYNOPSIS tbl [-TX] [file]... ARGUMENTS file Specifies the file (that contains a table) to be formatted. If no filenames are given as arguments (or if - is specified as the last argument), tbl reads the standard input, so it may be used as a filter. When it is used with eqn(1) or neqn, tbl should come first to minimize the volume of data passed through pipes. -TX Forces tbl to use only full vertical line motions, making the output more suitable for devices that cannot generate partial vertical line motions (for example, line printers). DESCRIPTION tbl is a preprocessor that formats tables for nroff or troff. The input files are copied to the standard output, except for lines between .TS and .TE command lines, which are assumed to describe tables and are reformatted by tbl. (The .TS and .TE command lines are not altered by tbl.) The .TS command line is followed by global options, which are: center Centers the table (default is left adjust). expand Makes the table as wide as the current line length. box Encloses the table in a box. doublebox Encloses the table in a double box. allbox Encloses each item of the table in a box. tab(x) Uses the character x instead of a tab to separate items in a line of input data. The global options, if any, are terminated with a semicolon (;). Next come lines describing the format of each line of the table. Each such format line describes one line of the January 1992 1
tbl(1) tbl(1)actual table, except that the last format line (which must end with a period) describes all remaining lines of the table. Each column of each line of the table is described by a single keyletter, optionally followed by specifiers that determine the font and point size of the corresponding item, that indicate where vertical bars are to appear between columns, that determine column width, intercolumn spacing, etc. The available keyletters are: c Centers item within the column. r Right adjusts item within the column. l Left adjusts item within the column. n Numerically adjusts item in the column. Units positions of numbers are aligned vertically. s Spans previous item on the left into this column. a Centers longest line in this column and then left adjusts all other lines in this column with respect to that centered line. ^ Spans down previous entry in this column. _ Replaces this entry with a horizontal line. = Replaces this entry with a double horizontal line. The characters B and I stand for the bold and italic fonts, respectively. The character | indicates a vertical line between columns. The format lines are followed by lines containing the actual data for the table, followed finally by .TE. Within such data lines, data items are normally separated by tab characters. If a data line consists of only _ or =, a single or double line, respectively, is drawn across the table at that point. If a single item in a data line consists of only _ or =, then that item is replaced by a single or double line. Full details of all these and other features of tbl are given in the reference manual cited below. EXAMPLES In the following input, CONTROL-I (^I) represents a tab (which should be typed as a genuine tab): .TS 2 January 1992
tbl(1) tbl(1)center box ; cB s s cI cI s cI | cI s l | n n . Household | Population _ Town^IHouseholds ^INumber^ISize = Bedminster^I789^I3.26 Bernards Twp.^I3087^I3.74 Bernardsville^I2018^I3.30 Bound Brook^I3425^I3.04 Bridgewater^I7897^I3.81 Far Hills^I240^I3.19 .TE yields:_______________________________| Household Population |_______________________________| || Households| Town || Number Size||||Bedminster 789 3.26 |||Bernards Twp. 3087 3.74 |||Bernardsville 2018 3.30 |||Bound Brook 3425 3.04 |||Bridgewater 7897 3.81 |||Far Hills 240 3.19 ||______________|_______________|LIMITATIONS See LIMITATIONS under nroff(1). FILES /bin/tbl Executable file SEE ALSO eqn(1), mm(1), mvt(1), nroff(1), troff(1) mm(5), ms(5), mv(5) in A/UX Programmer's Reference ``tbl Reference'' in A/UX Text Processing Tools January 1992 3