NAME

tbl − format tables for nroff or troff

SYNOPSIS

tbl [ files ] ... 

DESCRIPTION

Tbl is an nroff (I) or troff(I) preprocessor for formatting tables.  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 reformatted.  The first line after .TS specifies the various columns: it consists of a list of column describers separated by blanks or tabs. Each column describer is a character string made up of the letters ‘n’, ‘r’, ‘c’, ‘l’ and ‘s’, which mean:

ccenter within the column

rright-adjust

lleft-adjust

nnumerical adjustment: the units digits of numbers are aligned. 

sspan the previous entry over this column. 

The column describer may be followed by an integer giving the number of spaces between this column and the next; 3 is default. The describer ‘ccr5’ indicates that the first two lines in this column are centered; the third and remaining lines are right-adjusted; and the column should be separated from the column to the right by 5 spaces. Letting \t represent a tab (which must be typed as a genuine tab) the input

.TS
cccl sccn sscn
Household Population
Town\tHouseholds
\tNumber\tSize
Bedminster\t789\t3.26
Bernards Twp.\t3087\t3.74
Bernardsville\t2018\t3.30
Bound Brook\t3425\t3.04
Branchburg\t1644\t3.49
Bridgewater\t7897\t3.81
Far Hills\t240\t3.19
.TE

yields

BUGS