tabs(1)
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tabs Command
set tabs on a terminal
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SYNTAX
tabs [tabspec] [-Ttype] [+mn]
DESCRIPTION
tabs sets the tab stops on the user's terminal according to the
tab specification tabspec, after clearing any previous settings.
The user's terminal must have remotely-settable hardware tabs.
tabspec Four types of tab specification are accepted for tabspec.
They are described below: canned (-code), repetitive
(-n), arbitrary (n1,n2,...), and file (--file). If no
tabspec is given, the default value is -8. The lowest
column number is 1. Note that for tabs, column 1 always
refers to the leftmost column on a terminal, even one
whose column markers begin at 0, e.g., the DASI 300, DASI
300s, and DASI 450.
-code Use one of the codes listed below to select a canned set
of tabs. The legal codes and their meanings are as
follows:
-a 1,10,16,36,72
Assembler, IBM S/370, first format
-a2 1,10,16,40,72
Assembler, IBM S/370, second format
-c 1,8,12,16,20,55
COBOL, normal format
-c2 1,6,10,14,49
COBOL compact format (columns 1-6 omitted).
Using this code, the first typed character
corresponds to card column 7, one space gets you
to column 8, and a tab reaches column 12. Files
using this tab setup should include a format
specification as follows (see fspec(4)):
<:t-c2 m6 s66 d:>
-c3 1,6,10,14,18,22,26,30,34,38,42,46,50,54,58,62,67
COBOL compact format (columns 1-6 omitted), with
more tabs than -c2. This is the recommended
format for COBOL. The appropriate format
specification is (see fspec(4)):
<:t-c3 m6 s66 d:>
-f 1,7,11,15,19,23
FORTRAN
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tabs(1)
-p 1,5,9,13,17,21,25,29,33,37,41,45,49,53,57,61
PL/I
-s 1,10,55
SNOBOL
-u 1,12,20,44
UNIVAC 1100 Assembler
-n A repetitive specification requests tabs at columns 1+n,
1+2*n, etc. Of particular importance is the value 8:
this represents the DG/UX system usual tab setting, and
is the most likely tab setting to be found at a terminal.
Another special case is the value 0, implying no tabs at
all.
n1,n2,...
The arbitrary format permits the user to type any chosen
set of numbers, separated by commas, in ascending order.
Up to 40 numbers are allowed. If any number (except the
first one) is preceded by a plus sign, it is taken as an
increment to be added to the previous value. Thus, the
formats 1,10,20,30, and 1,10,+10,+10 are considered
identical.
--file If the name of a file is given, tabs reads the first line
of the file, searching for a format specification (see
fspec(4)). If it finds one there, it sets the tab stops
according to it, otherwise it sets them as -8. This type
of specification may be used to make sure that a file
with tabs is printed with correct tab settings, and would
be used with the pr(1) command:
tabs -- file; pr file
Any of the following also may be used. If a given flag occurs
more than once, the last value given takes effect:
-Ttype tabs usually needs to know the type of terminal in order
to set tabs and always needs to know the type to set
margins. type is a name listed in term(5). If no -T
flag is supplied, tabs uses the value of the environment
variable TERM. If TERM is not defined in the environment
(see environ(5)), tabs tries a sequence that usually
works for different terminals.
+mn The margin argument may be used for some terminals. It
causes all tabs to be moved over n columns by making
column n+1 the left margin. If +m is given without a
value of n, the value assumed is 10. For a TermiNet, the
first value in the tab list should be 1, or the margin
will move even further to the right. The normal
(leftmost) margin on most terminals is obtained by +m0.
The margin for most terminals is reset only when the +m
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tabs(1)
flag is given explicitly.
Tab and margin setting is performed via the standard output.
EXAMPLES
tabs -a example using -code (canned specification) to set
tabs to the settings required by the IBM assembler:
columns 1, 10, 16, 36, 72.
tabs -8 example of using -n (repetitive specification),
where n is 8, causes tabs to be set every eighth
position:
1+(1*8), 1+(2*8), ... which evaluate to columns 9,
17, ...
tabs 1,8,36 example of using n1,n2,... (arbitrary
specification) to set tabs at columns 1, 8, and 36.
tabs --$HOME/fspec.list/dgux18
example of using --file (file specification) to
indicate that tabs should be set according to the
first line of $HOME/fspec.list/dgux18" (see
fspec(4)).
DIAGNOSTICS
illegal tabs when arbitrary tabs are ordered incorrectly
illegal increment when a zero or missing increment is found in
an arbitrary specification
unknown tab code when a canned code cannot be found
can't open if --file option used, and file can't be
opened
file indirection if --file option used and the specification
in that file points to yet another file.
Indirection of this form is not permitted
unable to set tabs $TERM is not a valid terminal type or its
terminfo entry does not contain operations
for setting tabs.
SEE ALSO
newform(1), pr(1), tput(1).
fspec(4), terminfo(4), environ(5), term(5) in the Programmer's
Reference for the DG/UX System.
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tabs(1)
NOTE
There is no consistency among different terminals regarding ways
of clearing tabs and setting the left margin.
Tabs clears only 20 tabs (on terminals requiring a long
sequence), but can set 64.
WARNING
Data General terminals do not support hardware tabbing. The
tabspec used with the tabs command is different from the one used
with the newform(1) command. For example, tabs -8 sets every
eighth position; whereas newform -i-8 indicates that tabs are set
every eighth position.
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