expand(1) expand(1)
NAME
expand - convert tabs to spaces
SYNOPSIS
/usr/ucb/expand [-t tablist] [file ...]
DESCRIPTION
The expand command writes files or the standard input to the standard
output with tab characters replaced by one or more blanks needed to
pad the line to the next tab stop. All backspace characters are copied
to the output and cause the column position count for tab stop calcu-
lations to be decremented. The column position count will not be
decremented below zero.
OPTIONS
-t tablist
Specifies the tab stops. The argument tablist must consist of one
or more numbers, separated by blanks or commas, in ascending
order. A list separated by blanks must be enclosed in quotes. If
only one number is specified, the tab stops will be set to
tablist column positions instead of the default 8 column posi-
tions. If multiple numbers are given, the tabs will be set at the
specified column positions.
Each tab stop position N must be an integer value greater than
zero, and the specifications must be in ascending order. This
means that tabbing from the start of the line of output to posi-
tion N causes the next character output to be in the (N+1)th
column position in that line.
If the expand command has to process a tab character at a posi-
tion beyond the last position specified in a multiple tab stop
list, the tab character is replaced by a blank in the output.
file The file whose tab characters are to be replaced by blanks.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The following environment variables affect the execution of expand:
LANG Specifies a default value for the internationalization
variables that are unset or null. If LANG is unset or
null, the corresponding default value from the interna-
tionalized environment is used. If one of the interna-
tionalization variables contains an invalid setting, the
command behaves as if none of the variables have been
defined.
LCALL If this variable has been assigned a value, i.e. it is
not a null string, this value overrides the values of all
the other internationalization variables.
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expand(1) expand(1)
LCCTYPE Determines the internationalized environment for the
interpretation of byte sequences (e.g. single-byte char-
acters as opposed to multi-byte characters in arguments
and input files). The internationalized environment for
the processing of tab characters and blanks and for the
specification of the width in column positions each char-
acter would occupy on a constant-width output device.
LCMESSAGES Determines the format and contents of error messages.
NLSPATH Determines the position of message catalogs for the pro-
cessing of LCMESSAGES.
STANDARD OUTPUT (STDOUT)
The standard output is equivalent to the input files with tab charac-
ters converted into the appropriate number of blanks.
EXIT STATUS
0 Successful completion.
>0 An error occurred.
SEE ALSO
tabs(1), unexpand(1).
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