tbl
PURPOSE
Formats tables for the nroff, troff and troff commands.
SYNOPSIS
tar [ -crtux ] [ -vwdmlh ] [ -bblocks ] [ -ffilename[-count] ]
[ -Cblocks ] [ -number ] [ -iinputlist ] [-sblocksb] [ -sfeet[@density] ]
[ name ... ]
DESCRIPTION
The tbl command is a preprocessor that formats tables for
nroff and troff. It reads the specified files or, if you
do not specify any file names or you specify a - (minus)
as a file name, it reads standard input. The input is
copied unchanged to standard output, except for text
between lines containing .TS and .TE. This text
describes tables, and is reformatted by tbl. The .TS and
.TE lines are not altered by tbl. For more detailed
information on how to format text for tbl, see Text For-
matting Guide.
Note: When tbl is used with eqn or neqn, tbl should come
first to minimize the volume of data passed through pipe-
lines.
At the start of tbl text, you should include a line con-
taining .TS. You can follow this with a line containing
global options. The available global options are:
center Centers the table (the default is left-
adjusted).
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.
linesize (n) Sets lines and rules for boxes in point
size n.
delim (x,y) Sets x and y as the eqn and neqn text
delimiters.
End the list of global options with a ; (semicolon).
After the global options, enter lines describing the
format of each row in the table. Each format line
(except the last) describes one row of the table. The
last one describes all remaining rows of the table. This
must end with a period to indicate that it is the end of
the format specification. Each column of the table is
described by a single keyletter.
The available keyletters are:
c Centers the item in the column.
r Right-adjusts the item in the column.
l Left-adjusts the item in the column.
n Adjusts the numerical items in the column to line up
at the decimal point or right-adjusts them if there
are no decimal points.
s Allows the previous item on the left to spill over
into this column if the item is too wide for its
column.
a Centers the longest line in this column and then left-
adjusts all other lines in it with respect to the cen-
tered line.
^ Allows the item above to spill over into this column
if the item is too large.
_ Replaces this entry with a horizontal line.
= Replaces this entry with a double horizontal line.
After the keyletter, you can enter specifiers that deter-
mine where vertical lines appear between columns, column
width, inter-column spacing, and the font and point size
of the item. The following table lists the legal
specifiers.
+---------+-----------------+---------+-----------------+
| Specifie| Meaning | Specifie| Meaning |
+---------+-----------------+---------+-----------------+
| e or E | Equal width | w or W | Minimum width |
| | columns | | column |
+---------+-----------------+---------+-----------------+
| f or F | Font change | z or Z | Zero width |
| | | | column |
+---------+-----------------+---------+-----------------+
| nnn | Column sepa- | .xx | Included troff |
| | ration | | request |
+---------+-----------------+---------+-----------------+
| p or P | Point size | | | Vertical line |
| | change | | |
+---------+-----------------+---------+-----------------+
| s or S | Spanned item | || | Double vertical |
| | | | line |
+---------+-----------------+---------+-----------------+
| t or T | Vertical span- | \^ | Vertical span |
| | ning at top | | |
+---------+-----------------+---------+-----------------+
| T{ . . | Text block | \_ | Short hori- |
| . T} | | | zontal line |
+---------+-----------------+---------+-----------------+
| u or U | Staggered | \Rx | Repeat char- |
| | columns | | acter |
+---------+-----------------+---------+-----------------+
| v or V | Vertical | | |
| | spacing change | | |
+---------+-----------------+---------+-----------------+
Figure 11. tbl Column and Item Specifiers
The format lines are followed by lines containing data
for the table. The last line consists of .TE. Within
the data lines, data items are separated by tab charac-
ters, unless the global option, delim is used.
If a data line consists of only "_" (underscore) or =
(equal sign), a single or double line is drawn across the
table at that point. If an entry in a data line consists
of only "_" or =, then that item is replaced by a single
or double line.
FLAG
-TX Uses only full vertical line motions, making the
output suitable for line printers and other
devices that do not have partial vertical line
motions.
RELATED INFORMATION
The following commands: "cw, checkcw," "eqn, neqn,
checkeq," "mm, checkmm," "mmt, checkmm," "nroff,
troff," and "troff."
The mm and mv miscellaneous facilities in AIX Operating
System Technical Reference.
The discussion of tbl in Text Formatting Guide.