tabs(1) tabs(1)
NAME
tabs - set tabs on a terminal
SYNOPSIS
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, that is, UNIX
system ``standard'' tabs. 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, for example,
the DASI 300, DASI 300s, and DASI 450.
-code Use one of the codes listed below to select a
canned set of tabs. The valid 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:>
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tabs(1) tabs(1)
-
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
-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 UNIX system
``standard'' 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
tabbed file is printed with correct tab settings,
and would be used with the pr command:
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tabs(1) tabs(1)
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 will work
for many 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 flag is given explicitly.
Tab and margin setting is performed via the standard output.
USAGE
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/att4425
example of using --file (file specification) to
indicate that tabs should be set according to the
first line of $HOME/fspec.list/att4425 [see
fspec(4)].
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tabs(1) tabs(1)
Errors
UX:tabs:ERROR:illegal tabs
when arbitrary tabs are ordered
incorrectly
UX:tabs:ERROR:illegal increment
when a zero or missing increment is
found in an arbitrary specification
UX:tabs:ERROR:unknown tab code
when a canned code cannot be found
UX:tabs:ERROR:can't open
if --file option used, and file can't be
opened
UX:tabs:ERROR:file indirection
if --file option used and the
specification in that file points to yet
another file. Indirection of this form
is not permitted
Files
/usr/lib/locale/locale/LC_MESSAGES/uxue
language-specific message file [See LANG on environ(5).]
REFERENCES
environ(5), fspec(4), newform(1), pr(1), term(5), terminfo(4),
tput(1)
NOTICES
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 is willing to set 64.
The tabspec used with the tabs command is different from the
one used with the newform command. For example, tabs -8 sets
every eighth position; whereas newform -i-8 indicates that
tabs are set every eighth position.
Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc. Page 4