NAME

tbl − format tables for nroff or troff

SYNOPSIS

tbl [ files ] ... 

DESCRIPTION

Tbl is a preprocessor for formatting tables for nroff or troff(1). 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 are reformatted. Details are given in the tbl(1) reference manual.

EXAMPLE

As an example, letting \t represent a tab (which should be typed as a genuine tab) the input

.TS

c s s
c c s
c c c
l n n.
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

:Household Population
:Town:Households
::Number:Size
Bedminster:789:3.26
Bernards Twp.:3087:3.74
Bernardsville:2018:3.30
Bound Brook:3425:3.04
Branchburg:1644:3.49
Bridgewater:7897:3.81
Far Hills:240:3.19

If no arguments are given, tbl reads the standard input, so it may be used as a filter.  When tbl is used with eqn or neqn the tbl command should be first, to minimize the volume of data passed through pipes. 

SEE ALSO

troff(1), eqn(1)
M. E. Lesk, TBL. 

NEWS-OSRelease 4.1C