man(1) Manual page archive


     TBL(1)                                                     TBL(1)

     NAME
          tbl - format tables for nroff or troff

     SYNOPSIS
          tbl [ file ... ]

     DESCRIPTION
          Tbl is a preprocessor for formatting tables for nroff or
          troff(1). The input files are copied to the standard output,
          except for segments of the form

               .TS
               options ;
               format .
               data
               .T&
               format .
               data
               . . .
               .TE

          which describe tables and are replaced by troff requests to
          lay out the tables.  If no arguments are given, tbl reads
          the standard input.

          The (optional) options line is terminated by a semicolon and
          contains one or more of

               center       center the table; default is left-adjust
               expand       make table as wide as current line length
               box
               doublebox    enclose the table in a box or double box
               allbox       enclose every item in a box
               tab(x)       use x to separate input items; default is
                            tab
               linesize(n)  set rules in n-point type
               delim(xy)    recognize x and y as eqn(1) delimiters

          Each line, except the last, of the obligatory format
          describes one row of the table.  The last line describes all
          rows until the next .T&, where the format changes, or the
          end of the table at .TE.  A format is specified by key let-
          ters, one per column, either upper or lower case:

               L    Left justify: the default for columns without for-
                    mat keys.
               R    Right justify.
               C    Center.
               N    Numeric: align at decimal point (inferred for
                    integers) or at `\&'.

     TBL(1)                                                     TBL(1)

               S    Span: extend previous column across this one.
               A    Alphabetic: left-aligned within column, widest
                    item centered, indented relative to L rows.
               ^    Vertical span: continue item from previous row
                    into this row.
               -    Draw a horizontal rule in this column.
               =    Draw a double horizontal rule in this column.

          Key letters may be followed by modifiers, also either case:

               |      Draw vertical rule between columns.
               ||     Draw a double vertical rule between columns.
               n      Gap between column is n ens wide.  Default is 3.
               Ffont  Use specified font. B and I mean FB and FI.
               T      Begin vertically-spanned item at top row of
                      range; default is vertical centering (with `^').
               Pn     Use point size n.
               Vn     Use n-point vertical spacing in text block;
                      signed n means relative change.
               W(n)   Column width as a troff width specification.
                      Parens are optional if n is a simple integer.
               E      Equalize the widths of all columns marked E.

          Each line of data becomes one row of the table; tabs sepa-
          rate items.  Lines beginning with `.'  are troff requests.
          Certain special data items are recognized:

               _    Draw a horizontal rule in this column.
               =    Draw a double horizontal rule in this column.  A
                    data line consisting of a single `_' or `=' draws
                    the rule across the whole table.
               \_   Draw a rule only as wide as the contents of the
                    column.
               \Rx  Repeat character x across the column.
               \^   Span the previous item in this column down into
                    this row.
               T{   The item is a text block to be separately format-
                    ted by troff and placed in the table.  The block
                    continues to the next line beginning with T}.  The
                    remainder of the data line follows at that point.

          When it is used in a pipeline with eqn, the tbl command
          should be first, to minimize the volume of data passed
          through pipes.

     EXAMPLES
          Let <tab> represent a tab (which should be typed as a gen-
          uine tab).
          .TS
          c s s
          c c s
          c c c

     TBL(1)                                                     TBL(1)

          l n n.
          Household Population
          Town<tab>Households
          <tab>Number<tab>Size
          Bedminster<tab>789<tab>3.26
          Bernards Twp.<tab>3087<tab>3.74
          Bernardsville<tab>2018<tab>3.30
          .TE

          c s s
          c c s
          c c c
          l n n.
          Household Population
          Town Households
               Number    Size
          Bedminster     789  3.26
          Bernards Twp.  3087 3.74
          Bernardsville  2018 3.30

     SOURCE
          /sys/src/cmd/tbl

     SEE ALSO
          troff(1), eqn(1), doctype(1)
          M. E. Lesk and L. L. Cherry, ``TBL-a Program to Format
          Tables'', Unix Research System Programmer's Manual, Tenth
          Edition, Volume 2.