[unix-history] / usr / man / man1 / col.1

.TH COL 1
.SH NAME
col \- filter reverse line feeds
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B col [\|\-bfx\|]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Col
reads the standard input and writes the standard output.
It performs the line overlays implied by reverse line
feeds (ESC-7 in ASCII)
and by forward and reverse half line feeds (ESC-9 and ESC-8).
.I Col
is particularly useful for filtering multicolumn
output made with the `.rt' command of
.I nroff
and output resulting from use of the
.IR tbl (1)
preprocessor.
.PP
Although
.I col
accepts half line motions in its input, it normally does not
emit them on output.
Instead, text that would appear between lines is moved to the next lower
full line boundary.
This treatment can be suppressed by the
.B \-f
(fine) option; in this case
the output from
.I col
may contain forward half line feeds (ESC-9), but will still never contain
either kind of reverse line motion.
.PP
If the
.B \-b
option is given,
.I col
assumes that the output device in use is not capable of backspacing.
In this case, if several characters are to appear in the same place,
only the last one read will be taken.
.PP
The control characters SO (ASCII code 017),
and SI (016) are assumed
to start and end text in an alternate character set.
The character set (primary or alternate) associated with each printing
character read is remembered; on output, SO and SI characters are generated
where necessary to maintain the correct treatment of each character.
.PP
.I Col
normally converts white space to tabs to shorten printing time.
If the
.B \-x
option is given, this conversion is suppressed.
.PP
All control characters are removed from the input except space,
backspace,
tab, return, newline, ESC (033) followed by one of 7, 8, 9, SI, SO, and VT
(013).
This last character is an alternate form of full reverse line feed, for
compatibility with some other hardware conventions.
All other non-printing characters are ignored.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
troff(1), tbl(1), greek(1)
.SH BUGS
Can't back up more than 128 lines.
.br
No more than 800 characters, including backspaces, on a line.
Commit	Line	Data
e6817382 BJ	1	.TH COL 1
	2	.SH NAME
	3	col \- filter reverse line feeds
	4	.SH SYNOPSIS
	5	.B col [\\|\-bfx\\|]
	6	.SH DESCRIPTION
	7	.I Col
	8	reads the standard input and writes the standard output.
	9	It performs the line overlays implied by reverse line
	10	feeds (ESC-7 in ASCII)
	11	and by forward and reverse half line feeds (ESC-9 and ESC-8).
	12	.I Col
	13	is particularly useful for filtering multicolumn
	14	output made with the `.rt' command of
	15	.I nroff
	16	and output resulting from use of the
	17	.IR tbl (1)
	18	preprocessor.
	19	.PP
	20	Although
	21	.I col
	22	accepts half line motions in its input, it normally does not
	23	emit them on output.
	24	Instead, text that would appear between lines is moved to the next lower
	25	full line boundary.
	26	This treatment can be suppressed by the
	27	.B \-f
	28	(fine) option; in this case
	29	the output from
	30	.I col
	31	may contain forward half line feeds (ESC-9), but will still never contain
	32	either kind of reverse line motion.
	33	.PP
	34	If the
	35	.B \-b
	36	option is given,
	37	.I col
	38	assumes that the output device in use is not capable of backspacing.
	39	In this case, if several characters are to appear in the same place,
	40	only the last one read will be taken.
	41	.PP
	42	The control characters SO (ASCII code 017),
	43	and SI (016) are assumed
	44	to start and end text in an alternate character set.
	45	The character set (primary or alternate) associated with each printing
	46	character read is remembered; on output, SO and SI characters are generated
	47	where necessary to maintain the correct treatment of each character.
	48	.PP
	49	.I Col
	50	normally converts white space to tabs to shorten printing time.
	51	If the
	52	.B \-x
	53	option is given, this conversion is suppressed.
	54	.PP
	55	All control characters are removed from the input except space,
	56	backspace,
	57	tab, return, newline, ESC (033) followed by one of 7, 8, 9, SI, SO, and VT
	58	(013).
	59	This last character is an alternate form of full reverse line feed, for
	60	compatibility with some other hardware conventions.
	61	All other non-printing characters are ignored.
	62	.SH "SEE ALSO"
	63	troff(1), tbl(1), greek(1)
	64	.SH BUGS
65	Can't back up more than 128 lines.
66	.br
67	No more than 800 characters, including backspaces, on a line.