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

.TH EXPAND 1 "18 January 1983"
.UC 4
.SH NAME
expand, unexpand \- expand tabs to spaces, and vice versa
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B expand
[
\-tabstop
] [
\-tab1,tab2,...,tabn
] [
file ...
]
.br
.B unexpand
[
.B \-a
] [
file ...
]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Expand
processes the named files or the standard input writing
the standard output with tabs changed into blanks.
Backspace characters are preserved into the output and decrement
the column count for tab calculations.
.I Expand
is useful for pre-processing character files
(before sorting, looking at specific columns, etc.) that
contain tabs.
.PP
If a single
.I tabstop
argument is given then tabs are set
.I tabstop
spaces apart instead of the default 8.
If multiple tabstops are given then the tabs are set at those
specific columns.
.PP
.I Unexpand
puts tabs back into the data from the standard input or the named
files and writes the result on the standard output.
By default only leading blanks and tabs
are reconverted to maximal strings of tabs.  If the
.B \-a
option is given, then tabs are inserted whenever they would compress the
resultant file by replacing two or more characters.
Commit	Line	Data
d8649de5 C	1	.TH EXPAND 1 "18 January 1983"
	2	.UC 4
	3	.SH NAME
	4	expand, unexpand \- expand tabs to spaces, and vice versa
	5	.SH SYNOPSIS
	6	.B expand
	7	[
	8	\-tabstop
	9	] [
	10	\-tab1,tab2,...,tabn
	11	] [
	12	file ...
	13	]
	14	.br
	15	.B unexpand
	16	[
	17	.B \-a
	18	] [
	19	file ...
	20	]
	21	.SH DESCRIPTION
	22	.I Expand
	23	processes the named files or the standard input writing
	24	the standard output with tabs changed into blanks.
	25	Backspace characters are preserved into the output and decrement
	26	the column count for tab calculations.
	27	.I Expand
	28	is useful for pre-processing character files
	29	(before sorting, looking at specific columns, etc.) that
	30	contain tabs.
	31	.PP
	32	If a single
	33	.I tabstop
	34	argument is given then tabs are set
	35	.I tabstop
	36	spaces apart instead of the default 8.
	37	If multiple tabstops are given then the tabs are set at those
	38	specific columns.
	39	.PP
	40	.I Unexpand
	41	puts tabs back into the data from the standard input or the named
	42	files and writes the result on the standard output.
	43	By default only leading blanks and tabs
	44	are reconverted to maximal strings of tabs. If the
	45	.B \-a
	46	option is given, then tabs are inserted whenever they would compress the
	47	resultant file by replacing two or more characters.