usr/man/cat1/expand.0



EXPAND(1)           UNIX Programmer's Manual            EXPAND(1)


N\bNA\bAM\bME\bE
     expand, unexpand - expand tabs to spaces, and vice versa

S\bSY\bYN\bNO\bOP\bPS\bSI\bIS\bS
     e\bex\bxp\bpa\ban\bnd\bd [ -tabstop ] [ -tab1,tab2,...,tabn ] [ file ...  ]
     u\bun\bne\bex\bxp\bpa\ban\bnd\bd [ -\b-a\ba ] [ file ...  ]

D\bDE\bES\bSC\bCR\bRI\bIP\bPT\bTI\bIO\bON\bN
     _\bE_\bx_\bp_\ba_\bn_\bd processes the named files or the standard input writ-
     ing the standard output with tabs changed into blanks.
     Backspace characters are preserved into the output and
     decrement the column count for tab calculations.  _\bE_\bx_\bp_\ba_\bn_\bd is
     useful for pre-processing character files (before sorting,
     looking at specific columns, etc.) that contain tabs.

     If a single _\bt_\ba_\bb_\bs_\bt_\bo_\bp argument is given, then tabs are set
     _\bt_\ba_\bb_\bs_\bt_\bo_\bp spaces apart instead of the default 8.  If multiple
     tabstops are given then the tabs are set at those specific
     columns.

     _\bU_\bn_\be_\bx_\bp_\ba_\bn_\bd puts tabs back into the data from the standard
     input or the named files and writes the result on the stan-
     dard output.  By default, only leading blanks and tabs are
     reconverted to maximal strings of tabs.  If the -\b-a\ba option is
     given, then tabs are inserted whenever they would compress
     the resultant file by replacing two or more characters.


Printed 7/9/88             May 9, 1986                          1