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 letters, one per column, upper or lower case

­L
Left justify: the default for columns without format keys.

­R
Right justify.

­C
Center.

­N
Numeric: align at decimal point (inferred for integers) or at \&. 

­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 separate 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 formatted 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 genuine tab). 

.TS
c s s
c c s
c c c
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
 
 
 

SEE ALSO

troff(1), eqn(1)
M. E. Lesk and L. L. Cherry, ‘TBL—a Program to Format Tables’, Unix Research System Programmer’s Manual, Volume 2

Plan 9  —  January 03, 1993