expand(1) [hpux man page]
expand(1) General Commands Manual expand(1) NAME
expand, unexpand - expand tabs to spaces, and vice versa SYNOPSIS
tablist] [file ...] tablist] [file ...] Obsolescent: tabstop] tabn] [file ...] DESCRIPTION
processes the named files or the standard input and writes to the standard output with tabs changed into spaces. Backspace characters are preserved in the output, and the column count is decreased by one column for tab calculations. For proper tab calculation, if a multi-col- umn character is to be "backspace'd", it should be followed by multiple backspace characters which equal to it's column width. If a tab character is found after the last tab position, it is replaced by a single space. is useful for preprocessing character files that contain tabs (before sorting, looking at specific columns, etc). recognizes the following command-line options and arguments: tablist specifies where to set the tab positions instead of the default tablist can take two forms. If it is a single num- ber, tabs are set tablist spaces apart. tablist can also be a blank- or comma-separated list of increasing positions where tabs are to be set. This option is obsolescent and is equivalent to using This option is obsolescent and is equivalent to using processes the named files or the standard input and writes to the standard output with spaces changed into tabs where possible. By default, only leading spaces and tabs are converted to maximal strings of tabs. The default tab position is every 8 characters. Backspace characters are preserved into the output, and the column count is decreased by one column for tab calculations. For proper tab calcula- tion, if a multi-column character is to be "backspace'd", it should be followed by multiple backspace characters which equal to it's column width. recognizes the following command-line options and arguments: Tabs are inserted whenever they would compress the resultant file by replacing two or more spaces before a tab position. tablist specifies the tab positions. tablist can take two forms. If it is a single number, tabs are set every tablist spa- ces apart. If tablist is a blank- or comma-separated list of increasing positions, tabs are set at those locations. The option implies the option. If the option is not specified, the default is equivalent to specifying except that is not implied for this case. EXTERNAL INFLUENCES
Environment Variables determines the interpretation of text as single and/or multi-byte characters. determines the language in which messages are displayed. If or is not specified in the environment or is set to the empty string, the value of is used as a default for each unspecified or empty variable. If is not specified or is set to the empty string, a default of "C" (see lang(5)) is used instead of If any internationalization variable contains an invalid setting, and behave as if all internationalization variables are set to "C". See environ(5). If is set to a non-empty string value, it overrides the values of all the other internationalization variables. International Code Set Support Single- and multi-byte character code sets are supported with the exception that do not recognize multi-byte alternative space characters. STANDARDS CONFORMANCE
expand(1)
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expand(1) User Commands expand(1) NAME
expand, unexpand - expand TAB characters to SPACE characters, and vice versa SYNOPSIS
expand [-t tablist] [file...] expand [-tabstop] [ -tab1, tab2,. . ., tabn] [file...] unexpand [-a] [-t tablist] [file...] DESCRIPTION
The expand utility copies files (or the standard input) to the standard output, with TAB characters expanded to SPACE characters. BACKSPACE characters are preserved into the output and decrement the column count for TAB calculations. expand is useful for pre-processing character files (before sorting, looking at specific columns, and so forth) that contain TAB characters. unexpand copies files (or the standard input) to the standard output, putting TAB characters back into the data. By default, only leading SPACE and TAB characters are converted to strings of tabs, but this can be overridden by the -a option (see the OPTIONS section below). OPTIONS
The following options are supported for expand: -t tablist Specifies the tab stops. The argument tablist must consist of a single positive decimal integer or multiple posi- tive decimal integers, separated by blank characters or commas, in ascending order. If a single number is given, tabs will be set tablist column positions apart instead of the default 8. If multiple numbers are given, the tabs will be set at those specific column positions. Each tab-stop position N must be an integer value greater than zero, and the list must be in strictly ascending order. This is taken to mean that, from the start of a line of output, tabbing to position N causes the next char- acter output to be in the (N+1)th column position on that line. In the event of expand having to process a tab character at a position beyond the last of those specified in a mul- tiple tab-stop list, the tab character is replaced by a single space character in the output. -tabstop Specifies as a single argument, sets TAB characters tabstop SPACE characters apart instead of the default 8. -tab1,tab2,...,tabn Sets TAB characters at the columns specified by -tab1,tab2,...,tabn The following options are supported for unexpand: -a Inserts TAB characters when replacing a run of two or more SPACE characters would produce a smaller output file. -t tablist Specifies the tab stops. The option-argument tablist must be a single argument consisting of a single positive decimal integer or multiple positive decimal integers, separated by blank characters or commas, in ascending order. If a single number is given, tabs will be set tablist column positions apart instead of the default 8. If multiple numbers are given, the tabs will be set at those specific column positions. Each tab-stop position N must be an integer value greater than zero, and the list must be in strictly ascending order. This is taken to mean that, from the start of a line of output, tabbing to position N will cause the next character output to be in the (N+1)th column position on that line. When the -t option is not specified, the default is the equivalent of specifying -t 8 (except for the interaction with -a, described below). No space-to-tab character conversions occur for characters at positions beyond the last of those specified in a multiple tab-stop list. When -t is specified, the presence or absence of the -a option is ignored; conversion will not be limited to the processing of leading blank characters. OPERANDS
The following ooperand is supported for expand and unexpand: file The path name of a text file to be used as input. ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
See environ(5) for descriptions of the following environment variables that affect the execution of expand and unexpand: LANG, LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, LC_MESSAGES, and NLSPATH. EXIT STATUS
The following exit values are returned: 0 Successful completion >0 An error occurred. ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes: +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ | ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE | +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ |Availability |SUNWesu | +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ |CSI |enabled | +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ |Interface Stability |Standard | +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ SEE ALSO
tabs(1), attributes(5), environ(5), standards(5) SunOS 5.10 1 Feb 1995 expand(1)