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)