COL(1)								   User Commands							    COL(1)

NAME

       col - filter reverse line feeds from input

SYNOPSIS

       col [options]

DESCRIPTION

       col  filters out reverse (and half-reverse) line feeds so the output is in the correct order with only forward and half-forward line feeds,
       and replaces white-space characters with tabs where possible.  This can be useful in processing the output of nroff(1) and tbl(1).

       col reads from standard input and writes to standard output.

OPTIONS

       -b, --no-backspaces
	      Do not output any backspaces, printing only the last character written to each column position.

       -f, --fine
	      Forward half line feeds are permitted fine mode.	Normally characters printed on a half-line boundary are printed on  the  following
	      line.

       -p, --pass
	      Force  unknown control sequences to be passed through unchanged.	Normally, col will filter out any control sequences from the input
	      other than those recognized and interpreted by itself, which are listed below.

       -h, --tabs
	      Output tabs instead of multiple spaces.

       -x, --spaces
	      Output multiple spaces instead of tabs.

       -l, --lines number
	      Buffer at least number lines in memory.  By default, 128 lines are buffered.

       -V, --version
	      Output version information and exit.

       -H, --help
	      Output help and exit.

NOTES

       The control sequences for carriage motion that col understands and their decimal values are listed in the following table:

	      ESC-7		reverse line feed (escape then 7)
	      ESC-8		half reverse line feed (escape then 8)
	      ESC-9		half forward line feed (escape then 9)
	      backspace 	moves back one column (8); ignored in the first column
	      newline		forward line feed (10); also does carriage return
	      carriage return	(13)
	      shift in		shift to normal character set (15)
	      shift out 	shift to alternate character set (14)
	      space		moves forward one column (32)
	      tab		moves forward to next tab stop (9)
	      vertical tab	reverse line feed (11)

       All unrecognized control characters and escape sequences are discarded.

       col keeps track of the character set as characters are read and makes sure the character set is correct when they are output.

       If the input attempts to back up to the last flushed line, col will display a warning message.

SEE ALSO

       expand(1), nroff(1), tbl(1)

STANDARDS

       The col utility conforms to the Single UNIX Specification, Version 2.  The -l option is an extension to the standard.

HISTORY

       A col command appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.

AVAILABILITY

       The col command is part of the util-linux package and is available from Linux  Kernel  Archive  <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-
       linux/>.

util-linux							  September 2011							    COL(1)