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Quick links About
tabs
Syntax
Examples
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Linux / Unix main page
About tabs
Set tabs on a terminal.
Syntax
tabs [-n | --file [-code | -a | -a2 | -c | -c2 |
-c3 | -f | -p | -s | -u ] ] [ n1[,n2,...] ] [ +m [ n ] ] [ -T type ]
| -n |
A repetitive specification requests tabs at
columns 1+n, 1+2*n, etc., where n is a single-
digit decimal number. Of particular importance is the value 8: this represents the Unix system ``standard'' tab setting, and is the most likely tab setting to be found at a terminal. When -0 is used, the tab stops are cleared and no new ones are set. |
| -file |
If the name of a file is given, tabs reads the first line of the file, searching for a format
specification. If it finds one there, it sets the tab stops according to it,
otherwise it sets them as -8. This type of specification may be used to make sure that a tabbed file is printed with correct tab settings, and would be
used with the pr command:
example% tabs - file; pr file
Tab and margin setting is performed via the standard output. |
| -code |
Use one of the codes listed below to select a canned set of
tabs. If more than one code is specified, the last code option will be used. The legal codes and their meanings are
as follows:
| -a |
1,10,16,36,72 Assembler, IBM S/370, first format |
| -a2 |
1,10,16,40,72 Assembler, IBM S/370, second format |
| -c |
1,8,12,16,20,55 COBOL, normal format |
| -c2 |
1,6,10,14,49 COBOL compact format (columns 1-6 omitted). Using this code, the first typed character corresponds to card column 7, one space gets you to column 8, and a tab reaches column 12. Files using this tab setup should include a format specification as follows:
<:t-c2 m6 s66 d:>
|
| -c3 |
1,6,10,14,18,22,26,30,34,38,42,46,50,54,58,62,67
COBOL compact format (columns 1-6 omitted), with more tabs than -c2. This is the recommended format
for COBOL. The appropriate format specification is:
<:t-c3 m6 s66 d:>
|
| -f |
1,7,11,15,19,23 FORTRAN |
| -p |
1,5,9,13,17,21,25,29,33,37,41,45,49,53,57,61
PL/I |
| -s |
1,10,55 SNOBOL |
| -u |
1,12,20,44 UNIVAC 1100 Assembler |
|
| n1[,n2,...] |
The arbitrary format consists of tab-stop values separated by commas or spaces. The tab-stop values must be positive decimal integers in ascending
order. Up to 40 numbers are allowed. If any number (except the first one) is preceded by a plus sign, it is taken as an increment to be added to the previous value. Thus, the formats 1,10,20,30, and 1,10,+10,+10 are considered identical. |
| +m [n] |
The margin argument may be used for some
terminals. It causes all tabs to be moved over n columns by making column n+1 the left margin.
If +m is given without a value of n, the value assumed is 10. For a TermiNet, the first value in the tab list should be 1, or the margin will move
even further to the right. The normal (leftmost) margin on most terminals is obtained by +m0. The margin for most terminals is reset only when the +m flag is given explicitly. |
| -T type |
tabs needs to know the type of terminal in order to set tabs and margins. type is a name listed in
term. If no -T flag is supplied, tabs uses the value of the environment variable TERM. If the
value of TERM is NULL or TERM is not defined in the environment, tabs uses ansi+tabs as the terminal type to provide a sequence that will work for many terminals. |
Examples
tabs -a - using -code ( canned specification) to set tabs to the settings required by the IBM assembler: columns 1, 10, 16, 36,
72
Related commands
expand
newform
pr
stty
tput
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