text-utils/column.1.adoc

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  34     @(#)column.1        8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
  35 ////
  36 = column(1)
  37 :doctype: manpage
  38 :man manual: User Commands
  39 :man source: util-linux {release-version}
  40 :page-layout: base
  41 :command: column
  42
  43 == NAME
  44
  45 column - columnate lists
  46
  47 == SYNOPSIS
  48
  49 *column* [options] [_file_ ...]
  50
  51 == DESCRIPTION
  52
  53 The *column* utility formats its input into multiple columns. The util support three modes:
  54
  55 *columns are filled before rows*::
  56 This is the default mode (required by backward compatibility).
  57
  58 *rows are filled before columns*::
  59 This mode is enabled by option *-x, --fillrows*
  60
  61 *table*::
  62 Determine the number of columns the input contains and create a table. This mode is enabled by option *-t, --table* and columns formatting is possible to modify by *--table-** options. Use this mode if not sure. The output is aligned to the terminal width in interactive mode and the 80 columns in non-interactive mode (see *--output-width* for more details).
  63
  64 Input is taken from _file_, or otherwise from standard input. Empty lines are ignored and all invalid multibyte sequences are encoded by x<hex> convention.
  65
  66 == OPTIONS
  67
  68 The argument _columns_ for *--table-** options is a comma separated list of the
  69 column names as defined by *--table-columns*, or names defined by
  70 *--table-column* or it's column number in order as specified by input. It's
  71 possible to mix names and numbers. The special placeholder '0' (e.g. -R0) may
  72 be used to specify all columns and '-1' (e.g. -R -1) to specify the last visible column.
  73 It's possible to use ranges like '1-5' when addressing columns by numbers.
  74
  75 *-J, --json*::
  76 Use JSON output format to print the table, the option *--table-columns* is required and the option *--table-name* is recommended.
  77
  78 *-c, --output-width* _width_::
  79 Output is formatted to a width specified as number of characters. The original name of this option is *--columns*; this name is deprecated since v2.30. Note that input longer than _width_ is not truncated by default. The default is a terminal width and the 80 columns in non-interactive mode. The column headers are never truncated.
  80 +
  81 The placeholder "unlimited" (or 0) is possible to use to not restrict output width. This is recommended for example when output to the files rather than on terminal.
  82
  83 *-d, --table-noheadings*::
  84 Do not print header. This option allows the use of logical column names on the command line, but keeps the header hidden when printing the table.
  85
  86 *-o, --output-separator* _string_::
  87 Specify the columns delimiter for table output (default is two spaces).
  88
  89 *-s, --separator* _separators_::
  90 Specify the possible input item delimiters (default is whitespace).
  91
  92 *-t, --table*::
  93 Determine the number of columns the input contains and create a table. Columns are delimited with whitespace, by default, or with the characters supplied using the *--output-separator* option. Table output is useful for pretty-printing.
  94
  95 *-C, --table-column* _properties_::
  96 Define one column by comma separated list of column attributes.
  97 This option can be used more than once, every use defines just one column.
  98 The properties replace some of *--table-* options. For example *--table-column
  99 name=FOO,right* define one column where text is aligned to right. The option is
 100 mutually exclusive to *--table-columns*.
 101 +
 102 The currently supported attributes are:
 103 +
 104 *name=string*;;
 105 Specifies column name.
 106 *trunc*;;
 107 The column text can be truncated when necessary. The same as *--table-truncate*.
 108 *right*;;
 109 Right align text in the specified columns. The same as *--table-right*.
 110 *width=number*;;
 111 Specifies column width. The width is used as a hint only. The width is strictly followed
 112 only when *strictwidth* attribute is used too.
 113 *strictwidth*;;
 114 Strictly follow column *width=* setting.
 115 *noextreme*;;
 116 Specify columns where is possible to ignore unusually long cells. See *--table-noextreme* for more details.
 117 *wrap*;;
 118 Specify columns where is possible to use multi-line cell for long text when necessary. See *--table-wrap*.
 119 *hide*;;
 120 Don't print specified columns. See *--table-hide*.
 121 *json=type*;;
 122 Define column type for JSON output, Supported are string, number and boolean.
 123
 124 *-N, --table-columns* _names_::
 125 Specify the columns names by comma separated list of names. The names are used
 126 for the table header or to address column in option argument. See also *--table-column*.
 127
 128 *-l, --table-columns-limit* _number_::
 129 Specify maximal number of the input columns. The last column will contain all remaining line data if the limit is smaller than the number of the columns in the input data.
 130
 131 *-R, --table-right* _columns_::
 132 Right align text in the specified columns.
 133
 134 *-T, --table-truncate* _columns_::
 135 Specify columns where text can be truncated when necessary, otherwise very long table entries may be printed on multiple lines.
 136
 137 *-E, --table-noextreme* _columns_::
 138 Specify columns where is possible to ignore unusually long (longer than average) cells when calculate column width. The option has impact to the width calculation and table formatting, but the printed text is not affected.
 139 +
 140 The option is used for the last visible column by default.
 141
 142 *-e, --table-header-repeat*::
 143 Print header line for each page.
 144
 145 *-W, --table-wrap* _columns_::
 146 Specify columns where is possible to use multi-line cell for long text when necessary.
 147
 148 *-H, --table-hide* _columns_::
 149 Don't print specified columns. The special placeholder '-' may be used to hide all unnamed columns (see *--table-columns*).
 150
 151 *-O, --table-order* _columns_::
 152 Specify columns order on output.
 153
 154 *-n, --table-name* _name_::
 155 Specify the table name used for JSON output. The default is "table".
 156
 157 *-m, --table-maxout*::
 158 Fill all available space on output.
 159
 160 *-L, --keep-empty-lines*::
 161 Preserve whitespace-only lines in the input. The default is ignore empty lines at all. This option's original name was *--table-empty-lines* but is now deprecated because it gives the false impression that the option only applies to table mode.
 162
 163 *-r, --tree* _column_::
 164 Specify column to use tree-like output. Note that the circular dependencies and other anomalies in child and parent relation are silently ignored.
 165
 166 *-i, --tree-id* _column_::
 167 Specify column with line ID to create child-parent relation.
 168
 169 *-p, --tree-parent* _column_::
 170 Specify column with parent ID to create child-parent relation.
 171
 172 *-x, --fillrows*::
 173 Fill rows before filling columns.
 174
 175 include::man-common/help-version.adoc[]
 176
 177 == ENVIRONMENT
 178
 179 The environment variable *COLUMNS* is used to determine the size of the screen if no other information is available.
 180
 181 == HISTORY
 182
 183 The *column* command appeared in 4.3BSD-Reno.
 184
 185 == BUGS
 186
 187 Version 2.23 changed the *-s* option to be non-greedy, for example:
 188
 189 ....
 190 printf "a:b:c\n1::3\n" | column -t -s ':'
 191 ....
 192
 193 Old output:
 194
 195 ....
 196 a  b  c
 197 1  3
 198 ....
 199
 200 New output (since util-linux 2.23):
 201
 202 ....
 203 a  b  c
 204 1     3
 205 ....
 206
 207 Historical versions of this tool indicated that "rows are filled before columns" by default, and that the *-x* option reverses this. This wording did not reflect the actual behavior, and it has since been corrected (see above). Other implementations of *column* may continue to use the older documentation, but the behavior should be identical in any case.
 208
 209 == EXAMPLES
 210
 211 Print fstab with header line and align number to the right:
 212
 213 ....
 214 sed 's/#.*//' /etc/fstab | column --table --table-columns SOURCE,TARGET,TYPE,OPTIONS,PASS,FREQ --table-right PASS,FREQ
 215 ....
 216
 217 Print fstab and hide unnamed columns:
 218
 219 ....
 220 sed 's/#.*//' /etc/fstab | column --table --table-columns SOURCE,TARGET,TYPE --table-hide -
 221 ....
 222
 223 Print a tree:
 224
 225 ....
 226 echo -e '1 0 A\n2 1 AA\n3 1 AB\n4 2 AAA\n5 2 AAB' | column --tree-id 1 --tree-parent 2 --tree 3
 227 1  0  A
 228 2  1  |-AA
 229 4  2  | |-AAA
 230 5  2  | `-AAB
 231 3  1  `-AB
 232 ....
 233
 234 == SEE ALSO
 235
 236 *colrm*(1),
 237 *ls*(1),
 238 *paste*(1),
 239 *sort*(1)
 240
 241 include::man-common/bugreports.adoc[]
 242
 243 include::man-common/footer.adoc[]
 244
 245 ifdef::translation[]
 246 include::man-common/translation.adoc[]
 247 endif::[]