.\"
.\" @(#)column.1 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
.\"
-.TH COLUMN 1 "Local"
+.TH COLUMN 1 "January 2017" "util-linux" "User Commands"
.SH NAME
-column - columnate lists
+column \- columnate lists
.SH SYNOPSIS
-.B column
-.RI [ options ]
-.IR file ...
+.BR column " [options]"
+.RI [ file ...]
.SH DESCRIPTION
-The column utility formats its input into multiple columns. Rows
-are filled before columns. Input is taken from file or, by
-default, from the standard input. Empty lines are ignored.
+The
+.B column
+utility formats its input into multiple columns. By default, columns
+are filled before rows. Input is taken from \fIfile\fR, or
+otherwise from standard input. Empty lines are ignored.
.PP
.SH OPTIONS
-.IP "\fB\-c, \-\-columns\fP \fIwidth\fP"
-Output is formatted to a width specified as number of charcaters.
+.IP "\fB\-J, \-\-json\fP"
+Use JSON output format to print the table, the option
+\fB\-\-table\-colnames\fP is required and the option \fB\-\-table\-name\fP is recommended.
+.IP "\fB\-c, \-\-output\-width\fP \fIwidth\fP"
+Output is formatted to a width specified as number of characters. The original
+name of this option is --columns; this name deprecated since v2.30.
+.IP "\fB\-o, \-\-output\-separator\fP \fIstring\fP"
+Specify the columns delimiter for table output (default is two spaces).
+.IP "\fB\-s, \-\-separator\fP \fIseparators\fP"
+Specify the possible input item delimiters (default is whitespace).
.IP "\fB\-t, \-\-table\fP"
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 separator. Table output is useful for pretty-printing.
-.IP "\fB\-s, \-\-separator\fP \fIseparator\fP"
-Specify table separator (default is whitespace).
+supplied using the \fB\-\-output\-separator\fP option.
+Table output is useful for pretty-printing.
+.IP "\fB\-N, \-\-table-columns\fP \fInames\fP"
+Specify the columns names by comma separated list of names. The names are used
+for the table header or to addres column in option arguments.
+.IP "\fB\-R, \-\-table-right\fP \fIcolumns\fP"
+Right align text in the specified columns. The \fIcolumns\fP is comma separated
+list of the column names (see \fB\-\-table-columns\fP) or column number.
+.IP "\fB\-T, \-\-table-truncate\fP \fIcolumns\fP"
+Specify columns where is allowed to truncate text when necessary, otherwise
+very long table entries may be printed on multiple lines. The \fIcolumns\fP is
+comma separated list of the column names (see \fB\-\-table-columns\fP) or
+column number.
+.IP "\fB\-E, \-\-table-noextreme\fP \fIcolumns\fP"
+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, but the printed text is not affected. The \fIcolumns\fP is
+comma separated list of the column names (see \fB\-\-table-columns\fP) or
+column number.
+.IP "\fB\-W, \-\-table-wrap\fP \fIcolumns\fP"
+Specify columns where is possible to use multi-line cell for long text when
+necessary. The \fIcolumns\fP is comma separated list of the column names (see
+\fB\-\-table-columns\fP) or column number.
+.IP "\fB\-n, \-\-table-name\fP \fIname\fP"
+Specify the table name used for JSON output. The defaout is "table".
.IP "\fB\-x, \-\-fillrows\fP"
-Fill columns before filling rows.
+Fill rows before filling columns.
+.IP "\fB\-V\fR, \fB\-\-version\fR"
+Display version information and exit.
.IP "\fB\-h, \-\-help\fP"
-Print help and exit.
+Display help text and exit.
.SH ENVIRONMENT
-The environment variable COLUMNS is used to determine the size of
+The environment variable \fBCOLUMNS\fR is used to determine the size of
the screen if no other information is available.
.SH EXAMPLES
.nf
-sed 's/#.*//' /etc/fstab | column -t
+.B sed 's/#.*//' /etc/fstab | column -t
.nf
+.SH BUGS
+Version 2.23 changed the
+.B \-s
+option to be non-greedy, for example:
+.PP
+.EX
+\fBprintf "a:b:c\\n1::3\\n" | column -t -s ':'\fR
+.EE
+.PP
+Old output:
+.EX
+a b c
+1 3
+.EE
+.PP
+New output (since util-linux 2.23):
+.EX
+a b c
+1 3
+.EE
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR colrm (1),
.BR ls (1),
.SH HISTORY
The column command appeared in 4.3BSD-Reno.
.SH AVAILABILITY
-The column command is part of the util-linux-ng package and is available from
-ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux-ng/.
+The column command is part of the util-linux package and is available from
+https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/.
projects / thirdparty / util-linux.git / blobdiff