.\"
.\" @(#)column.1 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
.\"
-.TH COLUMN 1 "January 2017" "util-linux" "User Commands"
+.TH COLUMN 1 "February 2019" "util-linux" "User Commands"
.SH NAME
column \- columnate lists
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B column
utility formats its input into multiple columns. The util support three modes:
.TP
-.BR "columns are filled before rows"
+.B columns are filled before rows
This is the default mode (required by backward compatibility).
.TP
-.BR "rows are filed before columns"
-This mode is enabled by option \fB-x, \-\-fillrows\fP
+.B rows are filled before columns
+This mode is enabled by option \fB\-x, \-\-fillrows\fP
.TP
-.BR "table"
+.B table
Determine the number of columns the input contains and create a table. This
-mode is enabled by option \fB-t, \-\-table\fP and columns formatting is
+mode is enabled by option \fB\-t, \-\-table\fP and columns formatting is
possible to modify by \fB\-\-table-*\fP options. Use this mode if not sure.
.PP
Input is taken from \fIfile\fR, or otherwise from standard input. Empty lines
-are ignored.
+are ignored and all invalid multibyte sequences are encoded by \\x<hex> convention.
.PP
.SH OPTIONS
The argument \fIcolumns\fP for \fB\-\-table-*\fP options is comma separated
\fB\-\-table\-columns\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 is deprecated since v2.30. Note that input
+name of this option is \-\-columns; this name is deprecated since v2.30. Note that input
longer than \fIwidth\fP is not truncated by default.
.IP "\fB\-d, \-\-table\-noheadings\fP"
Do not print header. This option allows to use logical column names on command line, but keep the header hidden when print the table.
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.
+for the table header or to address column in option arguments.
.IP "\fB\-R, \-\-table-right\fP \fIcolumns\fP"
Right align text in the specified columns.
.IP "\fB\-T, \-\-table-truncate\fP \fIcolumns\fP"
Specify columns where is possible to use multi-line cell for long text when
necessary.
.IP "\fB\-H, \-\-table-hide\fP \fIcolumns\fP"
-Don't print specified columns. The special placeholder '-' maybe be used to
-hide all unnamed columns (see --table-columns).
+Don't print specified columns. The special placeholder '\-' may be used to
+hide all unnamed columns (see \-\-table-columns).
.IP "\fB\-O, \-\-table-order\fP \fIcolumns\fP"
Specify columns order on output.
.IP "\fB\-n, \-\-table-name\fP \fIname\fP"
-Specify the table name used for JSON output. The defaout is "table".
+Specify the table name used for JSON output. The default is "table".
+.IP "\fB\-L, \-\-table\-empty\-lines\fP"
+Insert empty line to the table for each empty line on input. The default
+is ignore empty lines at all.
.IP "\fB\-r, \-\-tree\fP \fIcolumn\fP"
Specify column to use tree-like output. Note that the circular dependencies and
another anomalies in child and parent relation are silently ignored.
.SH ENVIRONMENT
The environment variable \fBCOLUMNS\fR is used to determine the size of
the screen if no other information is available.
-.SH EXAMPLES
-Print fstab with header line and align number to the right:
-.EX
-\fBsed 's/#.*//' /etc/fstab | column --table --table-columns SOURCE,TARGET,TYPE,OPTIONS,PASS,FREQ --table-right PASS,FREQ\fR
-.EE
-.PP
-Print fstab and hide unnamed columns:
-.EX
-\fBsed 's/#.*//' /etc/fstab | column --table --table-columns SOURCE,TARGET,TYPE --table-hide -\fR
-.EE
-.PP
-
-.PP
-Print a tree:
-.EX
-\fBecho -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\fR
-1 0 A
-2 1 |-AA
-4 2 | |-AAA
-5 2 | `-AAB
-3 1 `-AB
-.EE
+.SH HISTORY
+The column command appeared in 4.3BSD-Reno.
.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
+\fBprintf "a:b:c\\n1::3\\n" | column \-t \-s ':'\fR
.EE
.PP
Old output:
a b c
1 3
.EE
-.SH "SEE ALSO"
+.PP
+Historical versions of this tool indicated that "rows are filled before
+columns" by default, and that the
+.B \-x
+option reverses this. This wording did not reflect the actual behavior, and it
+has since been corrected (see above). Other implementations of
+.B column
+may continue to use the older documentation, but the behavior should be
+identical in any case.
+.SH EXAMPLE
+Print fstab with header line and align number to the right:
+.EX
+\fBsed 's/#.*//' /etc/fstab | column \-\-table \-\-table-columns SOURCE,TARGET,TYPE,OPTIONS,PASS,FREQ \-\-table-right PASS,FREQ\fR
+.EE
+.PP
+Print fstab and hide unnamed columns:
+.EX
+\fBsed 's/#.*//' /etc/fstab | column \-\-table \-\-table-columns SOURCE,TARGET,TYPE \-\-table-hide \-\fR
+.EE
+.PP
+
+.PP
+Print a tree:
+.EX
+\fBecho \-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\fR
+1 0 A
+2 1 |-AA
+4 2 | |-AAA
+5 2 | `-AAB
+3 1 `-AB
+.EE
+.SH SEE ALSO
.BR colrm (1),
.BR ls (1),
.BR paste (1),
.BR sort (1)
-.SH HISTORY
-The column command appeared in 4.3BSD-Reno.
.SH AVAILABILITY
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