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expand(1)			 User Commands			     expand(1)

NAME
       expand,	unexpand - expand TAB characters to SPACE characters, and vice
       versa

SYNOPSIS
       expand [-t tablist] [file...]

       expand [-tabstop] [ -tab1, tab2,. . ., tabn] [file...]

       unexpand [-a] [-t tablist] [file...]

DESCRIPTION
       The expand utility copies files (or the standard input) to the standard
       output,	with  TAB  characters  expanded to SPACE characters. BACKSPACE
       characters are preserved into the output and decrement the column count
       for  TAB	 calculations.	expand	is useful for pre-processing character
       files (before sorting, looking at specific columns, and so forth)  that
       contain TAB characters.

       unexpand	 copies	 files (or the standard input) to the standard output,
       putting TAB characters back into the data.  By  default,	 only  leading
       SPACE and TAB characters are converted to strings of tabs, but this can
       be overridden by the -a option (see the OPTIONS section below).

OPTIONS
       The following options are supported for expand:

       -t tablist	       Specifies the tab stops. The  argument  tablist
			       must consist of a single positive decimal inte‐
			       ger or multiple positive decimal integers, sep‐
			       arated	by  blank  characters  or  commas,  in
			       ascending order. If a single number  is	given,
			       tabs will be set tablist column positions apart
			       instead of the default 8. If  multiple  numbers
			       are  given,  the tabs will be set at those spe‐
			       cific column positions.

			       Each tab-stop position N	 must  be  an  integer
			       value  greater  than zero, and the list must be
			       in strictly ascending order. This is  taken  to
			       mean  that, from the start of a line of output,
			       tabbing to position N causes the next character
			       output  to be in the (N+1)th column position on
			       that line.

			       In the event of expand having to process a  tab
			       character  at  a	 position  beyond  the last of
			       those specified in a  multiple  tab-stop	 list,
			       the tab character is replaced by a single space
			       character in the output.

       -tabstop		       Specifies as a single argument, sets TAB	 char‐
			       acters  tabstop	SPACE characters apart instead
			       of the default 8.

       -tab1,tab2,...,tabn     Sets TAB characters at the columns specified by
			       -tab1,tab2,...,tabn

       The following options are supported for unexpand:

       -a	       Inserts	TAB  characters when replacing a run of two or
		       more SPACE characters would produce  a  smaller	output
		       file.

       -t tablist      Specifies  the  tab  stops. The option-argument tablist
		       must be a single argument consisting of a single	 posi‐
		       tive decimal integer or multiple positive decimal inte‐
		       gers, separated	by  blank  characters  or  commas,  in
		       ascending  order.   If  a  single number is given, tabs
		       will be set tablist column positions apart  instead  of
		       the  default 8. If multiple numbers are given, the tabs
		       will be set at those specific  column  positions.  Each
		       tab-stop	 position  N  must be an integer value greater
		       than zero, and the list must be in  strictly  ascending
		       order.  This is taken to mean that, from the start of a
		       line of output, tabbing to position N  will  cause  the
		       next character output to be in the (N+1)th column posi‐
		       tion on that line. When the -t option is not specified,
		       the  default  is	 the  equivalent  of  specifying  -t 8
		       (except for the interaction with -a, described below).

		       No space-to-tab character conversions occur for charac‐
		       ters at positions beyond the last of those specified in
		       a multiple tab-stop list.

		       When -t is specified, the presence or absence of the -a
		       option  is  ignored;  conversion will not be limited to
		       the processing of leading blank characters.

OPERANDS
       The following ooperand is supported for expand and unexpand:

       file	The path name of a text file to be used as input.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
       See environ(5) for descriptions of the following environment  variables
       that  affect  the  execution  of	 expand	 and  unexpand:	 LANG, LC_ALL,
       LC_CTYPE, LC_MESSAGES, and NLSPATH.

EXIT STATUS
       The following exit values are returned:

       0	Successful completion

       >0	An error occurred.

ATTRIBUTES
       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

       ┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
       │      ATTRIBUTE TYPE	     │	     ATTRIBUTE VALUE	   │
       ├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
       │Availability		     │SUNWesu			   │
       ├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
       │CSI			     │enabled			   │
       ├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
       │Interface Stability	     │Standard			   │
       └─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘

SEE ALSO
       tabs(1), attributes(5), environ(5), standards(5)

SunOS 5.10			  1 Feb 1995			     expand(1)
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