glenda.party
term% ls -F
term% pwd
$home/manuals/9front/1/tbl
term% cat index.txt
TBL(1)                      General Commands Manual                     TBL(1)



NAME
       tbl - format tables for nroff or troff

SYNOPSIS
       tbl [ file ...  ]

DESCRIPTION
       Tbl is a preprocessor for formatting tables for nroff or troff(1).  The
       input files are copied to the standard output, except for  segments  of
       the form

              .TS
              options ;
              format .
              data
              .T&
              format .
              data
              . . .
              .TE

       which describe tables and are replaced by troff requests to lay out the
       tables.  If no arguments are given, tbl reads the standard input.

       The (optional) options line is terminated by a semicolon  and  contains
       one or more of

              center center the table; default is left-adjust

              expand make table as wide as current line length

              box

              doublebox
                     enclose the table in a box or double box

              allbox enclose every item in a box

              tab(x) use x to separate input items; default is tab

              linesize(n)
                     set rules in n-point type

              delim(xy)
                     recognize x and y as eqn(1) delimiters

       Each  line, except the last, of the obligatory format describes one row
       of the table.  The last line describes all rows  until  the  next  .T&,
       where  the format changes, or the end of the table at .TE.  A format is
       specified by key letters, one per column, either upper or lower case:

              L
              Left justify: the default for columns without format keys.

              R
              Right justify.

              C
              Center.

              N
              Numeric: align at decimal point (inferred for integers) or at

              S
              Span: extend previous column across this one.

              A
              Alphabetic: left-aligned within column,  widest  item  centered,
              indented relative to L rows.

              ^
              Vertical span: continue item from previous row into this row.

              -
              Draw a horizontal rule in this column.

              =
              Draw a double horizontal rule in this column.

       Key letters may be followed by modifiers, also either case:

              |      Draw vertical rule between columns.

              ||     Draw a double vertical rule between columns.

              n      Gap between column is n ens wide.  Default is 3.

              Ffont  Use specified font.  B and I mean FB and FI.

              T      Begin  vertically-spanned  item  at top row of range; de‐
                     fault is vertical centering (with

              Pn     Use point size n.

              Vn     Use n-point vertical spacing  in  text  block;  signed  n
                     means relative change.

              W(n)   Column  width as a troff width specification.  Parens are
                     optional if n is a simple integer.

              E      Equalize the widths of all columns marked E.

       Each line of data becomes one row of the table;  tabs  separate  items.
       Lines  beginning  with  are troff requests.  Certain special data items
       are recognized:

              _
              Draw a horizontal rule in this column.

              =
              Draw a double horizontal rule in this column.  A data line  con‐
              sisting of a single or draws the rule across the whole table.

              \_
              Draw a rule only as wide as the contents of the column.

              \Rx
              Repeat character x across the column.

              \^
              Span the previous item in this column down into this row.

              T{
              The item is a text block to be separately formatted by troff and
              placed in the table.  The block continues to the next  line  be‐
              ginning with T}.  The remainder of the data line follows at that
              point.

       When it is used in a pipeline with  eqn,  the  tbl  command  should  be
       first, to minimize the volume of data passed through pipes.

EXAMPLES
       Let <tab> represent a tab (which should be typed as a genuine tab).
       .TS
       c s s
       c c s
       c c c
       l n n.
       Household Population
       Town<tab>Households
       <tab>Number<tab>Size
       Bedminster<tab>789<tab>3.26
       Bernards Twp.<tab>3087<tab>3.74
       Bernardsville<tab>2018<tab>3.30
       .TE

       c s s
       c c s
       c c c
       l n n.
       Household Population
       Town Households
            Number    Size
       Bedminster     789  3.26
       Bernards Twp.  3087 3.74
       Bernardsville  2018 3.30

SOURCE
       /sys/src/cmd/tbl

SEE ALSO
       troff(1), eqn(1), doctype(1)
       M.  E.  Lesk and L. L. Cherry, ``TBL—a Program to Format Tables'', Unix
       Research System Programmer's Manual, Tenth Edition, Volume 2.



                                                                        TBL(1)