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29 * @Id: tabs.1,v 1.16 2017/11/18 23:56:00 tom Exp @
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41 <H1 class="no-header">tabs 1</H1>
43 <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG> General Commands Manual <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG>
48 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
49 <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> - set tabs on a terminal
52 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
53 <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> [<EM>options</EM>]] <EM>[tabstop-list]</EM>
56 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
57 The <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> program clears and sets tab-stops on the terminal. This uses
58 the terminfo <EM>clear</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>all</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>tabs</EM> and <EM>set</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>tab</EM> capabilities. If either is
59 absent, <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> is unable to clear/set tab-stops. The terminal should be
60 configured to use hard tabs, e.g.,
64 Like <STRONG><A HREF="clear.1.html">clear(1)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> writes to the standard output. You can redirect
65 the standard output to a file (which prevents <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> from actually chang-
66 ing the tabstops), and later <STRONG>cat</STRONG> the file to the screen, setting tab-
70 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-OPTIONS">OPTIONS</a></H2><PRE>
72 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-General-Options">General Options</a></H3><PRE>
73 <STRONG>-T</STRONG><EM>name</EM>
74 Tell <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> which terminal type to use. If this option is not
75 given, <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> will use the <STRONG>$TERM</STRONG> environment variable. If that is
76 not set, it will use the <EM>ansi+tabs</EM> entry.
78 <STRONG>-d</STRONG> The debugging option shows a ruler line, followed by two data
79 lines. The first data line shows the expected tab-stops marked
80 with asterisks. The second data line shows the actual tab-stops,
81 marked with asterisks.
83 <STRONG>-n</STRONG> This option tells <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> to check the options and run any debugging
84 option, but not to modify the terminal settings.
86 <STRONG>-V</STRONG> reports the version of ncurses which was used in this program, and
89 The <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> program processes a single list of tab stops. The last option
90 to be processed which defines a list is the one that determines the
94 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Implicit-Lists">Implicit Lists</a></H3><PRE>
95 Use a single number as an option, e.g., "<STRONG>-5</STRONG>" to set tabs at the given
96 interval (in this case 1, 6, 11, 16, 21, etc.). Tabs are repeated up
97 to the right margin of the screen.
99 Use "<STRONG>-0</STRONG>" to clear all tabs.
101 Use "<STRONG>-8</STRONG>" to set tabs to the standard interval.
104 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Explicit-Lists">Explicit Lists</a></H3><PRE>
105 An explicit list can be defined after the options (this does not use a
106 "-"). The values in the list must be in increasing numeric order, and
107 greater than zero. They are separated by a comma or a blank, for exam-
113 Use a "+" to treat a number as an increment relative to the previous
118 which is equivalent to the 1,6,11,16,21 example.
121 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Predefined-Tab-Stops">Predefined Tab-Stops</a></H3><PRE>
122 X/Open defines several predefined lists of tab stops.
124 <STRONG>-a</STRONG> Assembler, IBM S/370, first format
126 <STRONG>-a2</STRONG> Assembler, IBM S/370, second format
128 <STRONG>-c</STRONG> COBOL, normal format
130 <STRONG>-c2</STRONG> COBOL compact format
132 <STRONG>-c3</STRONG> COBOL compact format extended
134 <STRONG>-f</STRONG> FORTRAN
136 <STRONG>-p</STRONG> PL/I
138 <STRONG>-s</STRONG> SNOBOL
140 <STRONG>-u</STRONG> UNIVAC 1100 Assembler
143 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
144 IEEE Std 1003.1/The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7
145 (POSIX.1-2008) describes a <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> utility. However
147 <STRONG>o</STRONG> This standard describes a <STRONG>+m</STRONG> option, to set a terminal's left-mar-
148 gin. Very few of the entries in the terminal database provide this
151 <STRONG>o</STRONG> There is no counterpart in X/Open Curses Issue 7 for this utility,
152 unlike <STRONG>tput(1)</STRONG>.
154 The <STRONG>-d</STRONG> (debug) and <STRONG>-n</STRONG> (no-op) options are extensions not provided by
155 other implementations.
157 Documentation for other implementations states that there is a limit on
158 the number of tab stops. While some terminals may not accept an arbi-
159 trary number of tab stops, this implementation will attempt to set tab
160 stops up to the right margin of the screen, if the given list happens
164 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
165 <STRONG><A HREF="tset.1.html">tset(1)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="infocmp.1m.html">infocmp(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>.
167 This describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 6.1 (patch 20180331).
171 <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG>
175 <li><a href="#h2-NAME">NAME</a></li>
176 <li><a href="#h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li>
177 <li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></li>
178 <li><a href="#h2-OPTIONS">OPTIONS</a>
180 <li><a href="#h3-General-Options">General Options</a></li>
181 <li><a href="#h3-Implicit-Lists">Implicit Lists</a></li>
182 <li><a href="#h3-Explicit-Lists">Explicit Lists</a></li>
183 <li><a href="#h3-Predefined-Tab-Stops">Predefined Tab-Stops</a></li>
186 <li><a href="#h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></li>
187 <li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>