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29 * @Id: tabs.1,v 1.15 2016/12/31 16:07:39 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> <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 termi-
58 nal. This uses the terminfo <EM>clear</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>all</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>tabs</EM> and <EM>set</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>tab</EM>
59 capabilities. If either is absent, <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> is unable to
60 clear/set tab-stops. The terminal should be configured to
65 Like <STRONG><A HREF="clear.1.html">clear(1)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> writes to the standard output. You
66 can redirect the standard output to a file (which prevents
67 <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> from actually changing the tabstops), and later <STRONG>cat</STRONG>
68 the file to the screen, setting tabstops at that point.
71 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-OPTIONS">OPTIONS</a></H2><PRE>
73 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-General-Options">General Options</a></H3><PRE>
74 <STRONG>-T</STRONG><EM>name</EM>
75 Tell <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> which terminal type to use. If this option
76 is not given, <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> will use the <STRONG>$TERM</STRONG> environment
77 variable. If that is not set, it will use the
78 <EM>ansi+tabs</EM> entry.
80 <STRONG>-d</STRONG> The debugging option shows a ruler line, followed by
81 two data lines. The first data line shows the
82 expected tab-stops marked with asterisks. The second
83 data line shows the actual tab-stops, marked with
86 <STRONG>-n</STRONG> This option tells <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> to check the options and run
87 any debugging option, but not to modify the terminal
90 <STRONG>-V</STRONG> reports the version of ncurses which was used in this
93 The <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> program processes a single list of tab stops.
94 The last option to be processed which defines a list is
95 the one that determines the list to be processed.
98 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Implicit-Lists">Implicit Lists</a></H3><PRE>
99 Use a single number as an option, e.g., "<STRONG>-5</STRONG>" to set tabs
100 at the given interval (in this case 1, 6, 11, 16, 21,
101 etc.). Tabs are repeated up to the right margin of the
104 Use "<STRONG>-0</STRONG>" to clear all tabs.
106 Use "<STRONG>-8</STRONG>" to set tabs to the standard interval.
109 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Explicit-Lists">Explicit Lists</a></H3><PRE>
110 An explicit list can be defined after the options (this
111 does not use a "-"). The values in the list must be in
112 increasing numeric order, and greater than zero. They are
113 separated by a comma or a blank, for example,
118 Use a "+" to treat a number as an increment relative to
119 the previous value, e.g.,
123 which is equivalent to the 1,6,11,16,21 example.
126 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Predefined-Tab-Stops">Predefined Tab-Stops</a></H3><PRE>
127 X/Open defines several predefined lists of tab stops.
129 <STRONG>-a</STRONG> Assembler, IBM S/370, first format
131 <STRONG>-a2</STRONG> Assembler, IBM S/370, second format
133 <STRONG>-c</STRONG> COBOL, normal format
135 <STRONG>-c2</STRONG> COBOL compact format
137 <STRONG>-c3</STRONG> COBOL compact format extended
139 <STRONG>-f</STRONG> FORTRAN
141 <STRONG>-p</STRONG> PL/I
143 <STRONG>-s</STRONG> SNOBOL
145 <STRONG>-u</STRONG> UNIVAC 1100 Assembler
148 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
149 IEEE Std 1003.1/The Open Group Base Specifications Issue
150 7 (POSIX.1-2008) describes a <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> utility. However
152 <STRONG>o</STRONG> This standard describes a <STRONG>+m</STRONG> option, to set a termi-
153 nal's left-margin. Very few of the entries in the
154 terminal database provide this capability.
156 <STRONG>o</STRONG> There is no counterpart in X/Open Curses Issue 7 for
157 this utility, unlike <STRONG>tput(1)</STRONG>.
159 The <STRONG>-d</STRONG> (debug) and <STRONG>-n</STRONG> (no-op) options are extensions not
160 provided by other implementations.
162 Documentation for other implementations states that there
163 is a limit on the number of tab stops. While some termi-
164 nals may not accept an arbitrary number of tab stops, this
165 implementation will attempt to set tab stops up to the
166 right margin of the screen, if the given list happens to
170 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
171 <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>.
173 This describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 6.0 (patch 20170304).
177 <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG>
181 <li><a href="#h2-NAME">NAME</a></li>
182 <li><a href="#h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li>
183 <li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></li>
184 <li><a href="#h2-OPTIONS">OPTIONS</a>
186 <li><a href="#h3-General-Options">General Options</a></li>
187 <li><a href="#h3-Implicit-Lists">Implicit Lists</a></li>
188 <li><a href="#h3-Explicit-Lists">Explicit Lists</a></li>
189 <li><a href="#h3-Predefined-Tab-Stops">Predefined Tab-Stops</a></li>
192 <li><a href="#h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></li>
193 <li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>