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- * @Id: tabs.1,v 1.57 2024/03/16 15:35:01 tom Exp @
+ * @Id: tabs.1,v 1.59 2024/04/20 19:08:15 tom Exp @
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-<TITLE>tabs 1 2024-03-16 ncurses 6.4 User commands</TITLE>
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-<H1 class="no-header">tabs 1 2024-03-16 ncurses 6.4 User commands</H1>
+<H1 class="no-header">tabs 1 2024-04-20 ncurses 6.5 User commands</H1>
<PRE>
<STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG> User commands <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG>
A <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> utility appeared in PWB/Unix 1.0 (1977). A reduced version
shipped in Seventh Edition Unix (early 1979) and in 3BSD (later the
same year); it supported a "-n" option to set the first tab stop at the
- left margin. That option is not documented by POSIX.
+ left margin. That option is not specified by POSIX.
The PWB/Unix <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> utility returned in System III (1980), and used
- built-in tables, rather than the terminal database, to support a half-
- dozen hardcopy terminal (printer) types. It also had built-in logic to
- support setting the left margin, as well as a feature for copying the
- tab settings from a file.
+ built-in tables to support a half-dozen hardcopy terminal (printer)
+ types. It also had logic to support setting the left margin, as well
+ as a feature for copying the tab settings from a file.
- Versions of the program in later releases of AT&T Unix, such as SVr4,
- added support for the terminal database, but retained the tables to
+ Versions of the program in later releases of AT&T Unix, such as SVr4,
+ added support for the terminal database, but retained the tables to
support the printers. By this time, System V <STRONG>tput</STRONG> had incorporated the
- tab stop initialization feature of BSD's <STRONG>tset</STRONG> from 1982, but employed
+ tab stop initialization feature of BSD's <STRONG>tset</STRONG> from 1982, but employed
the <EM>terminfo</EM> database to do so.
- The <STRONG>+m</STRONG> option was documented in the POSIX Base Specifications Issue 5
- (Unix98, 1997), then omitted in Issue 6 (Unix03, 2004) without express
- motivation, though an introductory comment "and optionally adjusts the
- margin" remains, overlooked in the removal. The <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> utility
- documented in Issues 6 and later has no mechanism for setting margins.
- The <STRONG>+m</STRONG> option in <EM>ncurses</EM> <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> differs from the SVr4 feature by using
+ The <STRONG>+m</STRONG> option was documented in the POSIX Base Specifications Issue 5
+ (Unix98, 1997), then omitted in Issue 6 (Unix03, 2004) without express
+ motivation, though an introductory comment "and optionally adjusts the
+ margin" remains, overlooked in the removal. The <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> utility
+ documented in Issues 6 and later has no mechanism for setting margins.
+ The <STRONG>+m</STRONG> option in <EM>ncurses</EM> <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> differs from the SVr4 feature by using
terminal capabilities rather than built-in tables.
- POSIX documents no limit on the number of tab stops. Other
+ POSIX documents no limit on the number of tab stops. Other
implementations impose one; the limit is 20 in PWB/Unix's <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> utility.
- While some terminals may not accept an arbitrary number of tab stops,
- <EM>ncurses</EM> <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> attempts to set tab stops up to the right margin if the
+ While some terminals may not accept an arbitrary number of tab stops,
+ <EM>ncurses</EM> <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> attempts to set tab stops up to the right margin if the
list thereof is sufficiently long.
- The "Rationale" section of the Issue 6 <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> reference page details how
- the committee considered redesigning the <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> and <STRONG>tput</STRONG> utilities,
+ The "Rationale" section of the Issue 6 <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> reference page details how
+ the committee considered redesigning the <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> and <STRONG>tput</STRONG> utilities,
without settling on an improved solution. It claims that
- "no known historical version of <EM>tabs</EM> supports the capability of
+ "no known historical version of <EM>tabs</EM> supports the capability of
setting arbitrary tab stops."
- The feature described in subsection "Explicit Lists" above was
- implemented in PWB/Unix, and permitted the setting of abitrary tab
+ The feature described in subsection "Explicit Lists" above was
+ implemented in PWB/Unix, and permitted the setting of abitrary tab
stops nevertheless.
-ncurses 6.
4 2024-03-16 <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG>
+ncurses 6.
5 2024-04-20 <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
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