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tabs(1) | General Commands Manual | tabs(1) |
NAME¶
tabs - set tabs on a terminalSYNOPSIS¶
tabs [-v[n]] [-ahuUV] file...DESCRIPTION¶
The tabs program clears and sets tab-stops on the terminal. This uses the terminfo clear_all_tabs and set_tab capabilities. If either is absent, tabs is unable to clear/set tab-stops. The terminal should be configured to use hard tabs, e.g.,stty tab0
OPTIONS¶
General Options¶
- -Tname
- Tell tabs which terminal type to use. If this option is not given, tabs will use the $TERM environment variable. If that is not set, it will use the ansi+tabs entry.
- -d
- The debugging option shows a ruler line, followed by two data lines. The first data line shows the expected tab-stops marked with asterisks. The second data line shows the actual tab-stops, marked with asterisks.
- -n
- This option tells tabs to check the options and run any debugging option, but not to modify the terminal settings.
Implicit Lists¶
Use a single number as an option, e.g., " -5" to set tabs at the given interval (in this case 1, 6, 11, 16, 21, etc.). Tabs are repeated up to the right margin of the screen. Use " -0" to clear all tabs. Use " -8" to set tabs to the standard interval.Explicit Lists¶
An explicit list can be defined after the options (this does not use a "-"). The values in the list must be in increasing numeric order, and greater than zero. They are separated by a comma or a blank, for example,tabs 1,6,11,16,21
tabs 1 6 11 16 21
Use a '+' to treat a number as an increment relative to the previous value,
e.g.,
tabs 1,+5,+5,+5,+5
which is equivalent to the 1,6,11,16,21 example.
Predefined Tab-Stops¶
X/Open defines several predefined lists of tab stops.- -a
- Assembler, IBM S/370, first format
- -a2
- Assembler, IBM S/370, second format
- -c
- COBOL, normal format
- -c2
- COBOL compact format
- -c3
- COBOL compact format extended
- -f
- FORTRAN
- -p
- PL/I
- -s
- SNOBOL
- -u
- UNIVAC 1100 Assembler