The
utility processes the named files or the standard input writing
the standard output with tabs changed into blanks.
Backspace characters are preserved into the output and decrement
the column count for tab calculations.
The
utility is useful for pre-processing character files
(before sorting, looking at specific columns, etc.) that
contain tabs.
The
unexpand
utility puts tabs back into the data from the standard input or the named
files and writes the result on the standard output.
The following options are available:
-a
( unexpand
only.)
By default, only leading blanks and tabs
are reconverted to maximal strings of tabs.
If the
-a
option is given, then tabs are inserted whenever they would compress the
resultant file by replacing two or more characters.
-t
Set tab stops at column positions
tab1 , tab2 , ... , tabn
If only a single number is given, tab stops are set that number of
column positions apart instead of the default number of 8.
ENVIRONMENT
The
LANG , LC_ALL
and
LC_CTYPE
environment variables affect the execution of
and
unexpand
as described in
environ(7).
EXIT STATUS
Ex -std expand unexpand
STANDARDS
The
and
unexpand
utilities conform to
St -p1003.1-2001 .
