TBL(1)                     OpenBSD Reference Manual                     TBL(1)



NAME
       tbl - format tables for troff

SYNOPSIS
       tbl [-Cv] [files ...]

DESCRIPTION
       This manual page describes the GNU version of tbl, which is part of the
       groff document formatting system.  tbl compiles descriptions of tables
       embedded within troff input files into commands that are understood by
       troff.  Normally, it should be invoked using the -t option of groff.
       It is highly compatible with Unix tbl.  The output generated by GNU tbl
       cannot be processed with Unix troff; it must be processed with GNU
       troff.  If no files are given on the command line or a filename of - is
       given, the standard input is read.

OPTIONS
       -C     Enable compatibility mode to recognize .TS and .TE even when
              followed by a character other than space or newline.  Leader
              characters (\a) are handled as interpreted.

       -v     Print the version number.

USAGE
       tbl expects to find table descriptions wrapped in the .TS (table start)
       and .TE (table end) macros.

   Global options
       The line immediately following the .TS macro may contain any of the
       following global options (ignoring the case of characters - Unix tbl
       only accepts options with all characters lowercase or all characters
       uppercase), separated by spaces, tabs, or commas:

       allbox Enclose each item of the table in a box.

       box    Enclose the table in a box.

       center Center the table (default is left-justified).  The alternative
              keyword name centre is also recognized (this is a GNU tbl
              extension).

       decimalpoint(c)
              Set the character to be recognized as the decimal point in
              numeric columns (GNU tbl only).

       delim(xy)
              Use x and y as start and end delimiters for eqn(1).

       doublebox
              Enclose the table in a double box.

       doubleframe
              Same as doublebox (GNU tbl only).

       expand Make the table as wide as the current line length (providing a
              column separation factor).  Ignored if one or more `x' column
              specifiers are used (see below).

              In case the sum of the column widths is larger than the current
              line length, the column separation factor is set to zero; such
              tables extend into the right margin, and there is no column
              separation at all.

       frame  Same as box (GNU tbl only).

       linesize(n)
              Set lines or rules (e.g. from box) in n-point type.

       nokeep Don't use diversions to prevent page breaks (GNU tbl only).
              Normally tbl attempts to prevent undesirable breaks in boxed
              tables by using diversions.  This can sometimes interact badly
              with macro packages' own use of diversions, when footnotes, for
              example, are used.

       nospaces
              Ignore leading and trailing spaces in data items (GNU tbl only).

       nowarn Turn off warnings related to tables exceeding the current line
              width (GNU tbl only).

       tab(x) Use the character x instead of a tab to separate items in a line
              of input data.

       The global options must end with a semicolon.  There might be
       whitespace between an option and its argument in parentheses.

   Table format specification
       After global options come lines describing the format of each line of
       the table.  Each such format line describes one line of the table
       itself, except that the last format line (which you must end with a
       period) describes all remaining lines of the table.  A single-key
       character describes each column of each line of the table.  Key
       characters can be separated by spaces or tabs.  You may run format
       specifications for multiple lines together on the same line by
       separating them with commas.

       You may follow each key character with specifiers that determine the
       font and point size of the corresponding item, that determine column
       width, inter-column spacing, etc.

       The longest format line defines the number of columns in the table;
       missing format descriptors at the end of format lines are assumed to
       be L.  Extra columns in the data (which have no corresponding format
       entry) are ignored.

       The available key characters are:

       a,A    Center longest line in this column and then left-justifies all
              other lines in this column with respect to that centered line.
              The idea is to use such alphabetic subcolumns (hence the name of
              the key character) in combination with L; they are called
              subcolumns because A items are indented by 1n relative to
              L entries.  Example:

                     .TS
                     tab(;);
                     ln,an.
                     item one;1
                     subitem two;2
                     subitem three;3
                     .T&
                     ln,an.
                     item eleven;11
                     subitem twentytwo;22
                     subitem thirtythree;33
                     .TE

              Result:

                     item one                 1
                      subitem two             2
                      subitem three           3
                     item eleven             11
                      subitem twentytwo      22
                      subitem thirtythree    33

       c,C    Center item within the column.

       l,L    Left-justify item within the column.

       n,N    Numerically justify item in the column: Units positions of
              numbers are aligned vertically.  If there is one or more dots
              adjacent to a digit, use the rightmost one for vertical
              alignment.  If there is no dot, use the rightmost digit for
              vertical alignment; otherwise, center the item within the
              column.  Alignment can be forced to a certain position using
              `\&'; if there is one or more instances of this special (non-
              printing) character present within the data, use the leftmost
              one for alignment.  Example:

                     .TS
                     n.
                     1
                     1.5
                     1.5.3
                     abcde
                     a\&bcde
                     .TE

              Result:

                       1
                       1.5
                     1.5.3
                      abcde
                       abcde

              If numerical entries are combined with L or R entries - this can
              happen if the table format is changed with .T& -, center the
              widest number (of the data entered under the N specifier regime)
              relative to the widest L or R entry, preserving the alignment of
              all numerical entries.  Contrary to A type entries, there is no
              extra indentation.

              Using equations (to be processed with eqn) within columns which
              use the N specifier is problematic in most cases due to tbl's
              algorithm for finding the vertical alignment, as described
              above.  Using the global delim option, however, it is possible
              to make tbl ignore the data within eqn delimiters for that
              purpose.

       r,R    Right-justify item within the column.

       s,S    Span previous item on the left into this column.  Not allowed
              for the first column.

       ^      Span down entry from previous row in this column.  Not allowed
              for the first row.

       _,-    Replace this entry with a horizontal line.

       =      Replace this entry with a double horizontal line.

       |      The corresponding column becomes a vertical rule (if two of
              these are adjacent, a double vertical rule).

       A vertical bar to the left of the first key letter or to the right of
       the last one produces a line at the edge of the table.

       To change the data format within a table, use the .T& command (at the
       start of a line).  It is followed by format and data lines (but no
       global options) similar to the .TS request.

   Column specifiers
       Here are the specifiers that can appear in suffixes to column key
       letters (in any order):

       b,B    Short form of fB (make affected entries bold).

       d,D    Start an item vertically spanning rows at the bottom of its
              range rather than vertically centering it (GNU tbl only).

       e,E    Make equally-spaced columns.  All columns marked with this
              specifier get the same width; this happens after the affected
              column widths have been computed (this means that the largest
              width value rules).

       f,F    Either of these specifiers may be followed by a font name
              (either one or two characters long), font number (a single
              digit), or long name in parentheses (the last form is a GNU tbl
              extension).  A one-letter font name must be separated by one or
              more blanks from whatever follows.

       i,I    Short form of fI (make affected entries italic).

       m,M    This is a GNU tbl extension.  Either of these specifiers may be
              followed by a macro name (either one or two characters long), or
              long name in parentheses.  A one-letter macro name must be
              separated by one or more blanks from whatever follows.  The
              macro which name can be specified here must be defined before
              creating the table.  It is called just before the table's cell
              text is output.  As implemented currently, this macro is only
              called if block input is used, that is, text between `T{' and
              `T}'.  The macro should contain only simple troff requests to
              change the text block formatting, like text adjustment,
              hyphenation, size, or font.  The macro is called after other
              cell modifications like b, f or v are output.  Thus the macro
              can overwrite other modification specifiers.

       p,P    Followed by a number, this does a point size change for the
              affected fields.  If signed, the current point size is
              incremented or decremented (using a signed number instead of a
              signed digit is a GNU tbl extension).  A point size specifier
              followed by a column separation number must be separated by one
              or more blanks.

       t,T    Start an item vertically spanning rows at the top of its range
              rather than vertically centering it.

       u,U    Move the corresponding column up one half-line.

       v,V    Followed by a number, this indicates the vertical line spacing
              to be used in a multi-line table entry.  If signed, the current
              vertical line spacing is incremented or decremented (using a
              signed number instead of a signed digit is a GNU tbl extension).
              A vertical line spacing specifier followed by a column
              separation number must be separated by one or more blanks.  No
              effect if the corresponding table entry isn't a text block.

       w,W    Minimal column width value.  Must be followed either by a
              troff(1) width expression in parentheses or a unitless integer.
              If no unit is given, en units are used.  Also used as the
              default line length for included text blocks.  If used multiple
              times to specify the width for a particular column, the last
              entry takes effect.

       x,X    An expanded column.  After computing all column widths without
              an x specifier, use the remaining line width for this column.
              If there is more than one expanded column, distribute the
              remaining horizontal space evenly among the affected columns
              (this is a GNU extension).  This feature has the same effect as
              specifying a minimum column width.

       z,Z    Ignore the corresponding column for width-calculation purposes,
              this is, don't use the fields but only the specifiers of this
              column to compute its width.

       A number suffix on a key character is interpreted as a column
       separation in en units (multiplied in proportion if the expand option
       is on - in case of overfull tables this might be zero).  Default
       separation is 3n.

       The column specifier x is mutually exclusive with e and w (but e is not
       mutually exclusive with w); if specified multiple times for a
       particular column, the last entry takes effect: x unsets both e and w,
       while either e or w overrides x.

   Table data
       The format lines are followed by lines containing the actual data for
       the table, followed finally by .TE.  Within such data lines, items are
       normally separated by tab characters (or the character specified with
       the tab option).  Long input lines can be broken across multiple lines
       if the last character on the line is `\' (which vanishes after
       concatenation).

       Note that tbl computes the column widths line by line, applying \w on
       each entry which isn't a text block.  As a consequence, constructions
       like

              .TS
              c,l.
              \s[20]MM
              MMMM
              .TE

       fail; you must either say

              .TS
              cp20,lp20.
              MM
              MMMM
              .TE

       or

              .TS
              c,l.
              \s[20]MM
              \s[20]MMMM
              .TE

       A dot starting a line, followed by anything but a digit is handled as a
       troff command, passed through without changes.  The table position is
       unchanged in this case.

       If a data line consists of only `_' or `=', a single or double line,
       respectively, is drawn across the table at that point; if a single item
       in a data line consists of only `_' or `=', then that item is replaced
       by a single or double line, joining its neighbours.  If a data item
       consists only of `\_' or `\=', a single or double line, respectively,
       is drawn across the field at that point which does not join its
       neighbours.

       A data item consisting only of `\Rx' (`x' any character) is replaced by
       repetitions of character `x' as wide as the column (not joining its
       neighbours).

       A data item consisting only of `\^' indicates that the field
       immediately above spans downward over this row.

   Text blocks
       A text block can be used to enter data as a single entry which would be
       too long as a simple string between tabs.  It is started with `T{' and
       closed with `T}'.  The former must end a line, and the latter must
       start a line, probably followed by other data columns (separated with
       tabs or the character given with the tab global option).

       By default, the text block is formatted with the settings which were
       active before entering the table, possibly overridden by the m, v, and
       w tbl specifiers.  For example, to make all text blocks ragged-right,
       insert .na right before the starting .TS (and .ad after the table).

       If either `w' or `x' specifiers are not given for all columns of a text
       block span, the default length of the text block (to be more precise,
       the line length used to process the text block diversion) is computed
       as LxC/(N+1), where `L' is the current line length, `C' the number of
       columns spanned by the text block, and `N' the total number of columns
       in the table.  Note, however, that the actual diversion width as
       returned in register \n[dl] is used eventually as the text block width.
       If necessary, you can also control the text block width with a direct
       insertion of a .ll request right after `T{'.

   Miscellaneous
       The number register \n[TW] holds the table width; it can't be used
       within the table itself but is defined right before calling .TE so that
       this macro can make use of it.

       tbl also defines a macro .T# which produces the bottom and side lines
       of a boxed table.  While tbl does call this macro itself at the end of
       the table, it can be used by macro packages to create boxes for multi-
       page tables by calling it within the page footer.  An example of this
       is shown by the -ms macros which provide this functionality if a table
       starts with .TS H instead of the standard call to the .TS macro.

INTERACTION WITH EQN
       tbl(1) should always be called before eqn(1) (groff(1) automatically
       takes care of the correct order of preprocessors).

       It is not advisable to use the hash character (#) as a delimiter for
       in-line equations in eqn(1) since tbl uses a macro called .T#, causing
       a clash.

GNU TBL ENHANCEMENTS
       There is no limit on the number of columns in a table, nor any limit on
       the number of text blocks.  All the lines of a table are considered in
       deciding column widths, not just the first 200.  Table continuation
       (.T&) lines are not restricted to the first 200 lines.

       Numeric and alphabetic items may appear in the same column.

       Numeric and alphabetic items may span horizontally.

       tbl uses register, string, macro and diversion names beginning with the
       digit 3.  When using tbl you should avoid using any names beginning
       with a 3.

GNU TBL WITHIN MACROS
       Since tbl defines its own macros (right before each table) it is
       necessary to use an `end-of-macro' macro.  Additionally, the escape
       character has to be switched off.  Here an example.

              .eo
              .de ATABLE ..
              .TS
              allbox tab(;);
              cl.
              \$1;\$2
              .TE
              ...
              .ec
              .ATABLE A table
              .ATABLE Another table
              .ATABLE And "another one"

       Note, however, that not all features of tbl can be wrapped into a macro
       because tbl sees the input earlier than troff.  For example, number
       formatting with vertically aligned decimal points fails if those
       numbers are passed on as macro parameters because decimal point
       alignment is handled by tbl itself: It only sees `\$1', `\$2', etc.,
       and therefore can't recognize the decimal point.

BUGS
       You should use .TS H/.TH in conjunction with a supporting macro package
       for all multi-page boxed tables.  If there is no header that you wish
       to appear at the top of each page of the table, place the .TH line
       immediately after the format section.  Do not enclose a multi-page
       table within keep/release macros, or divert it in any other way.

       A text block within a table must be able to fit on one page.

       The bp request cannot be used to force a page-break in a multi-page
       table.  Instead, define BP as follows

              .de BP
              .  ie '\\n(.z'' .bp \\$1
              .  el \!.BP \\$1
              ..

       and use BP instead of bp.

       Using \a directly in a table to get leaders does not work (except in
       compatibility mode).  This is correct behaviour: \a is an uninterpreted
       leader.  To get leaders use a real leader, either by using a control A
       or like this:

              .ds a \a
              .TS
              tab(;);
              lw(1i) l.
              A\*a;B
              .TE

REFERENCE
       Lesk, M.E.: "TBL - A Program to Format Tables".  For copyright reasons
       it cannot be included in the groff distribution, but copies can be
       found with a title search on the World Wide Web.

SEE ALSO
       groff(1), troff(1)



Groff Version 1.21             31 December 2010                         TBL(1)
