expand(1) General Commands Manual expand(1)Name
expand, unexpand - expand tabs to spaces, and vice versa
Syntax
expand [-tabstop] [-tabn...] [file...]
unexpand [-a] [file...]
Description
The command processes the named files or the standard input writing the standard output with tabs changed into blanks. Backspace charac-
ters are preserved into the output and decrement the column count for tab calculations. The command is useful for pre-processing character
files (before sorting, looking at specific columns, and so forth) that contain tabs.
If a single tabstop argument is given then tabs are set tabstop spaces apart instead of the default 8. If multiple tabstops are given then
the tabs are set at those specific columns.
The command puts tabs back into the data from the standard input or the named files and writes the result on the standard output. By
default only leading blanks and tabs are reconverted to maximal strings of tabs. If the -a option is given, then tabs are inserted when-
ever they would compress the resultant file by replacing two or more characters.
Options
-# Sets tabstops the specified number of spaces (#) apart.
-a When used with unexpand, compresses file by inserting tabs for two or more spaces.
expand(1)
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EXPAND(1) BSD General Commands Manual EXPAND(1)NAME
expand, unexpand -- expand tabs to spaces, and vice versa
SYNOPSIS
expand [-t tab1,tab2,...,tabn] [file ...]
unexpand [-a | -t tab1,tab2,...,tabn] [file ...]
DESCRIPTION
The expand 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 expand utility is useful for pre-process-
ing 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 tab1,tab2,...,tabn
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 expand and unexpand as described in environ(7).
EXIT STATUS
The expand and unexpand utilities exit 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
STANDARDS
The expand and unexpand utilities conform to IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 (``POSIX.1'').
HISTORY
The expand command appeared in 3.0BSD.
BSD October 13, 2006 BSD