tabs.1 (2010 09)

t
tabs(1) tabs(1)
NAME
tabs - set tabs on a terminal
SYNOPSIS
tabs [ tabspec ][+m n ][
-T type ]
DESCRIPTION
tabs sets the tab stops on the user’s terminal according to the tab specification tabspec , after clearing
any previous settings. The user’s terminal must have remotely-settable hardware tabs.
If you are using a non-HP terminal, you should keep in mind that behavior will vary for some tab set-
tings.
Four types of tab specification are accepted for tabspec : ‘‘canned’’, repetitive, arbitrary, and file. If no
tabspec is given, the default value is
-8; i.e., UNIX ‘‘standard’’ tabs. The lowest column number is 1.
Note that for tabs , column 1 always refers to the left-most column on a terminal, even one whose column
markers begin at 0.
-code Gives the name of one of a set of ‘‘canned’’ tabs. Recognized code s and their meanings are as fol-
lows:
-a 1,10,16,36,72
Assembler,
IBM S/370, first format
-a2 1,10,16,40,72
Assembler,
IBM S/370, second format
-c 1,8,12,16,20,55
COBOL, normal format
-c2 1,6,10,14,49
COBOL compact format (columns 1-6 omitted). Using this code, the first typed char-
acter corresponds to card column 7, one space gets you to column 8, and a tab
reaches column 12. Files using this tab setup should have tabs specify a format
specification file as defined by --file below. The file should have the following for-
mat specification:
<:t-c2 m6 s66 d:>
-c3 1,6,10,14,18,22,26,30,34,38,42,46,50,54,58,62,67
COBOL compact format (columns 1-6 omitted), with more tabs than -c2. This is
the recommended format for COBOL. The appropriate format specification is:
<:t-c3 m6 s66 d:>
-f 1,7,11,15,19,23
FORTRAN
-p 1,5,9,13,17,21,25,29,33,37,41,45,49,53,57,61
PL/I
-s 1,10,55
SNOBOL
-u 1,12,20,44
UNIVAC 1100 Assembler
In addition to these ‘‘canned’’ formats, three other types exist:
-n A repetitive specification requests tabs at columns 1+n, 1+2 × n, etc. Of particular impor-
tance is the value -8: this represents the UNIX ‘‘standard’’ tab setting, and is the most
likely tab setting to be found at a terminal. Another special case is the value -0, implying
no tabs at all.
n1
,n2,... The arbitrary format permits the user to type any chosen set of numbers, separated by com-
mas, in ascending order. Up to 40 numbers are allowed. If any number (except the first
one) is preceded by a plus sign, it is taken as an increment to be added to the previous value.
Thus, the tab lists 1,10,20,30 and 1,10,+10,+10 are considered identical.
--file If the name of a file is given, tabs reads the first line of the file, searching for a format
specification. If it finds one there, it sets the tab stops according to it, otherwise it sets them
as -8. This type of specification can be used to ensure that a tabbed file is printed with
HP-UX 11i Version 3: September 2010 − 1 − Hewlett-Packard Company 1