PS TEXT FORMAT Reference Manual

Introduction to TFORM
3–128 11387 Tandem Computers Incorporated
SET TABS Options
The SET TABS command lets you set, remove, and change tab stops.
When TFORM sees a symbolic tab escape sequence (\>) in the text (see
the explanation of the escape sequences in Section 4), it adjusts the
output to begin at the next tab stop to the right of the current print
position, or, if no such tab stop exists, at the beginning of the next line
(the left margin is always an implicit tab stop).
You set tab stops in increments of character positions. That is, if the
current horizontal pitch is 10 characters per inch, there are 10 potential
tab stops per inch. If you are using proportional pitch, TFORM uses 12
positions per inch, which is close enough to the actual spacing to be
workable.
SET TABS ON
This command, without one or more int values, clears any
currently set tab stops and sets new tab stops at every eighth
character position.
SET TABS ON, with one or more int values, sets tab stops at the
specified character columns. This form of the SET TABS command
is cumulative; that is, it does not clear any existing tab stops, but
adds new ones to those already set.
SET TABS OFF
This command, without one or more int values, clears all tab
settings (except for the implicit tab at the left margin). The default
condition is SET TABS OFF.
SET TABS OFF, with one or more int values, clears the tab stops in
the specified columns. If no tab stop was set at a specified character
position, the operation is meaningless. TFORM, however, does not
consider it as an error.