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.\" @(#)column.1 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
.\"
.TH COLUMN 1 "January 2017" "util-linux" "User Commands"
.SH NAME
column \- columnate lists
.SH SYNOPSIS
.BR column " [options]"
.RI [ file ...]
.SH DESCRIPTION
The
.B column
utility formats its input into multiple columns. By default, columns
are filled before rows. Input is taken from \fIfile\fR, or
otherwise from standard input. Empty lines are ignored.
.PP
.SH OPTIONS
.IP "\fB\-J, \-\-json\fP"
Use JSON output format to print the table, the option
\fB\-\-table\-colnames\fP is required and the option \fB\-\-table\-name\fP is recommended.
.IP "\fB\-c, \-\-output\-width\fP \fIwidth\fP"
Output is formatted to a width specified as number of characters. The original
name of this option is --columns; this name deprecated since v2.30.
.IP "\fB\-o, \-\-output\-separator\fP \fIstring\fP"
Specify the columns delimiter for table output (default is two spaces).
.IP "\fB\-s, \-\-separator\fP \fIseparators\fP"
Specify the possible input item delimiters (default is whitespace).
.IP "\fB\-t, \-\-table\fP"
Determine the number of columns the input contains and create a table.
Columns are delimited with whitespace, by default, or with the characters
supplied using the \fB\-\-output\-separator\fP option.
Table output is useful for pretty-printing.
.IP "\fB\-N, \-\-table-columns\fP \fInames\fP"
Specify the columns names by comma separated list of names. The names are used
for the table header or to addres column in option arguments.
.IP "\fB\-R, \-\-table-right\fP \fIcolumns\fP"
Right align text in the specified columns. The \fIcolumns\fP is comma separated
list of the column names (see \fB\-\-table-columns\fP) or column number.
.IP "\fB\-T, \-\-table-truncate\fP \fIcolumns\fP"
Specify columns where is allowed to truncate text when necessary, otherwise
very long table entries may be printed on multiple lines. The \fIcolumns\fP is
comma separated list of the column names (see \fB\-\-table-columns\fP) or
column number.
.IP "\fB\-E, \-\-table-noextreme\fP \fIcolumns\fP"
Specify columns where is possible to ignore unusually long (longer than
average) cells when calculate column width. The option has impact to the width
calculation, but the printed text is not affected. The \fIcolumns\fP is
comma separated list of the column names (see \fB\-\-table-columns\fP) or
column number.
.IP "\fB\-W, \-\-table-wrap\fP \fIcolumns\fP"
Specify columns where is possible to use multi-line cell for long text when
necessary. The \fIcolumns\fP is comma separated list of the column names (see
\fB\-\-table-columns\fP) or column number.
.IP "\fB\-H, \-\-table-hide\fP \fIcolumns\fP"
Don't print specified columns. The \fIcolumns\fP is comma separated list of
the column names (see \fB\-\-table-columns\fP) or column number.
.IP "\fB\-O, \-\-table-order\fP \fIcolumns\fP"
Specify columns order on output. The \fIcolumns\fP is comma separated list of
the column names (see \fB\-\-table-columns\fP) or column number.
.IP "\fB\-n, \-\-table-name\fP \fIname\fP"
Specify the table name used for JSON output. The defaout is "table".
.IP "\fB\-x, \-\-fillrows\fP"
Fill rows before filling columns.
.IP "\fB\-V\fR, \fB\-\-version\fR"
Display version information and exit.
.IP "\fB\-h, \-\-help\fP"
Display help text and exit.
.SH ENVIRONMENT
The environment variable \fBCOLUMNS\fR is used to determine the size of
the screen if no other information is available.
.SH EXAMPLES
.nf
.B sed 's/#.*//' /etc/fstab | column -t
.nf
.SH BUGS
Version 2.23 changed the
.B \-s
option to be non-greedy, for example:
.PP
.EX
\fBprintf "a:b:c\\n1::3\\n" | column -t -s ':'\fR
.EE
.PP
Old output:
.EX
a b c
1 3
.EE
.PP
New output (since util-linux 2.23):
.EX
a b c
1 3
.EE
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR colrm (1),
.BR ls (1),
.BR paste (1),
.BR sort (1)
.SH HISTORY
The column command appeared in 4.3BSD-Reno.
.SH AVAILABILITY
The column command is part of the util-linux package and is available from
https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/.
