1TBL(1) General Commands Manual TBL(1)
2
6 tbl - format tables for troff
7
9 tbl [-Cv] [file ...]
10
12 This manual page describes the GNU version of tbl, which is part of the
13 groff document formatting system. tbl compiles descriptions of tables
14 embedded within troff input files into commands that are understood by
15 troff. Normally, it should be invoked using the -t option of groff.
16 It is highly compatible with Unix tbl. The output generated by GNU tbl
17 cannot be processed with Unix troff; it must be processed with GNU
18 troff. If no files are given on the command line or a filename of - is
19 given, the standard input is read.
20
22 -C Enable compatibility mode to recognize .TS and .TE even when
23 followed by a character other than space or newline. Leader
24 characters (\a) are handled as interpreted.
25 -v Print the version number.
27
29 tbl expects to find table descriptions wrapped in the .TS (table start)
30 and .TE (table end) macros. Within each such table sections, another
31 table can be defined by using the request .T& before the final command
32 .TE. Each table definition has the following structure:
33 Global options
35 This is optional. This table part can use several of these op‐
36 tions distributed in 1 or more lines. The global option part
37 must always be finished by a semi-colon ; .
38 Table format specification
40 This part must be given, it is not optional. It determines the
41 number of columns (cells) of the table. Moreover each cell is
42 classified by being central, left adjusted, or numerical, etc.
43 This specification can have several lines, but must be finished
44 by a dot . at the end of the last line. After each cell defi‐
45 nition, column specifiers can be appended, but that's optional.
46 Cells are separated by a tab character by default. That can be changed
48 by the global option tab(c), where c is an arbitrary character.
49
51 The easiest table definition is.
52 .TS
53 c c c .
54 This is centered
55 Well, this also
56 .TE
57 By using c c c, each cell in the whole table will be centered. The
58 separating character is here the default tab.
59 The result is
61 This is centered
63 Well, this also
64 This definition is identical to
66 .TS
67 tab(@);
68 ccc.
69 This@is@centered
70 Well,@this@also
71 .TE
72 Here, the separating tab character is changed to the letter @.
73 Moreover a title can be added and the centering directions can be
75 changed to many other formats:
76 .TS
77 tab(@);
78 c s s
79 l c n .
80 Title
81 left@centers@123
82 another@number@75
83 .TE
84 The result is
85 Title
87 left centers 123
88 another number 75
89 Here l means left-justified, and n means numerical, which is here
90 right-justified.
91
93 Global options
94 The line immediately following the .TS macro may contain any of the
95 following global options (ignoring the case of characters – Unix tbl
96 only accepts options with all characters lowercase or all characters
97 uppercase), separated by spaces, tabs, or commas:
98 allbox Enclose each item of the table in a box.
100 box Enclose the table in a box.
102 center Center the table (default is left-justified). The alternative
104 keyword name centre is also recognized (this is a GNU tbl exten‐
105 sion).
106 decimalpoint(c)
108 Set the character to be recognized as the decimal point in nu‐
109 meric columns (GNU tbl only).
110 delim(xy)
112 Use x and y as start and end delimiters for eqn(1).
113 doublebox
115 Enclose the table in a double box.
116 doubleframe
118 Same as doublebox (GNU tbl only).
119 expand Make the table as wide as the current line length (providing a
121 column separation factor). Ignored if one or more ‘x’ column
122 specifiers are used (see below).
123 In case the sum of the column widths is larger than the current
125 line length, the column separation factor is set to zero; such
126 tables extend into the right margin, and there is no column sep‐
127 aration at all.
128 frame Same as box (GNU tbl only).
130 linesize(n)
132 Set lines or rules (e.g. from box) in n-point type.
133 nokeep Don't use diversions to prevent page breaks (GNU tbl only).
135 Normally tbl attempts to prevent undesirable breaks in boxed ta‐
136 bles by using diversions. This can sometimes interact badly
137 with macro packages' own use of diversions—when footnotes, for
138 example, are used.
139 nospaces
141 Ignore leading and trailing spaces in data items (GNU tbl only).
142 nowarn Turn off warnings related to tables exceeding the current line
144 width (GNU tbl only).
145 tab(x) Use the character x instead of a tab to separate items in a line
147 of input data.
148 The global options must end with a semicolon. There might be white‐
150 space between an option and its argument in parentheses.
151 Table format specification
153 After global options come lines describing the format of each line of
154 the table. Each such format line describes one line of the table it‐
155 self, except that the last format line (which you must end with a pe‐
156 riod) describes all remaining lines of the table. A single-key charac‐
157 ter describes each column of each line of the table. Key characters
158 can be separated by spaces or tabs. You may run format specifications
159 for multiple lines together on the same line by separating them with
160 commas.
161 You may follow each key character with specifiers that determine the
163 font and point size of the corresponding item, that determine column
164 width, inter-column spacing, etc.
165 The longest format line defines the number of columns in the table;
167 missing format descriptors at the end of format lines are assumed to
168 be L. Extra columns in the data (which have no corresponding format
169 entry) are ignored.
170 The available key characters are:
172 a,A Center longest line in this column and then left-justifies all
174 other lines in this column with respect to that centered line.
175 The idea is to use such alphabetic subcolumns (hence the name of
176 the key character) in combination with L; they are called sub‐
177 columns because A items are indented by 1n relative to L en‐
178 tries. Example:
179 .TS
181 tab(;);
182 ln,an.
183 item one;1
184 subitem two;2
185 subitem three;3
186 .T&
187 ln,an.
188 item eleven;11
189 subitem twentytwo;22
190 subitem thirtythree;33
191 .TE
192 Result:
194 item one 1
196 subitem two 2
197 subitem three 3
198 item eleven 11
199 subitem twentytwo 22
200 subitem thirtythree 33
202 c,C Center item within the column.
204 l,L Left-justify item within the column.
206 n,N Numerically justify item in the column: Units positions of num‐
208 bers are aligned vertically. If there is one or more dots adja‐
209 cent to a digit, use the rightmost one for vertical alignment.
210 If there is no dot, use the rightmost digit for vertical align‐
211 ment; otherwise, center the item within the column. Alignment
212 can be forced to a certain position using ‘\&’; if there is one
213 or more instances of this special (non-printing) character
214 present within the data, use the leftmost one for alignment.
215 Example:
216 .TS
218 n.
219 1
220 1.5
221 1.5.3
222 abcde
223 a\&bcde
224 .TE
225 Result:
227 1
229 1.5
230 1.5.3
231 abcde
232 abcde
233 If numerical entries are combined with L or R entries – this can
235 happen if the table format is changed with .T& – center the
236 widest number (of the data entered under the N specifier regime)
237 relative to the widest L or R entry, preserving the alignment of
238 all numerical entries. Contrary to A type entries, there is no
239 extra indentation.
240 Using equations (to be processed with eqn) within columns which
242 use the N specifier is problematic in most cases due to tbl's
243 algorithm for finding the vertical alignment, as described
244 above. Using the global delim option, however, it is possible
245 to make tbl ignore the data within eqn delimiters for that pur‐
246 pose.
247 r,R Right-justify item within the column.
249 s,S Span previous item on the left into this column. Not allowed
251 for the first column.
252 ^ Span down entry from previous row in this column. Not allowed
254 for the first row.
255 _,- Replace this entry with a horizontal line. Note that ‘_’ and
257 ‘-’ can be used for table fields only, not for column separator
258 lines.
259 = Replace this entry with a double horizontal line. Note that ‘=’
261 can be used for table fields only, not for column separator
262 lines.
263 | The corresponding column becomes a vertical rule (if two of
265 these are adjacent, a double vertical rule).
266 A vertical bar to the left of the first key letter or to the right of
268 the last one produces a line at the edge of the table.
269 To change the data format within a table, use the .T& command (at the
271 start of a line). It is followed by format and data lines (but no
272 global options) similar to the .TS request.
273 Column specifiers
275 Here are the specifiers that can appear in suffixes to column key let‐
276 ters (in any order):
277 b,B Short form of fB (make affected entries bold).
279 d,D Start an item that vertically spans rows, using the ‘^’ column
281 specifier or ‘\^’ data item, at the bottom of its range rather
282 than vertically centering it (GNU tbl only). Example:
283 .TS
285 tab(;) allbox;
286 l l
287 l ld
288 r ^
289 l rd.
290 0000;foobar
291 T{
292 1111
293 .br
294 2222
295 T};foo
296 r;
297 T{
298 3333
299 .br
300 4444
301 T};bar
302 \^;\^
303 .TE
304 Result:
306 ┌─────┬────────┐
308 │0000 │ foobar │
309 ├─────┼────────┤
310 │1111 │ │
311 │2222 │ │
312 ├─────┤ │
313 │ r │ foo │
314 ├─────┼────────┤
315 │3333 │ │
316 │4444 │ bar │
317 └─────┴────────┘
318 e,E Make equally-spaced columns. All columns marked with this spec‐
319 ifier get the same width; this happens after the affected column
320 widths have been computed (this means that the largest width
321 value rules).
322 f,F Either of these specifiers may be followed by a font name (ei‐
324 ther one or two characters long), font number (a single digit),
325 or long name in parentheses (the last form is a GNU tbl exten‐
326 sion). A one-letter font name must be separated by one or more
327 blanks from whatever follows.
328 i,I Short form of fI (make affected entries italic).
330 m,M This is a GNU tbl extension. Either of these specifiers may be
332 followed by a macro name (either one or two characters long), or
333 long name in parentheses. A one-letter macro name must be sepa‐
334 rated by one or more blanks from whatever follows. The macro
335 which name can be specified here must be defined before creating
336 the table. It is called just before the table's cell text is
337 output. As implemented currently, this macro is only called if
338 block input is used, that is, text between ‘T{’ and ‘T}’. The
339 macro should contain only simple troff requests to change the
340 text block formatting, like text adjustment, hyphenation, size,
341 or font. The macro is called after other cell modifications
342 like b, f or v are output. Thus the macro can overwrite other
343 modification specifiers.
344 p,P Followed by a number, this does a point size change for the af‐
346 fected fields. If signed, the current point size is incremented
347 or decremented (using a signed number instead of a signed digit
348 is a GNU tbl extension). A point size specifier followed by a
349 column separation number must be separated by one or more
350 blanks.
351 t,T Start an item vertically spanning rows at the top of its range
353 rather than vertically centering it.
354 u,U Move the corresponding column up one half-line.
356 v,V Followed by a number, this indicates the vertical line spacing
358 to be used in a multi-line table entry. If signed, the current
359 vertical line spacing is incremented or decremented (using a
360 signed number instead of a signed digit is a GNU tbl extension).
361 A vertical line spacing specifier followed by a column separa‐
362 tion number must be separated by one or more blanks. No effect
363 if the corresponding table entry isn't a text block.
364 w,W Minimum column width value. Must be followed either by a
366 troff(1) width expression in parentheses or a unitless integer.
367 If no unit is given, en units are used. Also used as the de‐
368 fault line length for included text blocks. If used multiple
369 times to specify the width for a particular column, the last en‐
370 try takes effect.
371 x,X An expanded column. After computing all column widths without
373 an x specifier, use the remaining line width for this column.
374 If there is more than one expanded column, distribute the re‐
375 maining horizontal space evenly among the affected columns (this
376 is a GNU extension). This feature has the same effect as speci‐
377 fying a minimum column width.
378 z,Z Ignore the corresponding column for width-calculation purposes,
380 this is, don't use the fields but only the specifiers of this
381 column to compute its width.
382 A number suffix on a key character is interpreted as a column separa‐
384 tion in en units (multiplied in proportion if the expand option is on –
385 in case of overfull tables this might be zero). Default separation is
386 3n.
387 The column specifier x is mutually exclusive with e and w (but e is not
389 mutually exclusive with w); if specified multiple times for a particu‐
390 lar column, the last entry takes effect: x unsets both e and w, while
391 either e or w overrides x.
392 Table data
394 The format lines are followed by lines containing the actual data for
395 the table, followed finally by .TE. Within such data lines, items are
396 normally separated by tab characters (or the character specified with
397 the tab option). Long input lines can be broken across multiple lines
398 if the last character on the line is ‘\’ (which vanishes after concate‐
399 nation).
400 Note that tbl computes the column widths line by line, applying \w on
402 each entry which isn't a text block. As a consequence, constructions
403 like
404 .TS
406 c,l.
407 \s[20]MM
408 MMMM
409 .TE
410 fail; you must either say
412 .TS
414 cp20,lp20.
415 MM
416 MMMM
417 .TE
418 or
420 .TS
422 c,l.
423 \s[20]MM
424 \s[20]MMMM
425 .TE
426 A dot starting a line, followed by anything but a digit is handled as a
428 troff command, passed through without changes. The table position is
429 unchanged in this case.
430 If a data line consists of only ‘_’ or ‘=’, a single or double line,
432 respectively, is drawn across the table at that point; if a single item
433 in a data line consists of only ‘_’ or ‘=’, then that item is replaced
434 by a single or double line, joining its neighbours. If a data item
435 consists only of ‘\_’ or ‘\=’, a single or double line, respectively,
436 is drawn across the field at that point which does not join its neigh‐
437 bours.
438 A data item consisting only of ‘\Rx’ (‘x’ any character) is replaced by
440 repetitions of character ‘x’ as wide as the column (not joining its
441 neighbours).
442 A data item consisting only of ‘\^’ indicates that the field immedi‐
444 ately above spans downward over this row.
445 Text blocks
447 A text block can be used to enter data as a single entry which would be
448 too long as a simple string between tabs. It is started with ‘T{’ and
449 closed with ‘T}’. The former must end a line, and the latter must
450 start a line, probably followed by other data columns (separated with
451 tabs or the character given with the tab global option).
452 By default, the text block is formatted with the settings which were
454 active before entering the table, possibly overridden by the m, v, and
455 w tbl specifiers. For example, to make all text blocks ragged-right,
456 insert .na right before the starting .TS (and .ad after the table).
457 If either ‘w’ or ‘x’ specifiers are not given for all columns of a text
459 block span, the default length of the text block (to be more precise,
460 the line length used to process the text block diversion) is computed
461 as L×C/(N+1), where ‘L’ is the current line length, ‘C’ the number of
462 columns spanned by the text block, and ‘N’ the total number of columns
463 in the table. Note, however, that the actual diversion width as re‐
464 turned in register \n[dl] is used eventually as the text block width.
465 If necessary, you can also control the text block width with a direct
466 insertion of a .ll request right after ‘T{’.
467 Miscellaneous
469 The number register \n[TW] holds the table width; it can't be used
470 within the table itself but is defined right before calling .TE so that
471 this macro can make use of it.
472 tbl also defines a macro .T# which produces the bottom and side lines
474 of a boxed table. While tbl does call this macro itself at the end of
475 the table, it can be used by macro packages to create boxes for multi-
476 page tables by calling it within the page footer. An example of this
477 is shown by the -ms macros which provide this functionality if a table
478 starts with .TS H instead of the standard call to the .TS macro.
479
481 tbl(1) should always be called before eqn(1) (groff(1) automatically
482 takes care of the correct order of preprocessors).
483
485 There is no limit on the number of columns in a table, nor any limit on
486 the number of text blocks. All the lines of a table are considered in
487 deciding column widths, not just the first 200. Table continuation
488 (.T&) lines are not restricted to the first 200 lines.
489 Numeric and alphabetic items may appear in the same column.
491 Numeric and alphabetic items may span horizontally.
493 tbl uses register, string, macro and diversion names beginning with the
495 digit 3. When using tbl you should avoid using any names beginning
496 with a 3.
497
499 Since tbl defines its own macros (right before each table) it is neces‐
500 sary to use an ‘end-of-macro’ macro. Additionally, the escape charac‐
501 ter has to be switched off. Here an example.
502 .eo
504 .de ATABLE ..
505 .TS
506 allbox tab(;);
507 cl.
508 \$1;\$2
509 .TE
510 ...
511 .ec
512 .ATABLE A table
513 .ATABLE Another table
514 .ATABLE And "another one"
515 Note, however, that not all features of tbl can be wrapped into a macro
517 because tbl sees the input earlier than troff. For example, number
518 formatting with vertically aligned decimal points fails if those num‐
519 bers are passed on as macro parameters because decimal point alignment
520 is handled by tbl itself: It only sees ‘\$1’, ‘\$2’, etc., and there‐
521 fore can't recognize the decimal point.
522
524 You should use .TS H/.TH in conjunction with a supporting macro package
525 for all multi-page boxed tables. If there is no header that you wish
526 to appear at the top of each page of the table, place the .TH line im‐
527 mediately after the format section. Do not enclose a multi-page table
528 within keep/release macros, or divert it in any other way.
529 A text block within a table must be able to fit on one page.
531 The bp request cannot be used to force a page-break in a multi-page ta‐
533 ble. Instead, define BP as follows
534 .de BP
536 . ie '\\n(.z'' .bp \\$1
537 . el \!.BP \\$1
538 ..
539 and use BP instead of bp.
541 Using \a directly in a table to get leaders does not work (except in
543 compatibility mode). This is correct behaviour: \a is an uninterpreted
544 leader. To get leaders use a real leader, either by using a control A
545 or like this:
546 .ds a \a
548 .TS
549 tab(;);
550 lw(1i) l.
551 A\*a;B
552 .TE
553 A leading and/or trailing ‘|’ in a format line, such as
555 |l r|.
557 gives output which has a 1n space between the resulting bordering ver‐
559 tical rule and the content of the adjacent column, as in
560 .TS
562 tab(#);
563 |l r|.
564 left column#right column
565 .TE
566 If it is desired to have zero space (so that the rule touches the con‐
568 tent), this can be achieved by introducing extra “dummy” columns, with
569 no content and zero separation, before and/or after, as in
570 .TS
572 tab(#);
573 r0|l r0|l.
574 #left column#right column#
575 .TE
576 The resulting “dummy” columns are invisible and have zero width; note
578 that such columns usually don't work with TTY devices.
579
581 Lesk, M.E.: "TBL – A Program to Format Tables". For copyright reasons
582 it cannot be included in the groff distribution, but copies can be
583 found with a title search on the World Wide Web.
584
586 groff(1), troff(1)
587groff 1.22.4 19 January 2023 TBL(1)