COL(1)                   DOMAIN/IX SYS5                    COL(1)



NAME
     col - filter reverse line-feeds

USAGE
     col [ -bfpx ]

DESCRIPTION
     Col reads from the standard input and writes onto the stan-
     dard output.  It performs the line overlays implied by
     reverse line feeds (ASCII code ESC-7), and by forward and
     reverse half-line feeds (ESC-9 and ESC-8).  Col is particu-
     larly useful for filtering multicolumn output from nroff(1),
     and output resulting from use of the tbl(1) preprocessor.

     Although col accepts half-line motions in its input, it nor-
     mally does not emit them on output.  Instead, text that
     would appear between lines is moved to the next lower full-
     line boundary.  In addition, col normally converts white
     space to tabs on output whenever possible to shorten print-
     ing time.  Finally, col ignores any escape sequences that it
     does not recognize.  Each of these treatments, however, may
     be suppressed by using the options described below.

     Col assumes the ASCII control characters SO (\016) and SI
     (\017) to start and end text in an alternate character set.
     It remembers the character set to which each input character
     belongs, and on output generates SI and SO characters as
     appropriate to ensure that each character is printed in the
     correct character set.

     On input, the only control characters accepted are space,
     backspace, tab, return, new-line, SI, SO, VT (\013), and ESC
     followed by 7, 8, or 9.  The VT character is an alternate
     form of full reverse line-feed, included for compatibility
     with some earlier programs of this type.  All other non-
     printing characters are ignored.

     The input format accepted by col matches the output produced
     by nroff(1) with the -T37 option.  Use -T37 (and the -f
     option of col ) if the  output of col is to be directed to a
     device that can interpret half-line motions.

OPTIONS
     -b        Assume that the output device in use is not capa-
               ble of backspacing.  If two or more characters are
               to appear in the same place, output only the last
               one read.

     -f        May contain forward half-line feeds (ESC-9) in
               output, but not any reverse line motion.



Printed 12/4/86                                             COL-1

COL(1)                   DOMAIN/IX SYS5                    COL(1)



     -x        Leave white space as is; do not convert to tabs.

     -p        Do not ignore unrecognizable escape sequences
               found in input.  Output them as regular charac-
               ters, subject to overprinting from reverse line
               motions.  Note:  Do not use this option unless you
               are fully aware of the textual position of the
               escape sequences.

CAUTIONS
     Col cannot back up more than 128 lines.

     Local vertical motions that may result in backing up over
     the first line of the document are ignored.  As a result,
     the first line must not have any superscripts.

     Col allows a maximum of 800 characters, including back-
     spaces, on a line.

RELATED INFORMATION
     nroff(1), tbl(1).
































COL-2                                             Printed 12/4/86