expand(1) expand(1)NAME expand, unexpand - expand tabs to spaces, and vice versa SYNOPSIS expand -a [-tabstop] [-tab1,tab2,... ,tabn] [file]... unexpand [file]... ARGUMENTS -a Inserts tabs whenever they would compress the resultant file by replacing two or more characters. file Specifies the file to be read and expanded. -tabstop Sets the tabs at tabstop spaces apart instead of the default of 8, if a single tabstop is given. -tab1,tab2,... ,tabn Sets the tabs at the specified columns. DESCRIPTION expand reads the named files (or the standard input, if none are given) and writes on the the standard output with tabs changed into blanks. Backspace characters are preserved into the output and decrement the column count for tab calculations. expand is useful for preprocessing character files that contain tabs (before sorting, looking at specific columns, and so forth). unexpand puts tabs back into the data from the standard input or the named files and writes the result on the standard output. By default, only leading blanks and tabs are reconverted to maximal strings of tabs. FILES /usr/ucb/expand Executable file /usr/ucb/unexpand Executable file January 1992 1