TBL (1)

SYNOPSIS

tbl [ -Cv ] [ files \|.\|.\|. ]

DESCRIPTION

This manual page describes the GNU version of tbl , which is part of the groff document formatting system. tbl compiles descriptions of tables embedded within troff input files into commands that are understood by troff . Normally, it should be invoked using the -t option of groff. It is highly compatible with Unix tbl . The output generated by GNU tbl cannot be processed with Unix troff ; it must be processed with GNU troff . If no files are given on the command line, the standard input will be read. A filename of - will cause the standard input to be read.

OPTIONS

-C

Recognize .TS and .TE even when followed by a character other than space or newline.

-v

Print the version number.

USAGE

Only the differences between GNU tbl and Unix tbl are described here.

Normally tbl attempts to prevent undesirable breaks in the table by using diversions. This can sometimes interact badly with macro packages' own use of diversions, when footnotes, for example, are used. The nokeep option tells tbl not to try and prevent breaks in this way.

The decimalpoint option specifies the character to be recognized as the decimal point character in place of the default period. It takes an argument in parentheses, which must be a single character, as for the tab option.

The f format modifier can be followed by an arbitrary length font name in parentheses.

There is a d format modifier which means that a vertically spanning entry should be aligned at the bottom of its range.

There is no limit on the number of columns in a table, nor any limit on the number of text blocks. All the lines of a table are considered in deciding column widths, not just the first 200. Table continuation ( .T& ) lines are not restricted to the first 200 lines.

Numeric and alphabetic items may appear in the same column.

Numeric and alphabetic items may span horizontally.

tbl uses register, string, macro and diversion names beginning with 3 . When using tbl you should avoid using any names beginning with a 3 .

BUGS

You should use .TS\ H / .TH in conjunction with a supporting macro package for all multi-page boxed tables. If there is no header that you wish to appear at the top of each page of the table, place the .TH line immediately after the format section. Do not enclose a multi-page table within keep/release macros, or divert it in any other way.

A text block within a table must be able to fit on one page.

The bp request cannot be used to force a page-break in a multi-page table. Instead, define BP as follows

.de BP .ie '\e\en(.z'' .bp \e\e$1 .el \e!.BP \e\e$1 ..

and use BP instead of bp .

Using \ea directly in a table to get leaders will not work. This is correct behaviour: \ea is a uninterpreted leader. To get leaders use a real leader, either by using a control A or like this:

B
.ds a \ea
.TS
tab(;);
lw(1i) l.
A\e*a;B
.TE

SEE ALSO

- groff (1) - - troff (1) - ' " ' " Copyright(c) 1993 The Regents of the University of California ' " Copyright(c) 1994-1996 Sun Microsystems Inc ' " ' " See the file "license terms" for information on usage and redistribution ' " of this file and for a DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES ' " ' " RCS: @(#) $Id: - tclsh (1) - v 1 2 1998/09/14 18:39:55 stanton Exp $ ' " ' " The definitions below are for supplemental macros used in Tcl/Tk ' " manual entries ' " ' " AP type name in/out ?indent? ' " Start paragraph describing an argument to a library procedure ' " type is type of argument(int etc ) in/out is either "in" "out" ' " or "in/out" to describe whether procedure reads or modifies arg ' " and indent is equivalent to second arg of IP(shouldn't ever be ' " needed; use AS below instead) ' " ' " AS ?type? ?name? ' " Give maximum sizes of arguments for setting tab stops Type and ' " name are examples of largest possible arguments that will be passed ' " to AP later If args are omitted default tab stops are used ' " ' " BS ' " Start box enclosure From here until next BE everything will be ' " enclosed in one large box ' " ' " BE ' " End of box enclosure ' " ' " CS ' " Begin code excerpt ' " ' " CE ' " End code excerpt ' " ' " VS ?version? ?br? ' " Begin vertical sidebar for use in marking newly-changed parts ' " of man pages The first argument is ignored and used for recording ' " the version when the VS was added so that the sidebars can be ' " found and removed when they reach a certain age If another argument ' " is present then a line break is forced before starting the sidebar ' " ' " VE ' " End of vertical sidebar ' " ' " DS ' " Begin an indented unfilled display ' " ' " DE ' " End of indented unfilled display ' " ' " SO ' " Start of list of standard options for a Tk widget The ' " options follow on successive lines in four columns separated ' " by tabs ' " ' " SE ' " End of list of standard options for a Tk widget ' " ' " OP cmdName dbName dbClass ' " Start of description of a specific option cmdName gives the ' " option's name as specified in the class command dbName gives ' " the option's name in the option database and dbClass gives ' " the option's class in the option database ' " ' " UL arg1 arg2 ' " Print arg1 underlined then print arg2 normally ' " ' " RCS: @(#) $Id: man macros v 1 2 1998/09/14 18:39:54 stanton Exp $ ' " ' " # Set up traps and other miscellaneous stuff for Tcl/Tk man pages t wh -1 3i ^B ^l n( l b ' " # Start an argument description AP !" $4"" TP $4 { !" $2"" TP n()Cu 15