NAME
column - columnate lists
SYNOPSIS
column [-ntx] [-ccolumns] [-ssep] []
DESCRIPTION
The column utility formats its input into multiple columns. Rows are filled before columns. Input is taken from file operands, or, by default, from the standard input. Empty lines are ignored.
The options are as follows: Output is formatted for a display columns wide. By default, the column command will merge multiple adjacent delimiters into a single delimiter when using the -toption; this option disables that behavior. Specify a set of characters to be used to delimit columns for the -toption. 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 -soption. Useful for pretty-printing displays. Fill columns before filling rows.
DIAGNOSTICS
The column utility exit 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
ENVIRONMENT
The environment variable is used to determine the size of the screen if no other information is available.
EXAMPLES
To add headings to the output of ls(1)
To print the wordlist in columns:
The previous examples fills rows before columns (the first column might start with aardvark, while the second with mighty). To fill columns before rows (such that the first line might contain aardvark and abacus):
SEE ALSO
colrm(1) ls(1) paste(1) sort(1)
HISTORY
The column command appeared in BSD 4.3 Reno .
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