TBL(1)

NAME
tbl - format tables for nroff or troff

SYNOPSIS
tbl [ files ] ...

DESCRIPTION
Tbl is a preprocessor for formatting tables for nroff or troff(1). The input files are copied to the standard output, except for lines between .TS and .TE command lines, which are assumed to describe tables and are reformatted. Details are given in the tbl(1) reference manual.

EXAMPLE

As an example, letting \t represent a tab (which should be typed as a genuine tab) the input

    .TS
    c s s
    c c s
    c c c
    l n n.
    Household Population
    Town\tHouseholds
    \tNumber\tSize
    Bedminster\t789\t3.26
    Bernards Twp.\t3087\t3.74
    Bernardsville\t2018\t3.30
    Bound Brook\t3425\t3.04
    Branchburg\t1644\t3.49
    Bridgewater\t7897\t3.81
    Far Hills\t240\t3.19
    .TE

yields

    Household Population
    Town | Households
     | Number | Size
    Bedminster | 789 | 3.26
    Bernards Twp. | 3087 | 3.74
    Bernardsville | 2018 | 3.30
    Bound Brook | 3425 | 3.04
    Branchburg | 1644 | 3.49
    Bridgewater | 7897 | 3.81
    Far Hills | 240 | 3.19

If no arguments are given, tbl reads the standard input, so it may be used as a filter. When tbl is used with eqn or neqn the tbl command should be first, to minimize the volume of data passed through pipes.

SEE ALSO
troff(1), eqn(1)
M. E. Lesk, TBL.