COL(1)				 User Commands				COL(1)



NAME
       col - filter reverse line feeds from input

SYNOPSIS
       col [options]

DESCRIPTION
       col  filters out reverse (and half-reverse) line feeds so the output is
       in the correct order with only forward and half-forward line feeds, and
       replaces	 white-space characters with tabs where possible.  This can be
       useful in processing the output of nroff(1) and tbl(1).

       col reads from standard input and writes to standard output.

OPTIONS
       -b, --no-backspaces
	      Do not output any backspaces, printing only the  last  character
	      written to each column position.

       -f, --fine
	      Forward half line feeds are permitted fine mode.	Normally char-
	      acters printed on a half-line boundary are printed on  the  fol-
	      lowing line.

       -p, --pass
	      Force  unknown control sequences to be passed through unchanged.
	      Normally, col will filter out any	 control  sequences  from  the
	      input  other  than  those	 recognized and interpreted by itself,
	      which are listed below.

       -h, --tabs
	      Output tabs instead of multiple spaces.

       -x, --spaces
	      Output multiple spaces instead of tabs.

       -l, --lines number
	      Buffer at least number lines in memory.  By default,  128	 lines
	      are buffered.

       -V, --version
	      Output version information and exit.

       -H, --help
	      Output help and exit.

NOTES
       The  control  sequences	for  carriage  motion that col understands and
       their decimal values are listed in the following table:

	      ESC-7		reverse line feed (escape then 7)
	      ESC-8		half reverse line feed (escape then 8)
	      ESC-9		half forward line feed (escape then 9)
	      backspace		moves back one	column	(8);  ignored  in  the
				first column
	      newline		forward	 line  feed  (10);  also does carriage
				return
	      carriage return	(13)
	      shift in		shift to normal character set (15)
	      shift out		shift to alternate character set (14)
	      space		moves forward one column (32)
	      tab		moves forward to next tab stop (9)
	      vertical tab	reverse line feed (11)

       All unrecognized control characters and escape sequences are discarded.

       col keeps track of the character set as characters are read  and	 makes
       sure the character set is correct when they are output.

       If  the	input  attempts	 to back up to the last flushed line, col will
       display a warning message.

SEE ALSO
       expand(1), nroff(1), tbl(1)

STANDARDS
       The col utility conforms to the Single UNIX Specification,  Version  2.
       The -l option is an extension to the standard.

HISTORY
       A col command appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.

AVAILABILITY
       The col command is part of the util-linux package and is available from
       Linux   Kernel	Archive	   <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-
       linux/>.



util-linux			September 2011				COL(1)