TBL(1)

NAME
tbl - format tables for troff

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 '\\n(.z'' .bp \\$1
    .el \!.BP \\$1
    ..

and use BP instead of bp.

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

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

SEE ALSO
groff(1), troff(1)