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EXPAND(P)		   POSIX Programmer's Manual		     EXPAND(P)

NAME
       expand - convert tabs to spaces

SYNOPSIS
       expand [-t tablist][file ...]

DESCRIPTION
       The expand utility shall write files or the standard input to the stan‐
       dard output with <tab>s replaced with one or more  <space>s  needed  to
       pad  to the next tab stop. Any <backspace>s shall be copied to the out‐
       put and cause the column position count for tab stop calculations to be
       decremented;  the  column position count shall not be decremented below
       zero.

OPTIONS
       The expand utility shall conform to  the	 Base  Definitions  volume  of
       IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 12.2, Utility Syntax Guidelines.

       The following option shall be supported:

       -t  tablist
	      Specify  the  tab	 stops.	 The application shall ensure that the
	      argument tablist consists of either a  single  positive  decimal
	      integer or a list of tabstops. If a single number is given, tabs
	      shall be set that number of column positions  apart  instead  of
	      the default 8.

       If  a  list  of tabstops is given, the application shall ensure that it
       consists of a list of two or more positive decimal integers,  separated
       by  <blank>s  or	 commas,  in ascending order. The tabs shall be set at
       those specific column positions. Each tab stop N shall  be  an  integer
       value  greater  than zero, and the list is in strictly ascending order.
       This is taken to mean that, from the start of a line of output, tabbing
       to  position  N	shall  cause  the next character output to be in the (
       N+1)th column position on that line.

       In the event of expand having to process a <tab> at a  position	beyond
       the  last  of  those  specified	in a multiple tab-stop list, the <tab>
       shall be replaced by a single <space> in the output.

OPERANDS
       The following operand shall be supported:

       file   The pathname of a text file to be used as input.

STDIN
       See the INPUT FILES section.

INPUT FILES
       Input files shall be text files.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
       The following environment  variables  shall  affect  the	 execution  of
       expand:

       LANG   Provide  a  default value for the internationalization variables
	      that are unset or null. (See  the	 Base  Definitions  volume  of
	      IEEE Std 1003.1-2001,  Section  8.2,  Internationalization Vari‐
	      ables for the precedence of internationalization variables  used
	      to determine the values of locale categories.)

       LC_ALL If  set  to a non-empty string value, override the values of all
	      the other internationalization variables.

       LC_CTYPE
	      Determine the locale for	the  interpretation  of	 sequences  of
	      bytes  of	 text  data as characters (for example, single-byte as
	      opposed to multi-byte characters in arguments and input  files),
	      the processing of <tab>s and <space>s, and for the determination
	      of the width in column positions each character would occupy  on
	      an output device.

       LC_MESSAGES
	      Determine	 the  locale  that should be used to affect the format
	      and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error.

       NLSPATH
	      Determine the location of message catalogs for the processing of
	      LC_MESSAGES .

ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS
       Default.

STDOUT
       The  standard output shall be equivalent to the input files with <tab>s
       converted into the appropriate number of <space>s.

STDERR
       The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.

OUTPUT FILES
       None.

EXTENDED DESCRIPTION
       None.

EXIT STATUS
       The following exit values shall be returned:

	0     Successful completion

       >0     An error occurred.

CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS
       The expand utility shall terminate with an error message	 and  non-zero
       exit  status  upon  encountering difficulties accessing one of the file
       operands.

       The following sections are informative.

APPLICATION USAGE
       None.

EXAMPLES
       None.

RATIONALE
       The expand utility is useful for preprocessing text files (before sort‐
       ing, looking at specific columns, and so on) that contain <tab>s.

       See the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 3.103,
       Column Position.

       The tablist option-argument consists of integers	 in  ascending	order.
       Utility	Syntax Guideline 8 mandates that expand shall accept the inte‐
       gers (within the single argument)  separated  using  either  commas  or
       <blank>s.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS
       None.

SEE ALSO
       tabs , unexpand

COPYRIGHT
       Portions	 of  this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
       from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
       --  Portable  Operating	System	Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
       Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003	by  the	 Institute  of
       Electrical  and	Electronics  Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the
       event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
       The  Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
       is the referee document. The original Standard can be  obtained	online
       at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .

IEEE/The Open Group		     2003			     EXPAND(P)
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