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COLUMN(1)                        User Commands                       COLUMN(1)
NAME
       column - columnate lists
SYNOPSIS
       column [options] [file...]
DESCRIPTION
       The  column  utility formats its input into multiple columns.  The util
       support three modes:
       columns are filled before rows
              This is the default mode (required by backward compatibility).
       rows are filled before columns
              This mode is enabled by option -x, --fillrows
       table  Determine the number of columns the input contains and create  a
              table.   This  mode is enabled by option -t, --table and columns
              formatting is possible to modify by --table-* options.  Use this
              mode if not sure.
       Input  is  taken  from  file,  or otherwise from standard input.  Empty
       lines are ignored and all invalid multibyte sequences  are  encoded  by
       \x<hex> convention.
OPTIONS
       The  argument  columns for --table-* options is comma separated list of
       the column names as defined by --table-columns or it's column number in
       order as specified by input. It's possible to mix names and numbers.
       -J, --json
              Use  JSON  output  format  to  print the table, the option --ta-
              ble-columns is required and the option  --table-name  is  recom-
              mended.
       -c, --output-width width
              Output  is  formatted  to a width specified as number of charac-
              ters. The original name of this option is --columns;  this  name
              is  deprecated since v2.30. Note that input longer than width is
              not truncated by default.
       -d, --table-noheadings
              Do not print header. This option allows to  use  logical  column
              names on command line, but keep the header hidden when print the
              table.
       -o, --output-separator string
              Specify the columns delimiter for table output (default  is  two
              spaces).
       -s, --separator separators
              Specify  the  possible  input item delimiters (default is white-
              space).
       -t, --table
              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   --output-separator
              option.  Table output is useful for pretty-printing.
       -N, --table-columns names
              Specify  the columns names by comma separated list of names. The
              names are used for the table header  or  to  address  column  in
              option arguments.
       -R, --table-right columns
              Right align text in the specified columns.
       -T, --table-truncate columns
              Specify  columns  where  is allowed to truncate text when neces-
              sary, otherwise very long table entries may be printed on multi-
              ple lines.
       -E, --table-noextreme columns
              Specify  columns  where  is  possible  to  ignore unusually long
              (longer than average) cells when calculate  column  width.   The
              option has impact to the width calculation and table formatting,
              but the printed text is not affected.
              The option is used for the last visible column by default.
       -e, --table-header-repeat
              Print header line for each page.
       -W, --table-wrap columns
              Specify columns where is possible to  use  multi-line  cell  for
              long text when necessary.
       -H, --table-hide columns
              Don't print specified columns. The special placeholder '-' maybe
              be used to hide all unnamed columns (see --table-columns).
       -O, --table-order columns
              Specify columns order on output.
       -n, --table-name name
              Specify the table name used for JSON output. The defaout is "ta-
              ble".
       -r, --tree column
              Specify  column  to use tree-like output. Note that the circular
              dependencies and another anomalies in child and parent  relation
              are silently ignored.
       -i, --tree-id column
              Specify column with line ID to create child-parent relation.
       -p, --tree-parent column
              Specify column with parent ID to create child-parent relation.
       -x, --fillrows
              Fill rows before filling columns.
       -V, --version
              Display version information and exit.
       -h, --help
              Display help text and exit.
ENVIRONMENT
       The  environment  variable COLUMNS is used to determine the size of the
       screen if no other information is available.
EXAMPLES
       Print fstab with header line and align number to the right:
       sed 's/#.*//' /etc/fstab | column --table --table-columns SOURCE,TARGET,TYPE,OPTIONS,PASS,FREQ --table-right PASS,FREQ
       Print fstab and hide unnamed columns:
       sed 's/#.*//' /etc/fstab | column --table --table-columns SOURCE,TARGET,TYPE --table-hide -
       Print a tree:
       echo -e '1 0 A\n2 1 AA\n3 1 AB\n4 2 AAA\n5 2 AAB' | column --tree-id 1 --tree-parent 2 --tree 3
       1  0  A
       2  1  |-AA
       4  2  | |-AAA
       5  2  | `-AAB
       3  1  `-AB
BUGS
       Version 2.23 changed the -s option to be non-greedy, for example:
       printf "a:b:c\n1::3\n" | column  -t -s ':'
       Old output:
       a  b  c
       1  3
       New output (since util-linux 2.23):
       a  b  c
       1     3
SEE ALSO
       colrm(1), ls(1), paste(1), sort(1)
HISTORY
       The column command appeared in 4.3BSD-Reno.
AVAILABILITY
       The column command is part of the util-linux package and  is  available
       from https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/.
util-linux                       January 2017                        COLUMN(1)