tbl —
tbl language reference for mandoc
The
tbl language formats tables. It is used
within
mdoc(5) and
man(5) pages. This manual describes the subset of
the
tbl language accepted by the
mandoc(1) utility.
Each table is started with a
mandoc_roff(5)
TS macro, consist of at most one line of
Options, one or more
Layout lines, one or more
Data lines, and ends with a
TE macro. All input must be 7-bit ASCII.
If the first input line of a table ends with a semicolon, it contains
case-insensitive options separated by spaces, tabs, or commas. Otherwise, it
is interpreted as the first
Layout
line.
The following options are available. Some of them require arguments enclosed in
parentheses:
-
-
allbox- Draw a single-line box around each table cell.
-
-
box- Draw a single-line box around the table. For GNU compatibility, this may
also be invoked with
frame.
-
-
center- Center the table instead of left-adjusting it. For GNU compatibility, this
may also be invoked with
centre.
-
-
decimalpoint- Use the single-character argument as the decimal point with the
n layout key. This is a GNU
extension.
-
-
delim- Use the two characters of the argument as
eqn(5) delimiters. Currently
unsupported.
-
-
doublebox- Draw a double-line box around the table. For GNU compatibility, this may
also be invoked with
doubleframe.
-
-
expand- Increase the width of the table to the current line length. Currently
ignored.
-
-
linesize- Draw lines with the point size given by the unsigned integer argument.
Currently ignored.
-
-
nokeep- Allow page breaks within the table. This is a GNU extension and currently
ignored.
-
-
nospaces- Ignore leading and trailing spaces in data cells. This is a GNU extension
and currently ignored.
-
-
nowarn- Suppress warnings about tables exceeding the current line length. This is
a GNU extension and currently ignored.
-
-
tab- Use the single-character argument as a delimiter between data cells. By
default, the horizontal tabulator character is used.
The table layout follows an
Options
line or a
mandoc_roff(5)
TS or
T& macro. Each layout line specifies
how one line of
Data is formatted.
The last layout line ends with a full stop. It also applies to all remaining
data lines. Multiple layout lines can be joined by commas on a single physical
input line.
Each layout line consists of one or more layout cell specifications, optionally
separated by whitespace. The following case-insensitive key characters start a
new cell specification:
-
-
c- Center the string in this cell.
-
-
r- Right-justify the string in this cell.
-
-
l- Left-justify the string in this cell.
-
-
n- Justify a number around its last decimal point. If no decimal point is
found in the number, it is assumed to trail the number.
-
-
s- Horizontally span columns from the last
non-
s layout cell. It is an error if a
column span follows a _ or
= cell, or comes first on a layout
line. The combined cell as a whole consumes only one cell of the
corresponding data line.
-
-
a- Left-justify a string and pad with one space.
-
-
^- Vertically span rows from the last
non-
^ layout cell. It is an error to
invoke a vertical span on the first layout line. Unlike a horizontal span,
a vertical span consumes a data cell and discards the content.
-
-
_- Draw a single horizontal line in this cell. This consumes a data cell and
discards the content. It may also be invoked with
-.
-
-
=- Draw a double horizontal line in this cell. This consumes a data cell and
discards the content.
Each cell key may be followed by zero or more of the following case-insensitive
modifiers:
-
-
b- Use a bold font for the contents of this cell.
-
-
d- Move content down to the last row of this vertical span. Currently
ignored.
-
-
e- Make this column wider to match the maximum width of any other column also
having the
e modifier.
-
-
f- The next character selects the font to use for this cell. See the
mandoc_roff(5) manual for supported
one-character font names.
-
-
i- Use an italic font for the contents of this cell.
-
-
m- Specify a cell start macro. This is a GNU extension and currently
unsupported.
-
-
p- Set the point size to the following unsigned argument, or change it by the
following signed argument. Currently ignored.
-
-
v- Set the vertical line spacing to the following unsigned argument, or
change it by the following signed argument. Currently ignored.
-
-
t- Do not vertically center content in this vertical span, leave it in the
top row. Currently ignored.
-
-
u- Move cell content up by half a table row. Currently ignored.
-
-
w- Specify a minimum column width.
-
-
x- After determining the width of all other columns, distribute the rest of
the line length among all columns having the
x modifier.
-
-
z- Do not use this cell for determining the width of this column.
-
-
|- Draw a single vertical line to the right of this cell.
-
-
||- Draw a double vertical line to the right of this cell.
If a modifier consists of decimal digits, it specifies a minimum spacing in
units of
n between this column and the next
column to the right. The default is 3. If there is a vertical line, it is
drawn inside the spacing.
The data section follows the last
Layout line. Each data line
consists of one or more data cells, delimited by
tab characters.
If a data cells contains only the single character
‘
_’ or
‘
=’, a single or double horizontal line
is drawn across the cell, joining its neighbours. If a data cells contains
only the two character sequence ‘
\_’ or
‘
\=’, a single or double horizontal line
is drawn inside the cell, not joining its neighbours. If a data line contains
nothing but the single character ‘
_’ or
‘
=’, a horizontal line across the whole
table is inserted without consuming a layout row.
In place of any data cell, a text block can be used. It starts with
T{ at the end of a physical input line.
Input line breaks inside the text block neither end the text block nor its
data cell. It only ends if
T} occurs at the
beginning of a physical input line and is followed by an end-of-cell
indicator. If the
T} is followed by the end
of the physical input line, the text block, the data cell, and the data line
ends at this point. If the
T} is followed
by the
tab character, only the text block
and the data cell end, but the data line continues with the data cell
following the
tab character. If
T} is followed by any other character, it
does not end the text block, which instead continues to the following physical
input line.
String justification and font selection:
.TS
rb c lb
r ci l.
r center l
ri ce le
right c left
.TE
| r |
center |
l |
| ri |
ce |
le |
| right |
c |
left |
Some ports in
OpenBSD 6.1 to show number alignment and
line drawing:
.TS
box tab(:);
r| l
r n.
software:version
_
AFL:2.39b
Mutt:1.8.0
Ruby:1.8.7.374
TeX Live:2015
.TE
| software |
version |
|
| AFL |
2.39b |
| Mutt |
1.8.0 |
| Ruby |
1.8.7.374 |
| TeX Live |
2015 |
Spans and skipping width calculations:
.TS
box tab(:);
lz s | rt
lt| cb| ^
^ | rz s.
left:r
l:center:
:right
.TE
Text blocks, specifying spacings and specifying and equalizing column widths,
putting lines into individual cells, and overriding
allbox:
.TS
allbox tab(:);
le le||7 lw10.
The fourth line:_:line 1
of this column:=:line 2
determines:_:line 3
the column width.:T{
This text is too wide to fit into a column of width 17.
T}:line 4
T{
No break here.
T}::line 5
.TE
| The fourth line |
_ |
line 1 |
| of this column |
= |
line 2 |
| determines |
_ |
line 3 |
| the column width. |
This text is too wide to fit into a column of width 17. |
line 4 |
| No break here. |
|
line 5 |
These examples were constructed to demonstrate many
tbl features in a compact way. In real
manual pages, keep tables as simple as possible: Like that, they usually look
better, are less fragile, and more portable.
The
mandoc(1) implementation of
tbl doesn't support
mdoc(5) and
man(5)
macros and
eqn(5) equations inside tables.
mandoc(1),
man(5),
mandoc_char(5),
mandoc_roff(5),
mdoc(5)
M. E. Lesk,
Tbl—A Program to Format Tables,
June 11, 1976.
The tbl utility, a preprocessor for troff, was originally written by M. E. Lesk
at Bell Labs in 1975. The GNU reimplementation of tbl, part of the groff
package, was released in 1990 by James Clark. A standalone tbl implementation
was written by Kristaps Dzonsons in 2010. This formed the basis of the
implementation that first appeared in
OpenBSD 4.9 as a
part of the
mandoc(1) utility.
This
tbl reference was written by
Kristaps Dzonsons
<
kristaps@bsd.lv>
and
Ingo Schwarze
<
schwarze@openbsd.org>.