1 .\" $Id: tbl.7,v 1.29 2017/10/17 23:19:12 schwarze Exp $
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3 .\" Copyright (c) 2010, 2011 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@bsd.lv>
4 .\" Copyright (c) 2014, 2015, 2017 Ingo Schwarze <schwarze@openbsd.org>
5 .\"
6 .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
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18 .Dd $Mdocdate: October 17 2017 $
19 .Dt TBL 5
20 .Os
21 .Sh NAME
22 .Nm tbl
23 .Nd tbl language reference for mandoc
24 .Sh DESCRIPTION
25 The
26 .Nm tbl
27 language formats tables.
28 It is used within
29 .Xr mdoc 5
30 and
31 .Xr man 5
32 pages.
33 This manual describes the subset of the
34 .Nm
35 language accepted by the
36 .Xr mandoc 1
37 utility.
38 .Pp
39 Each table is started with a
40 .Xr mandoc_roff 5
41 .Ic \&TS
42 macro, consist of at most one line of
43 .Sx Options ,
44 one or more
45 .Sx Layout
46 lines, one or more
47 .Sx Data
48 lines, and ends with a
49 .Ic \&TE
50 macro.
51 All input must be 7-bit ASCII.
52 .Ss Options
53 If the first input line of a table ends with a semicolon, it contains
54 case-insensitive options separated by spaces, tabs, or commas.
55 Otherwise, it is interpreted as the first
56 .Sx Layout
57 line.
58 .Pp
59 The following options are available.
60 Some of them require arguments enclosed in parentheses:
61 .Bl -tag -width Ds
62 .It Cm allbox
63 Draw a single-line box around each table cell.
64 .It Cm box
65 Draw a single-line box around the table.
66 For GNU compatibility, this may also be invoked with
67 .Cm frame .
68 .It Cm center
69 Center the table instead of left-adjusting it.
70 For GNU compatibility, this may also be invoked with
71 .Cm centre .
72 .It Cm decimalpoint
73 Use the single-character argument as the decimal point with the
74 .Cm n
75 layout key.
76 This is a GNU extension.
77 .It Cm delim
78 Use the two characters of the argument as
79 .Xr eqn 5
80 delimiters.
81 Currently unsupported.
82 .It Cm doublebox
83 Draw a double-line box around the table.
84 For GNU compatibility, this may also be invoked with
85 .Cm doubleframe .
86 .It Cm expand
87 Increase the width of the table to the current line length.
88 Currently ignored.
89 .It Cm linesize
90 Draw lines with the point size given by the unsigned integer argument.
91 Currently ignored.
92 .It Cm nokeep
93 Allow page breaks within the table.
94 This is a GNU extension and currently ignored.
95 .It Cm nospaces
96 Ignore leading and trailing spaces in data cells.
97 This is a GNU extension and currently ignored.
98 .It Cm nowarn
99 Suppress warnings about tables exceeding the current line length.
100 This is a GNU extension and currently ignored.
101 .It Cm tab
102 Use the single-character argument as a delimiter between data cells.
103 By default, the horizontal tabulator character is used.
104 .El
105 .Ss Layout
106 The table layout follows an
107 .Sx Options
108 line or a
109 .Xr mandoc_roff 5
110 .Ic \&TS
111 or
112 .Ic \&T&
113 macro.
114 Each layout line specifies how one line of
115 .Sx Data
116 is formatted.
117 The last layout line ends with a full stop.
118 It also applies to all remaining data lines.
119 Multiple layout lines can be joined by commas on a single physical
120 input line.
121 .Pp
122 Each layout line consists of one or more layout cell specifications,
123 optionally separated by whitespace.
124 The following case-insensitive key characters start a new cell
125 specification:
126 .Bl -tag -width 2n
127 .It Cm c
128 Center the string in this cell.
129 .It Cm r
130 Right-justify the string in this cell.
131 .It Cm l
132 Left-justify the string in this cell.
133 .It Cm n
134 Justify a number around its last decimal point.
135 If no decimal point is found in the number,
136 it is assumed to trail the number.
137 .It Cm s
138 Horizontally span columns from the last
139 .Pf non- Cm s
140 layout cell.
141 It is an error if a column span follows a
142 .Cm _
143 or
144 .Cm =
145 cell, or comes first on a layout line.
146 The combined cell as a whole consumes only one cell
147 of the corresponding data line.
148 .It Cm a
149 Left-justify a string and pad with one space.
150 .It Cm ^
151 Vertically span rows from the last
152 .Pf non- Cm ^
153 layout cell.
154 It is an error to invoke a vertical span on the first layout line.
155 Unlike a horizontal span, a vertical span consumes a data cell
156 and discards the content.
157 .It Cm _
158 Draw a single horizontal line in this cell.
159 This consumes a data cell and discards the content.
160 It may also be invoked with
161 .Cm \- .
162 .It Cm =
163 Draw a double horizontal line in this cell.
164 This consumes a data cell and discards the content.
165 .El
166 .Pp
167 Each cell key may be followed by zero or more of the following
168 case-insensitive modifiers:
169 .Bl -tag -width 2n
170 .It Cm b
171 Use a bold font for the contents of this cell.
172 .It Cm d
173 Move content down to the last row of this vertical span.
174 Currently ignored.
175 .It Cm e
176 Make this column wider to match the maximum width
177 of any other column also having the
178 .Cm e
179 modifier.
180 .It Cm f
181 The next character selects the font to use for this cell.
182 See the
183 .Xr mandoc_roff 5
184 manual for supported one-character font names.
185 .It Cm i
186 Use an italic font for the contents of this cell.
187 .It Cm m
188 Specify a cell start macro.
189 This is a GNU extension and currently unsupported.
190 .It Cm p
191 Set the point size to the following unsigned argument,
192 or change it by the following signed argument.
193 Currently ignored.
194 .It Cm v
195 Set the vertical line spacing to the following unsigned argument,
196 or change it by the following signed argument.
197 Currently ignored.
198 .It Cm t
199 Do not vertically center content in this vertical span,
200 leave it in the top row.
201 Currently ignored.
202 .It Cm u
203 Move cell content up by half a table row.
204 Currently ignored.
205 .It Cm w
206 Specify a minimum column width.
207 .It Cm x
208 After determining the width of all other columns, distribute the
209 rest of the line length among all columns having the
210 .Cm x
211 modifier.
212 .It Cm z
213 Do not use this cell for determining the width of this column.
214 .It Cm \&|
215 Draw a single vertical line to the right of this cell.
216 .It Cm ||
217 Draw a double vertical line to the right of this cell.
218 .El
219 .Pp
220 If a modifier consists of decimal digits,
221 it specifies a minimum spacing in units of
222 .Cm n
223 between this column and the next column to the right.
224 The default is 3.
225 If there is a vertical line, it is drawn inside the spacing.
226 .Ss Data
227 The data section follows the last
228 .Sx Layout
229 line.
230 Each data line consists of one or more data cells, delimited by
231 .Cm tab
232 characters.
233 .Pp
234 If a data cells contains only the single character
235 .Ql _
236 or
237 .Ql = ,
238 a single or double horizontal line is drawn across the cell,
239 joining its neighbours.
240 If a data cells contains only the two character sequence
241 .Ql \e_
242 or
243 .Ql \e= ,
244 a single or double horizontal line is drawn inside the cell,
245 not joining its neighbours.
246 If a data line contains nothing but the single character
247 .Ql _
248 or
249 .Ql = ,
250 a horizontal line across the whole table is inserted
251 without consuming a layout row.
252 .Pp
253 In place of any data cell, a text block can be used.
254 It starts with
255 .Ic \&T{
256 at the end of a physical input line.
257 Input line breaks inside the text block
258 neither end the text block nor its data cell.
259 It only ends if
260 .Ic \&T}
261 occurs at the beginning of a physical input line and is followed
262 by an end-of-cell indicator.
263 If the
264 .Ic \&T}
265 is followed by the end of the physical input line, the text block,
266 the data cell, and the data line ends at this point.
267 If the
268 .Ic \&T}
269 is followed by the
270 .Cm tab
271 character, only the text block and the data cell end,
272 but the data line continues with the data cell following the
273 .Cm tab
274 character.
275 If
276 .Ic \&T}
277 is followed by any other character, it does not end the text block,
278 which instead continues to the following physical input line.
279 .Sh EXAMPLES
280 String justification and font selection:
281 .Bd -literal -offset indent
282 \&.TS
283 rb c lb
284 r ci l.
285 r center l
286 ri ce le
287 right c left
288 \&.TE
289 .Ed
290 .Bd -filled -offset indent
291 .TS
292 rb c lb
293 r ci l.
294 r center l
295 ri ce le
296 right c left
297 .TE
298 .Ed
299 .Pp
300 Some ports in
301 .Ox 6.1
302 to show number alignment and line drawing:
303 .Bd -literal -offset indent
304 \&.TS
305 box tab(:);
306 r| l
307 r n.
308 software:version
309 _
310 AFL:2.39b
311 Mutt:1.8.0
312 Ruby:1.8.7.374
313 TeX Live:2015
314 \&.TE
315 .Ed
316 .Bd -filled -offset indent
317 .TS
318 box tab(:);
319 r| l
320 r n.
321 software:version
322 _
323 AFL:2.39b
324 Mutt:1.8.0
325 Ruby:1.8.7.374
326 TeX Live:2015
327 .TE
328 .Ed
329 .sp 2v
330 Spans and skipping width calculations:
331 .Bd -literal -offset indent
332 \&.TS
333 box tab(:);
334 lz s | rt
335 lt| cb| ^
336 ^ | rz s.
337 left:r
338 l:center:
339 :right
340 \&.TE
341 .Ed
342 .Bd -filled -offset indent
343 .TS
344 box tab(:);
345 lz s | rt
346 lt| cb| ^
347 ^ | rz s.
348 left:r
349 l:center:
350 :right
351 .TE
352 .Ed
353 .sp 2v
354 Text blocks, specifying spacings and specifying and equalizing
355 column widths, putting lines into individual cells, and overriding
356 .Cm allbox :
357 .Bd -literal -offset indent
358 \&.TS
359 allbox tab(:);
360 le le||7 lw10.
361 The fourth line:_:line 1
362 of this column:=:line 2
363 determines:\_:line 3
364 the column width.:T{
365 This text is too wide to fit into a column of width 17.
366 T}:line 4
367 T{
368 No break here.
369 T}::line 5
370 \&.TE
371 .Ed
372 .Bd -filled -offset indent
373 .TS
374 allbox tab(:);
375 le le||7 lw10.
376 The fourth line:_:line 1
377 of this column:=:line 2
378 determines:\_:line 3
379 the column width.:T{
380 This text is too wide to fit into a column of width 17.
381 T}:line 4
382 T{
383 No break here.
384 T}::line 5
385 .TE
386 .Ed
387 .sp 2v
388 These examples were constructed to demonstrate many
389 .Nm
390 features in a compact way.
391 In real manual pages, keep tables as simple as possible:
392 Like that, they usually look better, are less fragile, and more portable.
393 .Sh COMPATIBILITY
394 The
395 .Xr mandoc 1
396 implementation of
397 .Nm
398 doesn't support
399 .Xr mdoc 5
400 and
401 .Xr man 5
402 macros and
403 .Xr eqn 5
404 equations inside tables.
405 .Sh SEE ALSO
406 .Xr mandoc 1 ,
407 .Xr man 5 ,
408 .Xr mandoc_char 5 ,
409 .Xr mandoc_roff 5 ,
410 .Xr mdoc 5
411 .Rs
412 .%A M. E. Lesk
413 .%T Tbl\(emA Program to Format Tables
414 .%D June 11, 1976
415 .Re
416 .Sh HISTORY
417 The tbl utility, a preprocessor for troff, was originally written by M.
418 E. Lesk at Bell Labs in 1975.
419 The GNU reimplementation of tbl, part of the groff package, was released
420 in 1990 by James Clark.
421 A standalone tbl implementation was written by Kristaps Dzonsons in
422 2010.
423 This formed the basis of the implementation that first appeared in
424 .Ox 4.9
425 as a part of the
426 .Xr mandoc 1
427 utility.
428 .Sh AUTHORS
429 This
430 .Nm
431 reference was written by
432 .An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq Mt kristaps@bsd.lv
433 and
434 .An Ingo Schwarze Aq Mt schwarze@openbsd.org .