column

NAME

column - columnate lists

SYNOPSIS 

column [-tx] [-c columns] [-s sep] [file ...]

DESCRIPTION

The column(1) utility formats its input into multiple columns. Rows are filled before columns. Input is taken from file operands, or by default, from the standard input. Empty lines are ignored.

OPTIONS

-c columns
Output is formatted for a display columns wide.
-s sep
Specify a set of characters (sep used to delimit columns for the -t option.
-t
Create a table. The column(1) utility determines the number of columns from the input. By default, output columns are delimited by white space or with the string specified using the -s option.
-x
Fill columns before filling rows.

DIAGNOSTICS

The column(1) utility exits with status 0 for success, and >0 if an error occurred.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

The columns(1) utility makes use of the following environment variables:
COLUMNS
If no other information is available, column(1) examines the content of COLUMNS to determine the width of the screen.

EXAMPLE

The following command converts ls -l output into a table: 
$ (printf "PERM LINKS OWNER SIZE MONTH DAY HH:MM/YEAR NAME\n" ; \ls -o | sed 1d) | column -t

SEE ALSO

ls(1)

paste(1)

sort(1)