140 lines
3.4 KiB
Groff
140 lines
3.4 KiB
Groff
.TH justify "" "" "/rdb Command"
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.PC "Left or right justify the columns of a table"
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\fBjustify [-elrct'\fIc\fB'] [ \fIcolumn ... \fB] < \fItable\fR
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.PP
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.II "table^justify"
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.II "column^justify"
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.II "justify columns"
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The command
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.B justify
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right-justifies the columns that contain only numbers, and
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left-justifies the columns that contain any nonnumeric characters.
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It also lines up floating-point numbers on their decimal points.
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.PP
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.B justify
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improves the appearance of a table.
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This makes it easier for you to read and edit.
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It also makes a column of variable-length strings into one
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length, by padding each string with spaces on the right.
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Note that the extra spaces inserted to improve a table's appearance
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could easily double or triple the size of the table.
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This increased size not only takes up disk space, but slows processing of
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.IR table .
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You must decide whether appearance or size is more important.
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.SH Options
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.B justify
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recognizes the following options:
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.IP \fB\-e\fR
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Expand the column to the next tab stop.
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Ordinarily, a column is only as wide as the widest data or column name.
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This improves the appear, but increases the size of the file.
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.PP
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The following options
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override the default justifications (left-justify character strings,
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right-justify numbers):
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.IP \fB\-l\fR
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(This is the letter ``el'', not the number one.)
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Left-justify all named columns.
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.IP \fB\-c\fR
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Center all named columns.
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.IP \fB\-r\fR
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Right justify all named columns.
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.PP
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These options are sticky, meaning that if you follow an
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.BR l ,
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.BR c ,
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or
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.R r
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option with several column names, each is treated according to
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the option.
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For example,
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.B "\-l Description Account"
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left justifies both
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.B Account
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and
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.BR Description ,
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regardless of the data each contains.
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.PP
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.IP "\fB\-t\(aa\fIc\fB\(aa\fR"
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Use the character
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.I c
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as the column separator instead of tab.
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.I c
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can be any ASCII character.
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Note, however, that once you process a table with this option,
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you can no longer use
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.B /rdb
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commands on it, because all
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.B /rdb
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commands require tabs as column separators.
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See the command
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.B trim
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for a discussion of how you can protect special characters from the shell.
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.SH Example
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One use of
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.B justify
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is to align columns.
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Variable-length character columns (like names and
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descriptions) destroy the alignment of columns.
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For example, notice how the variable-length names cause the tabs to
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break at different points in the following table:
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.DM
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Name Credit
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---- -------
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Anderson 23.49
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Ho 145.98
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Johnson 1.15
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.DE
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.PP
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One solution is to move the variable length column to the last column:
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.DM
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column Credit Name < credit
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.DE
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.PP
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The table now appears as follows:
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.DM
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Credit Name
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------- ---------------
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23.49 Anderson
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145.98 Ho
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1.15 Johnson
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.DE
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.PP
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Another solution is to use
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.B justify
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to right-pad the
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.B Name
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column, and (while we're at it) align the floating point number in the
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.BR Credit :
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.DM
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.ta 1.5i
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Name Credit
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-------- ------
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Anderson 23.49
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Ho 145.98
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Johnson 1.15
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.DE
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.PP
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Remember that the file is now larger.
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All of those extra blank spaces can double or triple the size of your file.
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.PP
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It is easier to enter the initial data into a table without
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the padding characters.
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Then you can use
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.B justify
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to pretty up the table.
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.PP
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When using the command
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.B listtotable
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to convert a list-format file to a table,
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you may wish to use
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.B justify
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to make the resulting table readable.
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.SH "See Also"
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.B
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column,
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compresss,
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listtotable,
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trim
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.R
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