EXPAND(1L)                                             EXPAND(1L)


NNAAMMEE
       expand - convert tabs to spaces

SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
       eexxppaanndd  [-tab1[,tab2[,...]]]  [-t  tab1[,tab2[,...]]] [-i]
       [--tabs=tab1[,tab2[,...]]]  [--initial]  [--help]  [--ver-
       sion] [file...]

DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
       This  manual  page  documents  the  GNU version of eexxppaanndd.
       eexxppaanndd writes the contents of  each  given  file,  or  the
       standard  input if none are given or when a file named `-'
       is given, to the standard output, with tab characters con-
       verted  to  the appropriate number of spaces.  By default,
       eexxppaanndd  converts  all  tabs  to  spaces.    It   preserves
       backspace  characters  in  the  output; they decrement the
       column count for tab calculations.  The default action  is
       equivalent to -8 (set tabs every 8 columns).

   OOPPTTIIOONNSS
       _-_, _-_t_, _-_-_t_a_b_s _t_a_b_1_[_,_t_a_b_2_[_,_._._._]_]
              If  only  one  tab stop is given, set the tabs _t_a_b_1
              spaces apart instead of the default 8.   Otherwise,
              set  the tabs at columns _t_a_b_1, _t_a_b_2, etc. (numbered
              from 0) and replace any tabs  beyond  the  tabstops
              given  with  single  spaces.   If  the tabstops are
              specified with the _-_t or _-_-_t_a_b_s option, they can be
              separated by blanks as well as by commas.

       _-_i_, _-_-_i_n_i_t_i_a_l
              Only  convert  initial tabs (those that precede all
              non space  or  tab  characters)  on  each  line  to
              spaces.

       _-_-_h_e_l_p Print a usage message and exit with a non-zero sta-
              tus.

       _-_-_v_e_r_s_i_o_n
              Print version information on standard  output  then
              exit.

















FSF                     GNU Text Utilities                      1


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