expand (Unix)

expand
Operating system	UnixandUnix-like
Platform	Cross-platform
Type	Command

expandis a program that convertstab charactersinto groups ofspacecharacters, while maintaining correct alignment. It is available inUnix operating systemsand manyUnix-likeoperating systems.^[1]The command is available as a separate package forMicrosoft Windowsas part of theUnxUtilscollection ofnative Win32 portsof commonGNUUnix-like utilities.^[2]

Example

For example:

$echo-e"foo\tbar"|expand|xxd-g1-u
0000000: 66 6F 6F 20 20 20 20 20 62 61 72 0A foo bar.
$echo-e"foo\tbar"|xxd-g1-u
0000000: 66 6F 6F 09 62 61 72 0A foo.bar.
$

Here theechocommand prints a string of text that includes a tab character, then the output is directed into theexpandcommand. The resulting output is then displayed inhexadecimaland as characters by thexxddump command. At the second prompt, the sameechooutput is sent directly to thexxdcommand. As can be seen by comparing the two, theexpandprogram converts the tab (specified as '\t' to theechoprogram) into spaces.

References

^"expand".The Open Group Base Specifications.The Open Group.Retrieved27 April2023.
^"Native Win32 ports of some GNU utilities".unxutils.sourceforge.net.

External links

expand:convert tabs to spaces – Shell and Utilities Reference,The Single UNIX Specification,Version 4 fromThe Open Group

[1] "expand".The Open Group Base Specifications.The Open Group.Retrieved27 April2023.

[2] "Native Win32 ports of some GNU utilities".unxutils.sourceforge.net.

[1]

[2]

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Example

See also

References

External links