tabs Command
  
  
  Purpose
  
  Sets tab stops on terminals.
  
   Syntax
  
  tabs [  TabSpec ... ] [  +m [ Number ] ] [  -T Terminal ... ]
  
  Description
  
  The tabs command clears up to 20 previous tabs and sets up to 40
  tabs on the workstation according to the supplied TabSpec.
  TabSpec can be either a flag indicating an available code or
  column  numbers.  The available codes cover formats  required  by
  most structured programming languages.
  
  When you use the tabs command, always see the leftmost column
  number as 1, even if your work station refers to it as 0.
  
  If you do not specify a TabSpec, the default value is -8.
  
  The following are the preset formats that can be used to set
  TabSpec:
  
  -a	Sets the tabs to 1, 10, 16, 36, and 72 (IBM S/370 Assembler
  first format).
  
  -a2	Sets the tabs to 1, 10, 16, 40, and 72 (IBM S/370 Assembler
  second format).
  
  -c	Sets the tabs to 1, 8, 12, 16, 20, and 55 (COBOL normal for-
  mat).
  
  -c2	Sets the tabs to 1, 6, 10, 14, and 49 (COBOL compact format,
  columns 1-6 omitted).  With this code, the first column  position
  corresponds to card column 7. One space gets you to column 8, and
  a tab reaches column  12.  Files using this code should include a
  format specification of:
  
  <:t-c2 m6 s66 d:>
  
  The fspec file explains format specifications.
  
  -c3	Sets the tabs to 1, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22, 26, 30, 34, 38, 42,
  46, 50, 54, 58,  62,  and 67 (COBOL compact format with more tabs
  than  -c2.  This is the recommended format for COBOL.  Files us-
  ing this code should include a format specification of:
  
  <:t-c3 m6 s66 d:>
  
  -f	Sets the tabs to 1, 7, 11, 15, 19, and 23 (FORTRAN).
  
  -p	Sets the tabs to 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33, 37, 41, 45,
  49, 53, 57, and 61 (PL/I).
  
  -s	Sets the tabs to 1, 10, and 55 (SNOBOL).
  
  -u	Sets the tabs to 1, 12, 20, and 44.
  
  In addition to the preset formats, three other types of TabSpecs
  are available:
  
  -Number	Sets regularly repeating tabs at every Number column.
  (-8 is the standard operating system tab setting and the one re-
  quired for when using the  nroff command and specifying the -h
  flag.) Another special case is -0, which implies no tabs at all.
  
  Number [ ,Number ] ...	Sets tabs at the named column numbers (a
  comma-separated list in ascending order).  You  may specify up to
  40 numbers.  If any number except the first has a plus sign  pre-
  fix, the  prefixed number is added to the previous number for the
  next  setting.    Thus, the tab lists 1,10,20,30 and 1,10,+10,+10
  provide the same tab settings.
  
  -Filep	Reads the first line of the named Filep for a format
  specification.  If it  finds  one, it sets tabs the same way.  If
  it does not find a format specification, it sets tabs to the sys-
  tem default (-8).  Use this TabSpec to make sure that a file has
  the same tab settings as those  in  a file already correctly for-
  matted.
  
  Flags
  
  -T Terminal	Identifies the terminal so that the tabs command can
  set tabs and margins correctly.  Terminal is one of the terminals
  specified in the  greek command.  If you do not provide a -T
  flag, the tabs command uses the shell variable $TERM.  If no
  Terminal can be found, the tabs command tries a general value
  that works for most terminals.
  
  +m Number	Moves all tabs to the right Number columns, and makes
  column Number1 the left margin.  If m is given without a value,
  10 is assumed.  The leftmost margin on most work stations  is de-
  fined by m0.
  
  Note:	If the same flag occurs more than once, only the last flag
  takes effect.
  
  Exit Status
  
  This command returns the following exit values:
  
  0	Successful completion.
  
  >0	An error occurred.
  
  Examples
  
  To set tabs every four spaces, enter:
  
  tabs -4
  
  Implementation Specifics
  
  This command is part of Base Operating System (BOS) Runtime.
  
  Files
  
  /usr/bin/tabs	Contains the tabs command.
  
  Related Information
  
  The  greek command,  nroff command,  troff command.