Text and processing

The column command

Organises text into aligned columns. With -t it turns messy output into a clean table.

Syntax

column [-t] [-s SEP] [archivo]

Most useful options

-tAligns by columns (table)
-s SEPInput separator

Copy-ready examples

$ printf 'a bb\nccc d\n' | column -tCreate an aligned table

You can try them in the browser terminal: it does not touch your computer.

Typical mistakes

  • Without -t, column just fills equal-width columns, it does not align by separators.

Related commands

awkcutpaste

FAQ

Is it the same as using tabs?

No: column computes each column's width and truly aligns them.

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