.TH TBL 1 
.SH NAME
tbl \- format tables for nroff or troff
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B tbl
[ files ] ...
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Tbl
is a preprocessor for formatting tables for
.I nroff
or
.IR troff (1).
The input files are copied to the standard output,
except for lines between .TS and .TE
command lines, which are assumed to describe tables
and reformatted.
Details are given in the reference manual.
.PP
As an example, letting \\t represent a tab (which should
be typed as a genuine tab)
the input
.IP ""
\&.TS
.nf
c s s
c c s
c c c
l n n.
Household Population
Town\\tHouseholds
\\tNumber\\tSize
Bedminster\\t789\\t3.26
Bernards Twp.\\t3087\\t3.74
Bernardsville\\t2018\\t3.30
Bound Brook\\t3425\\t3.04
Branchburg\\t1644\\t3.49
Bridgewater\\t7897\\t3.81
Far Hills\\t240\\t3.19
\&.TE
.LP
.fi
yields
.ne 10
.IP " "
.TS
.nr 35 \n(.u
.nf
.nr 79 0n
.nr 80 \n(79
.nr 40 \n(79
.nr 38 \n(79+\w!Town!
.if \n(80<\n(38 .nr 80 \n(38
.nr 38 \n(79+\w!!
.if \n(80<\n(38 .nr 80 \n(38
.nr 38 \n(79+\w!Bedminster!
.if \n(80<\n(38 .nr 80 \n(38
.nr 38 \n(79+\w!Bernards Twp.!
.if \n(80<\n(38 .nr 80 \n(38
.nr 38 \n(79+\w!Bernardsville!
.if \n(80<\n(38 .nr 80 \n(38
.nr 38 \n(79+\w!Bound Brook!
.if \n(80<\n(38 .nr 80 \n(38
.nr 38 \n(79+\w!Branchburg!
.if \n(80<\n(38 .nr 80 \n(38
.nr 38 \n(79+\w!Bridgewater!
.if \n(80<\n(38 .nr 80 \n(38
.nr 38 \n(79+\w!Far Hills!
.if \n(80<\n(38 .nr 80 \n(38
.nr 81 \n(80
.nr 41 \n(80
.nr 38 \n(80+\w!Number!
.if \n(81<\n(38 .nr 81 \n(38
.nr 31 0
.nr 32 0
.nr 38 \w!789!
.if \n(31<\n(38 .nr 31 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!!
.if \n(32<\n(38 .nr 32 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!3087!
.if \n(31<\n(38 .nr 31 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!!
.if \n(32<\n(38 .nr 32 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!2018!
.if \n(31<\n(38 .nr 31 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!!
.if \n(32<\n(38 .nr 32 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!3425!
.if \n(31<\n(38 .nr 31 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!!
.if \n(32<\n(38 .nr 32 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!1644!
.if \n(31<\n(38 .nr 31 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!!
.if \n(32<\n(38 .nr 32 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!7897!
.if \n(31<\n(38 .nr 31 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!!
.if \n(32<\n(38 .nr 32 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!240!
.if \n(31<\n(38 .nr 31 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!!
.if \n(32<\n(38 .nr 32 \n(38
.nr 61 \n(80+\n(31
.nr 38 \n(61+\n(32
.if \n(38>\n(81 .nr 81 \n(38
.if \n(38<\n(81 .nr 61 +(\n(81-\n(38)/2
.nr 82 \n(81
.nr 42 \n(81
.nr 38 \n(81+\w!Size!
.if \n(82<\n(38 .nr 82 \n(38
.nr 31 0
.nr 32 0
.nr 38 \w!3!
.if \n(31<\n(38 .nr 31 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!.26!
.if \n(32<\n(38 .nr 32 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!3!
.if \n(31<\n(38 .nr 31 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!.74!
.if \n(32<\n(38 .nr 32 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!3!
.if \n(31<\n(38 .nr 31 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!.30!
.if \n(32<\n(38 .nr 32 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!3!
.if \n(31<\n(38 .nr 31 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!.04!
.if \n(32<\n(38 .nr 32 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!3!
.if \n(31<\n(38 .nr 31 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!.49!
.if \n(32<\n(38 .nr 32 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!3!
.if \n(31<\n(38 .nr 31 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!.81!
.if \n(32<\n(38 .nr 32 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!3!
.if \n(31<\n(38 .nr 31 \n(38
.nr 38 \w!.19!
.if \n(32<\n(38 .nr 32 \n(38
.nr 62 \n(81+\n(31
.nr 38 \n(62+\n(32
.if \n(38>\n(82 .nr 82 \n(38
.if \n(38<\n(82 .nr 62 +(\n(82-\n(38)/2
.nr 38 \n(79+\w!Household Population!-\n(82
.if \n(38>0 .nr 38 \n(38/2
.if \n(38<0 .nr 38 0
.nr 61 +1*\n(38
.nr 81 +1*\n(38
.nr 41 +1*\n(38
.nr 62 +2*\n(38
.nr 82 +2*\n(38
.nr 42 +2*\n(38
.nr 38 \n(80+\w!Households!-\n(82
.if \n(38>0 .nr 38 \n(38/1
.if \n(38<0 .nr 38 0
.nr 62 +1*\n(38
.nr 82 +1*\n(38
.nr 42 +1*\n(38
.nr 38 1n
.nr 41 +3*\n(38
.nr 81 +3*\n(38
.nr 61 +3*\n(38
.if n .if \n(61%24>0 .nr 61 +12u
.nr 42 +6*\n(38
.nr 82 +6*\n(38
.nr 62 +6*\n(38
.if n .if \n(62%24>0 .nr 62 +12u
.nr TW \n(82
.fc ! :
.ta \n(82u 
\&!:Household Population:!
.ta \n(80u \n(82u 
\&\h'|\n(40u'!:Town:!\h'|\n(41u'!:Households:!
.ta \n(80u \n(81u \n(82u 
\&\h'|\n(40u'!::!\h'|\n(41u'!:Number:!\h'|\n(42u'!:Size:!
.ta \n(80u \n(61u \n(62u \n(82u 
\&\h'|\n(40u'!Bedminster:!\h'|\n(41u'!:789!\h'|\n(42u'!:3!!.26:!
.ta \n(80u \n(61u \n(62u \n(82u 
\&\h'|\n(40u'!Bernards Twp.:!\h'|\n(41u'!:3087!\h'|\n(42u'!:3!!.74:!
.ta \n(80u \n(61u \n(62u \n(82u 
\&\h'|\n(40u'!Bernardsville:!\h'|\n(41u'!:2018!\h'|\n(42u'!:3!!.30:!
.ta \n(80u \n(61u \n(62u \n(82u 
\&\h'|\n(40u'!Bound Brook:!\h'|\n(41u'!:3425!\h'|\n(42u'!:3!!.04:!
.ta \n(80u \n(61u \n(62u \n(82u 
\&\h'|\n(40u'!Branchburg:!\h'|\n(41u'!:1644!\h'|\n(42u'!:3!!.49:!
.ta \n(80u \n(61u \n(62u \n(82u 
\&\h'|\n(40u'!Bridgewater:!\h'|\n(41u'!:7897!\h'|\n(42u'!:3!!.81:!
.ta \n(80u \n(61u \n(62u \n(82u 
\&\h'|\n(40u'!Far Hills:!\h'|\n(41u'!:240!\h'|\n(42u'!:3!!.19:!
.fc
.mk ##
.nr ## -1v
.if \n(35>0 .fi
.TE
.fi
.PP
If no arguments are given,
.I tbl
reads the standard input,
so it may be used as a filter.
When it is used with
.I eqn
or
.I neqn
the
.I tbl
command should be first, to minimize the volume
of data passed through
pipes.
.SH SEE ALSO
eqn(1), troff(1)
.br
M. E. Lesk,
.I TBL:  A Program to Format Tables.