column Command Examples

Format stdin or a file into multiple columns. Columns are filled before rows; the default separator is a whitespace. More information: https://manned.org/column.

• Format the output of a command for a 30 characters wide display:

printf "header1 header2\nbar foo\n" | column --output-width {{30}}

• Split columns automatically and auto-align them in a tabular format:

printf "header1 header2\nbar foo\n" | column --table

• Specify the column delimiter character for the --table option (e.g. "," for CSV) (defaults to whitespace):

printf "header1,header2\nbar,foo\n" | column --table --separator {{,}}

• Fill rows before filling columns:

printf "header1\nbar\nfoobar\n" | column --output-width {{30}} --fillrows