Overview
column is useful for transforming text data into a neat column format. Especially when using the -t option for table mode, each field of the data is automatically aligned, making it easy to read.
Key Features
- Automatic column width adjustment (-t)
- Specify custom delimiter (-s)
- Output with specified width (-c)
- Row-wise or column-wise filling
Key Options
The main options for the column command control the output format and data processing.
Output Formatting
Data Processing
Generated command:
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Description:
`column` Executes the command.
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Usage Examples
Learn how to use the column command to neatly align various text data.
Sort ls -l output into a table
ls -l | column -tSort the output of the ls -l command into a clean table format using column -t.
Sort /etc/passwd file using colon (:) delimiter
cat /etc/passwd | column -s ':' -tThe /etc/passwd file uses colons (:) to separate fields. Sort it into a table format with column -s : -t.
Fill numbers column-wise
seq 10 | column -xSort and output numbers from 1 to 10 in a column-wise manner (-x).
Output with a specific width
echo "apple banana cherry date elderberry fig grape" | column -c 20Format the input text into columns with a maximum width of 20 characters.
Tips & Notes
Useful tips and considerations when using the column command.
Combining with Other Commands
column is very useful when used in conjunction with other commands like ls, ps, df, cat, by piping their output through it.
ps aux | column -t: Neatly sort process listdf -h | column -t: Nicely sort disk usage information
Importance of Specifying Delimiters
If the delimiter for your input data is not whitespace (e.g., the colon in /etc/passwd), you must specify the correct delimiter using the -s option to get proper table output.