LinuxQuestions.org - [SOLVED] problem in tr command

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problem in tr command

my input file is in this format:
RSU-1-1
15:40
2

I used tr command to replace '\n' for '\t'= tr '\n' '\t'
But, when I run it, the output is:
RSU-1-1 15:40 2
I want to have more spaces between RSU-1-1 and 15:40

I tried it by:
RSU-1-10
15:40
2

and it worked correctly:
RSU-1-10 15:40 2

A tab uses a fixed length (8 is very common).

The first entry you use (RSU-1-1) is 7 characters and using a tab after that will only add 1.
The second example (RSU-1-10) has 8 characters and using a tab will add 8:

Code:

$ tr '\n' '\t' < infile 

RSU-1-1 15:40  2      

$ tr '\n' '\t' < infile2 

RSU-1-10        15:40  2

One of the reason I personally do not like tabs.

You can use awk to do this:

Code:

$ awk 'BEGIN { ORS="    " } { print }' infile

RSU-1-1    15:40    2

The above will put 5 spaces between each entry.

You could also set the tab width before executing the tr command:

Code:

$ tabs -11

$ tr '\n' '\t' < infile

RSU-1-1  15:40      2          

$ tr '\n' '\t' < infile2

RSU-1-10  15:40      2

In the above example the tabs are set to 11

Quote:

Originally Posted by druuna (Post 5092227)

Code:

$ tr '\n' '\t' < infile 

RSU-1-1 15:40  2      

$ tr '\n' '\t' < infile2 

RSU-1-10        15:40  2

One of the reason I personally do not like tabs.

You can use awk to do this:

Code:

$ awk 'BEGIN { ORS="    " } { print }' infile

RSU-1-1    15:40    2

The above will put 5 spaces between each entry.

You could also set the tab width before executing the tr command:

Code:

$ tabs -11

$ tr '\n' '\t' < infile

RSU-1-1  15:40      2          

$ tr '\n' '\t' < infile2

RSU-1-10  15:40      2

In the above example the tabs are set to 11

Thanks alot