NAME

mcol - multicolumn formatting



SYNOPSIS

mcol [-cn] [-ln] [-wn] [-gn] [-dn] [file ...]



DESCRIPTION

Mcol reads the named files and formats them into multicolumn
output on the standard output.
If the filename "-" is given, or no files are specified, the
standard input is read.

The options are as follows.



-cn  Format the output into "n" columns.  Default is 2.


-ln  Set the output page size to "n".  Mcol produces its output
in pages, but does not place separators between the pages on
the assumption that some subsequent processor will do that.
(The default page length is 55.)


-wn  Set the column width to "n" characters.  Lines longer than "n"
characters are truncated.
(The default column width is 60.)


-gn  Set the "gutter" width to "n".  The gutter is the white space
between columns.
(The default gutter width is 8.)


-dn  Assume output is to be printed on a display terminal.  The
column size is set to "n" characters and the page size is set to
24 lines.  The number of columns and gutter width are computed
to maximize the amount of information on a single screen.
If "n" is omitted, 10 is used, which is useful for displaying
lists of file names.





FILES

None


SEE ALSO




DIAGNOSTICS


invalid column count
invalid page size
invalid column width
invalid gutter width



The value of one of the option flags is invalid or exceeds
the limitations of mcol.


ignoring invalid flag

A command argument option flag was given which mcol didn't recognize.


insufficient buffer space


Mcol could not buffer an entire page.  This is usually the result
of options that specify a large page size or many columns.
The buffer size is set by the MAXBUF definition in the source code.


too many lines


The number of lines per page times the number of columns
exceeded mcol's line buffer space.
The maximum number of lines allowed is set by the MAXPTR definition
in the source code.





BUGS/DEFICIENCIES



AUTHORS

Original by David Hanson and friends (U. of Arizona), with
modifications by Debbie Scherrer (LBL).