lineup -- lineup columns

lineup is a bit like column -t, but different.

TOC

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warnings

• we don't play well with hard tabs
• we assume the indent on first line is a multiple of 4

example

Here's a snippet from my squid.conf:

# memory and disk usage
cache_mem 64 MB
maximum_object_size 16384 KB
cache_dir aufs /squid-cache 3600 16 256

# logging locations and type of log
cache_log /var/log/squid/cache.log
useragent_log /var/log/squid/useragents.log
emulate_httpd_log on

# user privacy settings
forwarded_for off
strip_query_terms on
hierarchy_stoplist cgi-bin ?

I wanted these things lined up a bit better. The usual answer to that is "column -t". Let's see what that does:

#                    memory                         and           disk      usage
cache_mem            64                             MB
maximum_object_size  16384                          KB
cache_dir            aufs                           /squid-cache  3600      16     256
#                    logging                        locations     and       type   of   log
cache_log            /var/log/squid/cache.log
useragent_log        /var/log/squid/useragents.log
emulate_httpd_log    on
#                    user                           privacy       settings
forwarded_for        off
strip_query_terms    on
hierarchy_stoplist   cgi-bin                        ?

Uggghhh!! Apart from things it cannot help (like using even a single space as a separator and so causing all the comments to look really... spaced out (pun intended)), it does other stupid things that it need not. Like deleting all the blank lines. And -- although you can't see it here -- deleting all leading indentation.

So what does lineup do? Well, lineup believes that it takes TWO spaces to separate fields, so you start by separating the first word from the rest. (Manually if you like, although I just visually highlighted the lines in vim and typed :v/^#/s/ / /). Once you do that, run it through "lineup" and this is what you get:

# memory and disk usage
cache_mem               64 MB
maximum_object_size     16384 KB
cache_dir               aufs /squid-cache 3600 16 256

# logging locations and type of log
cache_log               /var/log/squid/cache.log
useragent_log           /var/log/squid/useragents.log
emulate_httpd_log       on

# user privacy settings
forwarded_for           off
strip_query_terms       on
hierarchy_stoplist      cgi-bin ?

Notice the obvious differences? Blank lines are preserved. A line with only one field (like the comment lines) stays as is. And again, though you cannot see it here, leading indentation is preserved.

details

Anyway, here are the differences from 'column -t':

• a fixed separator -- 2 or more spaces starts a new field.
• the leading indent is taken from the first line; we don't make everything flush left like 'column -t' does.
• the field widths of the first line are considered to be minimum widths. The table can go wider but not narrower.
• the last field in a line does not contribute to the minimum field length -- i.e., it can be arbitrarily long and all the other lines won't suddenly develop a huge gap in those columns!
• empty lines are preserved.
• a line with only one field is left as is (except leading indent adjustment) and does not contribute to the minimum field width settings. This allows comment lines to be used.