format txt as table not joining empty columns

$ column -tns: /etc/passwd

-n switch keeps empty columns

If your distribution does not ship with a recent column version that supports -n you can use this alternative:

perl -pe ‘s/(^|;);/$1 ;/g’ file.csv | column -ts\; | less -S

Change the delimiter to your liking.

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by David Winterbottom (codeinthehole.com)

Tags: best linux tips linux tricks scripts tips tricks