[comp.sys.mac] Expand Tab Utility

mcgrath@kodak.UUCP (bill mcgrath) (11/10/87)

I am looking for a utility which will allow me to expand tabs in a document
with the correct number of spaces and export the modified document to
a text file allowing me to Kermit it to other systems for inclusion in other
plain text documents.  Some spreadsheet programs such as Lotus allow
export as an ascii print file with tabs expanded.  is there anything like
this for the MAC?

kraut@ut-ngp.UUCP (Werner Uhrig) (11/10/87)

I'll mail or post, depending on number of requests I get.

-- 
kraut@ngp.utexas.edu

straka@ihlpf.ATT.COM (Straka) (11/12/87)

In article <1013@kodak.UUCP> mcgrath@kodak.UUCP (bill mcgrath) writes:
|I am looking for a utility which will allow me to expand tabs in a document
|with the correct number of spaces and export the modified document to
|a text file allowing me to Kermit it to other systems for inclusion in other
|plain text documents.  Some spreadsheet programs such as Lotus allow
|export as an ascii print file with tabs expanded.  is there anything like
|this for the MAC?

Some people might call this annoying Lotus 123 attribute a feature.  It is a
limitation.  Has anyone tried to do anything with a print file without tab
field delimiters?  What a PAIN!  (Yes, I know that Excel 1.04 can read 123R2
files, but then not everyone can or wants to go through the cost and/or
hassle.)

In answer to the above question, if you are on a Unix(R) system, try:
newform -i   This expands tabs to spaces using user-definable tabspecs.
Newform -o does the opposite, but you might have to be more careful with
regard to tab spec associativity.
-- 
Rich Straka     ihnp4!ihlpf!straka

Advice for the day: "MSDOS - just say no."

smethers@psu-cs.UUCP (Paul Smethers) (11/13/87)

In article <1013@kodak.UUCP> mcgrath@kodak.UUCP (bill mcgrath) writes:
>I am looking for a utility which will allow me to expand tabs in a document
>with the correct number of spaces and export the modified document to
>a text file allowing me to Kermit it to other systems for inclusion in other
>plain text documents.  Some spreadsheet programs such as Lotus allow
>export as an ascii print file with tabs expanded.  is there anything like
>this for the MAC?

Try mpw's "Entab tabbedFile -t 0 > detabbedFile"

Paul Smethers