ptbl

Usage: ptbl [options]

This operator used for quick and easy printing of an rdbtable, in a simple but useful form. It prints an rdbtable using formatting information from the header.

The printing of each row of data will be on one line if possible, but when multiple lines are necessary the second and later lines are indented for readability. Also when multiple lines are necessary a simple space availability algorithm is used to minimize the number of lines printed for each row of data. This may result in the order of some data values being rearranged from their order in the rdbtable. The '-b0' option can override this algorithm and force the same printing order as in the rdbtable.

This RDB operator reads an rdbtable from STDIN and writes a formatted report on STDOUT. Options may be abbreviated.

Options:

As an example using the sample rdbtable from the DATA section (named sample), the command to view this rdbtable would be:

        ptbl < sample
which would produce the output shown in Table 8. The same command with a page heading for printing:
        ptbl  -PP  <  sample
produces the output as shown in Table 9. Using an rdbtable (named sample4) that has long data values, shown in Table 10, the command to print the rdbtable using the truncate option is:
        ptbl  -t  <  sample4
which will produce output with the data values truncated to the defined column width as in Table 11. Using the same rdbtable with the fold option:
        ptbl  -fold  <  sample4
produces output with the long data values 'folded' within their defined column widths as shown in Table 12. Note that each line is repeated until the entire data value for each column is completely shown. This makes this type of output variable length.
                                Table 8

                 PRINTING RDBTABLE (SAMPLE) USING PTBL

        NAME    COUNT  TYP     AMT  OTHER        RIGHT
        ------  -----  ----  -----  --------  --------
        Bush       44  A       133  Another       This
        Hansen     44  A        23  One             Is
        Jones      77  X        77  Here            On
        Perry      77  B       244  And            The
        Hart       77  D      1111  So           Right
        Holmes     65  D      1111  On            Edge
                                Table 9

        PRINTING RDBTABLE (SAMPLE) WITH PAGE HEADING USING PTBL

        Page   1   Mon Dec  2 16:56:43 PST 1991

        NAME    COUNT  TYP     AMT  OTHER        RIGHT
        ------  -----  ----  -----  --------  --------
        Bush       44  A       133  Another       This
        Hansen     44  A        23  One             Is
        Jones      77  X        77  Here            On
        Perry      77  B       244  And            The
        Hart       77  D      1111  So           Right
        Holmes     65  D      1111  On            Edge
                                Table 10

        RDBTABLE WITH LONG DATA VALUES (SAMPLE4) ACTUAL CONTENT

        name<T>type<T>contact<T>contents<R>
        10<T>4<T>21<T>20<R>
        Hansen<T>AAA<T>R. Starr at the UCLA & USC<T>Duplicate data under
        processing order number 55-7.<R>
        Hart<T>CCC<T>Hobbs/Emerson at RAND Corporation<T>85 files, 2 per
        day containing 12 and 24 hour reports.<R>
        Hobbs<T>EEE<T>Marshall at Universal AFB<T>Original PAF messages.
        Both sets are incomplete.<R>
        Bush<T>KKK<T>General USAF personnel<T>Duplicate ATO messages,
        incomplete.<R>
        Lender<T>RRR<T>Army base in Nevada<T>Nothing.<R>
        Emerson<T>UUU<T>Navy at Washington DC<T>More than we thought at
        first.<R>
                                Table 11

          PRINTING RDBTABLE (SAMPLE4) WITH PTBL -TRUNC OPTION

        name        type  contact                contents
        ----------  ----  ---------------------  --------------------
        Hansen      AAA   R. Starr at the UCLA   Duplicate data under
        Hart        CCC   Hobbs/Emerson at RAND  85 files, 2 per day
        Hobbs       EEE   Marshall at Universal  Original PAF message
        Bush        KKK   General USAF personne  Duplicate ATO messag
        Lender      RRR   Army base in Nevada    Nothing.
        Emerson     UUU   Navy at Washington DC  More than we thought

If you need a quick and easy way to look at the data in an rdbtable use the -win option. This option will cause ptbl to list as many columns as possible in single line records that will fit in the current window or terminal width. Note that you do not have to type the column names (or even know them) to use this option.

It may be combined with the -t option to increase the number of columns of data shown on each line at the expense of some column width.

                                Table 12

           PRINTING RDBTABLE (SAMPLE4) WITH PTBL -FOLD OPTION

        name        type  contact                contents
        ----------  ----  ---------------------  --------------------
        Hansen      AAA   R. Starr at the UCLA   Duplicate data under
                          & USC                  processing order
                                                 number 55-7.
        Hart        CCC   Hobbs/Emerson at RAND  85 files, 2 per day
                          Corporation            containing 12 and 24
                                                 hour reports.
        Hobbs       EEE   Marshall at Universal  Original PAF
                          AFB                    messages.  Both sets
                                                 are incomplete.
        Bush        KKK   General USAF           Duplicate ATO
                          personnel              messages,
                                                 incomplete.
        Lender      RRR   Army base in Nevada    Nothing.
        Emerson     UUU   Navy at Washington DC  More than we thought
                                                 at first.

For example the command 'ptbl < d11c' on an 80 character wide window or terminal produces the following:

name    count            type  amt    n1                        n3
------  ---------------  ----  -----  ------------------------  ------------
    n2                        n4                        n5
    ------------------------  ------------------------  ------------
    n6            n7
    ------------  ------------
Bush    3                A     133    alpha22.307               117722
    baker                     DDBBx17                   other
    124567        8GGXXH17
Hansen  39               A     23     beta222.307               117723
    charlie                   DDBBx18                   data
    1239870       GGXXH17
Newton  8                E     8      gama22.333                117724
    dog                       DDBBx19                   exists
    1239870       GGXXH17
Hobbs   42               B     144    delta3.3.118              117725
    echo                      DDBBx20                   here
    1239870       GGXXH17
Hart    2                C     55     epslion33.118             117726
    foxtrot                   DDBBx21                   also
    1239870       GGXXH17
This is readable, but not very nice to look at, and even worse if there are more columns. The command 'ptbl -win < d11c' produces:
name   count           type amt   n1                       n3
------ --------------- ---- ----- ------------------------ ------------
Bush   3               A    133   alpha22.307              117722
Hansen 39              A    23    beta222.307              117723
Newton 8               E    8     gama22.333               117724
Hobbs  42              B    144   delta3.3.118             117725
Hart   2               C    55    epslion33.118            117726

Not all the data is listed, but the first few columns (sometimes the most important) are easier to view. The command 'ptbl -win -t6 < d11c' shows even more of the data, at the expense of some data width:

name   count  type amt   n1     n2     n3     n4     n5     n6     n7
------ ------ ---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
Bush   3      A    133   alpha2 baker  117722 DDBBx1 other  124567 8GGXXH
Hansen 39     A    23    beta22 charli 117723 DDBBx1 data   123987 GGXXH1
Newton 8      E    8     gama22 dog    117724 DDBBx1 exists 123987 GGXXH1
Hobbs  42     B    144   delta3 echo   117725 DDBBx2 here   123987 GGXXH1
Hart   2      C    55    epslio foxtro 117726 DDBBx2 also   123987 GGXXH1