Display file contents in columns with the "column" command

[@terryhenyo9216]

There are some distributions like ZorinOS that doesn't have the -T, -N, and -o flags. However they are available in distros like Manjaro.

[@DistroTube]

Much like some of the GNU coreutils have alternative versions that sometimes distros ship with, some distros do ship a 'column' command that is not the one from util-linux. They ship a 'column' that is part of the bsdutils I think. It's annoying when distros veer from the norm because...yes, you're missing some cool flags.

[@ehanneken]

Probably. In the BSDs, column(1) lacks those flags. The BSD and Linux man pages all agree that column was introduced in 4.3BSD-Reno. It is not in POSIX.

[@corypollard]

@@DistroTube can confirm this is the situation in Linux Mint, too. Thanks for the clarification, man page states it's from BSD too.

[@mohammadrahat9759]

@@DistroTube If I have so many search result. What if I want to add a line only before or after the first result. without giving line number. Using sed. or other examples also please. Like. Server Server Server ----‐------------- to New line Server Server Server

[@Not-THAT-ChrisPratt]

Please keep these "Linux Basics" videos coming! I learn so much from your teaching and examples.

[@DistroTube]

Thanks, Chris! :D

[@zahimeen]

With every new video you post, I actually learn something that benefits me.

[@corypollard]

Another great video, Derek. I've been a hobby Linux user for over 20 years now and still learn more and more from your informative and always high quality content. I hadn't heard of the column command before and can think of lots of uses for it already.

[@_..---]

it's always surprising how many useful tools can be found on even a standard install, this is one of the best channels and I especially love it for highlighting them

[@adrianteri]

Thanks @Distrotube now I can retire an old bash function to create tables -> header rows and the record rows from input. It's amazing what you learn about Linux whatever level/time you've been using it!

[@RickRomig]

Thanks, DT! I have a script I use to view log files for many of my cron jobs and I'd been looking for an easy way to display a header when I view the logs in the script. The column command does the job.

[@Hyperboid]

Personally, I use tabs as my field separator, in case anyone wants to edit it as a spreadsheet. I also give the file a .tsv extension so the programs detect it.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

Many thanks for this tutorial. I do remember someone else pointing out the existence of the "column" command some years ago, but I completely forgot about it - and it's now a command that I am going to go back and build into some of my recent shell scripts. I can't remember if it was you or "The Holy Church of Luke Smith" that did a video a few years ago about writing a script that just pulled up a random man page for you to read when you have a few minutes each day - I think I will have to look that up again and start using it so that I do remember that such commands are available.

[@corypollard]

random man command, That sounds like a useful script, any chance of a link?

[@tudbut]

thank you, somehow i never knew about this tool!

[@justoneofwebcitizens]

That's cool! Never heard before about this command. Will be use to it. Thanks.

[@santiagonottoli]

Hey DT! 👍👍👍 Great tutorial... muchas gracias mi amigo!

[@MasterHigure]

Presumably things like ls use column under the hood to format their output. Cool little utility. Implementing it probably makes for a nice programming exercise too, depending on how many options you want to implement.

[@anon_y_mousse]

This is pretty neat. I was using awk to do a lot of table display stuff, maybe I'll see if column will work for me because awk is annoying to type, especially when you need a header above the columns.

[@ygiagam]

Thank you - very useful tips.

[@dasten123]

Neat. Didn't know about this one

[@Knight8365]

Great tutorial thanks for this!

[@diepbuithingoc4121]

Your video is usefully!, thanks for your video.

[@KevinBReynolds]

Thanks DT!

[@OpusFocus1968]

Column -t -s ":" "Comment:Name :Thank You:Derek "

[@vaisakh_km]

map vim keys as :map :'

[@theodorealenas3171]

Oh! Hey! What! Dude! I've been dreaming about this the last week

[@cheshirrski]

Thanks, very helpful

[@uuu12343]

How the heck do I not know this?! It's been years and I'm a power user, wtf Clearly not power enough MORE POWER... *UNLIMITED* *POWAAAAAAAAAA*

[@vaisakh_km]

you are a power user.. it's just linux's powers are endless

[@vicmac3513]

Does someone know why so many distros has enabled the annoying pcspkr in their kernels? I noticed it in Arch and Manjaro isos recently and now Ubuntu.

[@SB-qm5wg]

Pretty cool.

[@vog964]

Hey DT, would you ever make a video talking about Linux from Scratch and it's use for learning linux, maybe your experiences with it and whether you would recommend taking the time to set the system up. Thanks!

[@Drogobo]

take a look at soda linux for the next distro review.

[@CarlosReyes-ku6ub]

Hi DT, can you share your thoughts about org-roam and maybe show us some tips and tricks? It'd be very useful

[@paulw4487]

dammit this beats awk printf

[@Pakrohk]

hay man plz test Penrose 0.2.1 Penrose: a library for building your very own tiling window manager

[@speedyfox9080]

Column? Never heard of that, although I read some books about Linux and shell!

[@mohammadrahat9759]

If I have so many search result. What if I want to add a line only before or after the first result. without giving line number. Using sed. or other examples also please. Like. Server Server Server ----‐------------- to New line Server Server Server

[@linuxmeow]

Kinda reminds of top or htop or something like that layout. Hmmm. o.o

[@synthsyndicate]

Interesting

[@safi164]

thats cool never knew about it

[@guilherme5094]

👍

[@elizabeththompson4424]

WOW! My Mint Mate 20 'column' command has NONE of those neat options. It just does columns & table with NO headings or whatever. If I want nice tables with headings I'd have to pipe it into an awk script as I do with many things - AWK! cat something | column | some.awk Well, anyway, the Mint repository has been deplorable of late.

[@itsfish8672]

GVDT.

[@yuke...]

hey dt!

[@DistroTube]

hey hey!

[@leviticus8930]

Early bird

[@DistroTube]

Indeed!

[@xntumrfo9ivrnwf]

OMG you just showed your passwords someone is going to hack you!

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

The /etc/passwd file has not contained passwords for some years now. Encrypted passwords are held in /etc/shadow only.