COL(1)			 HP-UX 5.0			COL(1)

     NAME
	  col - filter reverse line-feeds and backspaces

     SYNOPSIS
	  col [ -bflpx ]

     HP-UX COMPATABILITY
	  Level:    HP-UX/STANDARD

	  Origin:   System V

     DESCRIPTION
	  Col reads from  the  standard	 input	and  writes  onto  the
	  standard  output.   It performs the line overlays implied by
	  reverse line feeds (ASCII code ESC-7), and  by  forward  and
	  reverse  half-line feeds (ESC-9 and ESC-8).  It also removes
	  backspaces in favor of multiply overstruck  lines.   Col  is
	  particularly	useful	for  filtering multicolumn output made
	  with the .rt command of nroff(1) and output  resulting  from
	  use of the tbl(1) preprocessor.

	  If the -b option is  given,  col  assumes  that  the	output
	  device  in use is not capable of backspacing.	 In this case,
	  if two or more characters are to appear in the  same	place,
	  only the last one read will be output.

	  If the -l option is given, col assumes the output device  is
	  a line printer (rather than a character printer) and removes
	  backspaces in favor of multiply overstruck full  lines.   It
	  generates  the  minimun number of print operations necessary
	  to generate the required number of  overstrikes.   (All  but
	  the last print operation on a line are separated by carriage
	  returns (\r); the last print operation is  terminated	 by  a
	  newline (\n).)

	  Although col accepts half-line  motions  in  its  input,  it
	  normally  does  not emit them on output.  Instead, text that
	  would appear between lines is moved to the next lower	 full-
	  line	boundary.   This treatment can be suppressed by the -f
	  (fine) option; in this case, the output from col may contain
	  forward  half-line  feeds  (ESC-9),  but  will  still	 never
	  contain either kind of reverse line motion.

	  Unless the -x option is given, col will convert white	 space
	  to  tabs  on	output	wherever  possible to shorten printing
	  time.

	  The ASCII control characters SO (\016)  and  SI  (\017)  are
	  assumed  by  col  to	start  and  end	 text  in an alternate
	  character set.   The	character  set	to  which  each	 input
	  character  belongs  is  remembered,  and on output SI and SO
	  characters are generated as appropriate to ensure that  each
	  character is printed in the correct character set.

	  On input, the only control characters	 accepted  are	space,
	  backspace, tab, return, new-line, SI, SO, VT (\013), and ESC
	  followed by 7, 8, or 9.  The VT character  is	 an  alternate
	  form	of  full reverse line-feed, included for compatibility
	  with some earlier programs of this  type.   All  other  non-
	  printing characters are ignored.

	  Normally, col will ignore any unrecognized escape  sequences
	  found	 in  its input; the -p option may be used to cause col
	  to output these sequences as regular characters, subject  to
	  overprinting	from  reverse  line  motions.  The use of this
	  option is highly discouraged unless the user is fully	 aware
	  of the textual position of the escape sequences.

	  Note that the input  format  accepted	 by  col  matches  the
	  output  produced  by	nroff(1)  with either the -T37 or -Tlp
	  options.  Use -T37  (and  the	 -f  option  of	 col)  if  the
	  ultimate  disposition	 of the output of col will be a device
	  that can interpret half-line motions, and -Tlp otherwise.

     SEE ALSO
	  nroff(1), tbl(1).

     NOTES
	  The input format accepted by col matches the output produced
	  by  nroff  with  either  the -T37 or -Tlp options.  Use -T37
	  (and the -f option of col) if the  ultimate  disposition  of
	  the  output of col will be a device that can interpret half-
	  line motions, and -Tlp otherwise.

     BUGS
	  Cannot back up more than 128 lines.
	  Allows at most 800 characters, including  backspaces,	 on  a
	  line.
	  Local vertical motions that would result in backing up  over
	  the  first  line  of the document are ignored.  As a result,
	  the first line must not have any superscripts.