lam1

Usage

Overview

The lam utility copies the named files side by side onto the standard output. The n-th input lines from the input files are considered fragments of the single long n-th output line into which they are assembled. The name `-' means the standard input, and may be repeated.

-f min.max, -F min.max

Print line fragments according to the format string min.max, where min is the minimum field width and max the maximum field width. If min begins with a zero, zeros will be added to make up the field width, and if it begins with a `-', the fragment will be left-adjusted within the field. Using -f applies only to the next file while -F applies to all subsequent files until it appears again uncapitalized.

-p min.max, -P min.max

Like -f, but pad this file's field when end-of-file is reached and other files are still active. Using -p applies only to the next file while -P applies to all subsequent files until it appears again uncapitalized.

-s sepstring, -S sepstring

Print sepstring before printing line fragments from the next file. This option may appear after the last file. Using -s applies only to the next file while -S applies to all subsequent files until it appears again uncapitalized.

-t c, -T c

The input line terminator is c instead of a newline. The newline normally appended to each output line is omitted. Using -t applies only to the next file while -T applies to all subsequent files until it appears again uncapitalized.

To print files simultaneously for easy viewing use pr(1).

Examples

The command

lam file1 file2 file3 file4

joins 4 files together along each line. To merge the lines from four different files use

lam file1 -S "\
" file2 file3 file4

Every 2 lines of a file may be joined on one line with

lam - - < file

and a form letter with substitutions keyed by `@' can be done with

lam -t @ letter changes