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LAM(1)                  NetBSD General Commands Manual                  LAM(1)


NAME

     lam -- laminate files


SYNOPSIS

     lam [-f min.max] [-p min.max] [-s sepstring] [-t c] file ...


DESCRIPTION

     lam 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.

     Normally, each option affects only the file after it.  If the option let-
     ter is capitalized it affects all subsequent files until it appears again
     uncapitalized.  The options are described below.

     -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.
     -p min.max    Like -f, but pad this file's field when end-of-file is
                   reached and other files are still active.
     -s sepstring  Print sepstring before printing line fragments from the
                   next file.  This option may appear after the last file.  (A
                   capitalized version appearing before the last file is not
                   carried over past the last file.)
     -t c          The input line terminator is c instead of a newline.  The
                   newline normally appended to each output line is omitted.

     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 $'\n' file2 file3 file4

     (The means for inserting a newline may depend on your shell.)

     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


SEE ALSO

     join(1), pr(1), printf(3)


HISTORY

     The lam utility first appeared in 4.2BSD.


AUTHORS

     John A. Kunze

NetBSD 10.99                   October 26, 2020                   NetBSD 10.99