EXPAND   [n|ALL]
EXP

reverse command: COMPRESS

This command expands tab signs spread among the data into spaces. If you do not specify a parameter, the record of the current line is changed. The specification n denotes that n records, beginning with the current line, should be worked on. If you specify ALL, all records of the workfile will be changed if necessary.

The present setting of exaEdit assumes tabulators at columns 9, 17, 25, ...; it is not possible to change the default setting.

The expansion procedure works as follows: If a tab sign is found (hexadecimal value x09), it is replaced by a blank. The text after the tabulator sign is moved to the next tab stop to the right; the gap that might result is filled with space signs. This procedure is used for all tabs of the record.

If some expansions have been made because of the EXPAND command, exaEdit provides a message of success:

Expanded n times in m records by k blanks

If m=1 is valid, `records' is replaced by `record'.

If there is nothing to expand, the current line remains the same. Normally, exaEdit moves the current line to the record that is expanded last. If you set n to a number that would need exaEdit to expand records beyond the end of the file (message EOF), the current line is moved to the last record of the workfile. After using parameter ALL, the current line remains the same, no matter if there has been any expansion or not.