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How can I align data into pretty columns relative to given word?

For example, I have output of the route -n command:

default via 172.20.99.254 dev eth0 
87.33.17.71 dev tun0 scope link 
89.223.15.12 via 172.20.99.254 dev eth0 src 172.20.99.74 
172.20.9.0/24 dev eth0 proto kernel scope link src 172.20.99.74 
65.46.5.89 dev tun0 scope link 
192.168.11.0/24 dev tun0 scope link 
45.211.111.7 dev tun0 scope link

and I would like to align it by the word dev, so that the column containing the word dev is aligned:

default via 172.20.99.254       dev eth0 
87.33.17.71                     dev tun0 scope link 
89.223.15.12 via 172.20.99.254  dev eth0 src 172.20.99.74 
172.20.9.0/24                   dev eth0 proto kernel scope link src 172.20.99.74 
65.46.5.89                      dev tun0 scope link 
192.168.11.0/24                 dev tun0 scope link 
45.211.111.7                    dev tun0 scope link

I cannot just naively replace fist space character with a tab, because sometimes I need 1 tab, other times I need 3 tabs.

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1 Answer 1

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8

I would use a character that I am sure it doesn't exist into file, as a dummy separator for the column command, like:

$ sed 's/dev/@dev/' file | column -ts@
default via 172.20.99.254        dev eth0 
87.33.17.71                      dev tun0 scope link 
89.223.15.12 via 172.20.99.254   dev eth0 src 172.20.99.74 
172.20.9.0/24                    dev eth0 proto kernel scope link src 172.20.99.74 
65.46.5.89                       dev tun0 scope link 
192.168.11.0/24                  dev tun0 scope link 
45.211.111.7                     dev tun0 scope link

You can also use -o (specify the output separator) together with column, you can try with -o "" or -o " " to see behaviour.

Also the above sed substitutes only the first occurence, and a simple matching was used, maybe you 'd need a more strict matching for other cases, like matching surrounding whitespaces.

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  • that is quite clever! Commented Jun 9, 2022 at 6:51

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