NAME
lam – laminate files
SYNOPSIS
lam [-f min.max] [-s sepstring] [-t c] file ...
lam [-p min.max] [-s sepstring] [-t c] file ...
DESCRIPTION
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
SEE ALSO
STANDARDS
Some of the functionality of lam is standardized as the paste(1) utility by IEEE Std 1003.2 (“POSIX.2”).
HISTORY
The lam utility first appeared in 4.2BSD.
AUTHORS
John A. Kunze
BUGS
The lam utility does not recognize multibyte characters.