> : Because there is no standard for using tab stops every 8th char! Some
> : people like them modulo 4. Hardcopy printers may lack tabulating at
> : all.
>
> There *IS* a standard for tabs. It is every 8th character. Some
> people chose to adhere to a different standard, but 8 space tabs is
> fairly standard. So that is a fairly weak reason.
The problem is terminals with programmable tabs, and applications
expanding or not expanding tabs to spaces. This make a few
combinations (I'm not talking about stty -tabs...)
>
> The real reason it is better to use the %15s format because it fixes
> the problem of things not lining up when you have the odd entry that
> is over 8 characters long.
>
> Warner
(But I'm sure everybody knows about tabs, no I won't talk any more
about it. Others are invited to follow me unless they have really
exciting news)
Ulrich