unexpand

unexpand [options] [files]

Convert spaces back into an appropriate number of tab characters. unexpand reads the named files, or standard input if no files are provided. See also expand.

Options

-a

Replace spaces with tabs everywhere possible, not just leading spaces and tabs.

-t tablist

Interpret tabs according to tablist, a space- or comma-separated list of numbers in ascending order that describe the "tabstops" for the input data.