LAM(1) MachTen Programmer’s Manual LAM(1)

NAME
lam - laminate files

SYNOPSIS
lam [ -[fp] min.max ] [ -s sepstring ] [ -t c ] file ...

DESCRIPTION
Lam 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.

Normally, each option affects only the file after it. If
the option letter is capitalized it affects all subsequent
files until it appears again uncapitalized. The options
are described below.

-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.

-p min.max
Like -f, but pad this file’s field when end-of-file
is reached and other files are still active.

-s sepstring
Print sepstring before printing line fragments from
the next file. This option may appear after the
last file.

-t c The input line terminator is c instead of a new-
line. The newline normally appended to each output
line is omitted.

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
join(1), pr(1), printf(3)

MachTen June 6, 1993 2