How to convert easily every TAB character to a Space.

[alan_b]

I am using a utility that produces an output report upon a vast number of files.
Every file is reported with its complete path and name on a separate line, e.g.

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W:\#1\   bookmarks-2012-03-10.json

The TAB character between the path and the name is causing me grief,
and I wish to remove each TAB, or replace with a normal Space.
Is there a simple command available in DOS to do this,
or do I have to dust of my tenuous grasp of writing a script and read each each line and replace with something like
http://www.dostips.com/?t=Snippets.Replace

Regards
Alan

[foxidrive]

The MORE command has a switch to convert TABs to a number of spaces.

[Squashman]

Those are tabs in the code.

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@echo off
SET VAR1=W:\#1\   bookmarks-2012-03-10.json
echo %VAR1%
SET VAR1=%VAR1:   =%
echo %VAR1%
pause

output

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W:\#1\  bookmarks-2012-03-10.json
W:\#1\bookmarks-2012-03-10.json
Press any key to continue . . .

You could also do this with a FOR LOOP if it is just one tab.

[dbenham]

I think foxidrive is on track for the most convenient answer, although MORE always converts tab into 1 or more spaces. The switch only controls the tab stops. Set the tab stop to 1 to convert every tab into exactly 1 space.

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more /t1 yourfile.log >yourfile.log.new
move /y yourfile.log.new yourfile.log >nul

Or better yet, pipe your command output directly to MORE

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yourCommand | more /t1 >yourfile.log

Dave Benham

[foxidrive]

/t0 removes the tabs

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  /Tn     Expand tabs to n spaces (default 8)

[dbenham]

/t0 removes the tabs

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  /Tn     Expand tabs to n spaces (default 8)

Thanks, I did not know that

So my statement should be amended to "MORE always converts a tab into 0 or more spaces". It is a shame that there is no option to preserve tabs


Dave Benham

[alan_b]

Many thanks,
MORE is a perfect solution for me

Regards
Alan