Format table using column with columns containing spaced text

Question

I have a below table

1  Data  2021-02-04
2  Data Two  2021-02-05

If I column -t -s '' I get

1  Data  2021-02-04
2  Data Two  2021-02-05

Any way I can format this as:

1  Data      2021-02-04
2  Data Two  2021-02-05

Or format by column number 3

Double spaces between columns. Single space between the text in same column. — Suhas
– Suhas, Commented May 3, 2021 at 5:35
But your original table only has one space between Data Two and the date? — Shawn
– Shawn, Commented May 3, 2021 at 5:41

Shawn · Accepted Answer · 2021-05-03 05:51:08Z

1

You have to first convert the two spaces separating columns in the original into a single character before feeding it to column. Something like:

$ sed 's/  /|/g' input.txt | column -t -s '|'  
1  Data      2021-02-04
2  Data Two  2021-02-05

Use a different character that doesn't appear in the input if | is present in it.

answered May 3, 2021 at 5:51

Shawn

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