string - Align columns against one another by row

Question

Assume a file with three columns of strings.

> cat file
foo foo bar
bar baz
baz qux
qux

What, if any, command in bash could be used to align these columns against one another by row? The correct output would look like as follows:

> sought_command file
foo foo
bar     bar
baz baz
qux qux 

Answer 1

Using awk:

$ awk 'max<NF{max=NF} # Get max number of columns
    { #For every input line,
       for(i=1;i<=NF;i++){
           b[$i]++;   # Record all possible tokens, like foo, bar etc.
           a[i$i]++;  # Record their column indices
       }
    }

    END{
           for(i in b) #Get max length of all the tokens (for printing)
               if(c<length(i))
                   c=length(i); 

           for(i in b) # For each token,
           {
              for(j=1;j<=max;j++){ # For every column,
                  if(a[j i]) d = i; # Decide, if we want to print it, or left blank...
                  else d="";

                  printf "%-"(c+5)"s", d; # Print the token, or blank space
              }
              print ""; # Print newline after every tokens line.
           }
       }' test.input

foo     foo             
baz     baz             
qux     qux             
bar             bar     

Regarding the order of the input vs output data: I don't think there is any input tokens order, because below input data should also give the similar output.

foo foo
bar
baz baz bar
qux qux 

It is possible to maintain the order of the token, in which they first appeared. e.g. in above (reordered) case, it would be foo, bar, baz, qux.

$ awk 'max<NF{max=NF} # Get max number of columns
{ #For every input line,
    for(i=1;i<=NF;i++){

        if(!b[$i]++)
            token[j++]=$i;
        a[i$i]++;  # Record their column indices
    }
}

END{
    for(i in b) #Get max length of all the tokens (for printing)
        if(max_len<length(i))
            max_len=length(i); 

    PROCINFO["sorted_in"] = "@ind_num_asc";

    for(i in token) { # For each token,
        for(j=1;j<=max;j++){ # For every column,
            if(a[j token[i]]) d = token[i]; # Decide, if we want to print it, or left blank...
            else d="";

            printf "%-"(max_len+5)"s", d; # Print the token, or blank space
        }
        print ""; # Print newline after every tokens line.
    }
}' test.input.reordered

foo     foo             
bar             bar     
baz     baz             
qux     qux