FEATURES(1)                        |STAT                     March 10, 1989

NAME
     features - Tabulate Features of Items

USAGE
     _f_e_a_t_u_r_e_s [-h] [-c col-delim] [-f inputfile] [-i itemwidth] [-l leader]
     [-n no-str] [-p pagesize] [-w featwidth] [-y yes-str]
     feature[=width] [feature[=width] ...]

DESCRIPTION
     Think of this program as a consumer product comparison checklist tool.
     For each item, there are features that you would like the product to
     have, and for some features, several values are possible.

OPTIONS

     feature
          Feature Names.  Feature names indicate which features to
          tabulate, and in which order, to describe items.  Features on the
          command line can be exact matches for item's features, but to
          simplify the format of feature files, features in files can be
          abbreviated and upper and lower case letters are treated as
          equivalent.  For example, Usability on the command line matches
          usab=good in the feature file.  You can specify the width of a
          column for a feature by putting a width after an equal sign.  See
          the examples.

     -c col-delim
          Column Delimiter String.  Default: bar (|).  This string is
          placed between every feature column describing an item.  It can
          be wider than one character; for example, " | " would give a
          wider table with more space in columns.

     -f inputfile
          Input file.  Default: standard input.  This option allows you to
          specify a file name for the item description lines.

     -h
          Use Horizontal Format for Headers.  If this option is selected,
          then all field widths for features must be specified.

     -i itemwidth
          Width of Items.  Default: 15 characters wide.  If you have ones
          that are wider, the tables won't line up correctly.  This option
          allows you to widen the space used to show the items.

     -l leader
          Leader Character After Item Name.  Default: underbar (_).

     -n no-str
          String to Print When Item Feature is Not Present.  Default:
          space.

     -p pagesize
          Size of Pages.  Default: 60 lines.  For every page, a new
          feature-table header is generated.

     -w feat-width
          Width of Feature Columns.  Default: 1 character.  This option
          will allow you to set all the feature column widths.  Individual
          column widths can be overridden with feature widths on the
          command line.

     -y yes-string
          String to Print When Item Has a Feature.  Default: sharp (#).
          This can be changed to any character.  It can also be changed for
          an individual item-feature pair by using a feature=value format.
          For example,
                                   Perlman eyes=H
          could be used to indicate that Perlman's eyes are hazel.  For
          longer strings, you will want to adjust the width of the columns
          with the -w option or with the feature name on the command line.

EXAMPLES
     Product Comparisons

     Suppose you want to buy a toaster with a bunch of features like
     inexpensive, reliable, wood-grain and one that holds four slices of
     bread.  These features might be: price (L=low, M=medium, H=high),
     reliability (yes, no), finish (M=metal, W=wood-grain, O=other), and
     capacity (number of slices of bread).  A set of toasters (items) might
     be described by a list of features:
          BrandX    price=Med reliable finish=Wood capacity=4
          BrandY    price=High finish=Metal capacity=2
          BrandZ    price=Low finish=Wood capacity=4
     The above input, along with the feature labels:
          Price Reliable Finish Capacity
     in the command:
          features -c " | " Price=4 Reliable Finish=6 Capacity
     will display:
                          | Price
                          |      | Reliable
                          |      |   | Finish
                          |      |   |        | Capacity
          BrandX_________ | Med  | # | Wood   | 4 |
          BrandY_________ | High |   | Metal  | 2 |
          BrandZ_________ | Low  |   | Wood   | 4 |

     Another command shows how the same information can be viewed differently.
          features -l. -c" " -h -nNo -yYes Price=6 Reliable=10 Finish=6 Capacity=10

                          Price  Reliable   Finish Capacity
          BrandX......... Med    Yes        Wood   4
          BrandY......... High   No         Metal  2
          BrandZ......... Low    No         Wood   4
     Other Uses
     The program has been useful for organizing lists of publications by
     the topics they cover and for listing the research interests of
     faculty in a large Midwest computer science department.

SEE ALSO
     ptx(1), sort(1)

AUTHOR
     Gary Perlman

WARNINGS
     Try to avoid similar feature names, especially ones that begin with
     the same characters.

