As an example, letting \t represent a tab (which should be typed as a genuine tab) the input
c s s c c s c c c l n n. Household Population Town\tHouseholds \tNumber\tSize Bedminster\t789\t3.26 Bernards Twp.\t3087\t3.74 Bernardsville\t2018\t3.30 Bound Brook\t3425\t3.04 Branchburg\t1644\t3.49 Bridgewater\t7897\t3.81 Far Hills\t240\t3.19 .TE
!:Household Population:! !:Town:!!:Households:! !::!!:Number:!!:Size:! !Bedminster:!!:789!!:3!!.26:! !Bernards Twp.:!!:3087!!:3!!.74:! !Bernardsville:!!:2018!!:3!!.30:! !Bound Brook:!!:3425!!:3!!.04:! !Branchburg:!!:1644!!:3!!.49:! !Bridgewater:!!:7897!!:3!!.81:! !Far Hills:!!:240!!:3!!.19:!
If no arguments are given, tbl reads the standard input, so it may be used as a filter. When it is used with eqn or neqn the tbl command should be first, to minimize the volume of data passed through pipes.