To convert tabs to spaces in a file using Bash, you can use the expand command. This command replaces tabs in a file with a specified number of spaces, allowing you to convert tabs to spaces easily and quickly.
For example, to convert tabs to four spaces in a file called input.txt, you can use the following command:
$ expand -t 4 input.txt
This will replace all tabs in the input.txt file with four spaces, and print the resulting file to standard output.
If you want to save the converted file to a different file, you can use the > operator to redirect the output of the expand command to a file, like this:
$ expand -t 4 input.txt > output.txt
This will replace all tabs in the input.txt file with four spaces, and save the resulting file to the output.txt file. Note that if the output.txt file already exists, it will be overwritten by the converted file.
Overall, the expand command is a simple and effective way to convert tabs to spaces in a file using Bash. By using this command, you can easily and quickly replace tabs with spaces in any file, allowing you to manipulate the contents of the file in a variety of ways.