How can I use tabs in GAMS?

The key to putting tabs into GAMS output lies in using the $ondelim/$offdelim dollar controls to prevent tab expansion. The small attached example demonstrates this.

* without ondelim the Tabs will be expanded where they appear in the input
* enter Tab directly or stick into a GAMS 'environment'
* tabs are lost (expanded) where they appear outside of $ondelim/offdelim
* the content of %tab% and %losttab% depend on where they are defined, not used

file tab / tab.put /;

$ondelim
display 'tab	tab';
*           ^ tab character 
put tab 'enclosed tab|	|'/;
*                     ^ tab character 
$offdelim
display 'tab	tab';
*           ^ tab character 
put tab 'expanded tab|	|'/;
*                     ^ tab character 



$ondelim
$setglobal tab '	'
*               ^ tab character
$offdelim
$setglobal losttab '	'
*                   ^ tab character

display	'%tab%a%tab%b%tab%';
put tab 'this is a tab|%tab%|'/;
display	'%losttab%a%losttab%b%losttab%';
put tab 'this is a losttab|%losttab%|'/;

The key to putting tabs into GAMS output lies in using the $ondelim/$offdelim dollar controls to prevent tab expansion. The small attached example demonstrates.

* without ondelim the Tabs will be expanded where they appear in the input
* enter Tab directly or stick into a GAMS 'environment'
* tabs are lost (expanded) where they appear outside of $ondelim/offdelim
* the content of %tab% and %losttab% depend on where they are defined, not used

file tab / tab.put /;

$ondelim
display 'tab	tab';
*           ^ tab character 
put tab 'enclosed tab|	|'/;
*                     ^ tab character 
$offdelim
display 'tab	tab';
*           ^ tab character 
put tab 'expanded tab|	|'/;
*                     ^ tab character 



$ondelim
$setglobal tab '	'
*               ^ tab character
$offdelim
$setglobal losttab '	'
*                   ^ tab character

display	'%tab%a%tab%b%tab%';
put tab 'this is a tab|%tab%|'/;
display	'%losttab%a%losttab%b%losttab%';
put tab 'this is a losttab|%losttab%|'/;