' FB 1.05.0 Win64

Sub Split(s As String, sep As String, result() As String)
  Dim As Integer i, j, count = 0
  Dim temp As String
  Dim As Integer position(Len(s) + 1)
  position(0) = 0
  For i = 0 To Len(s) - 1
    For j = 0 To Len(sep) - 1
      If s[i] = sep[j] Then
        count += 1
        position(count) = i + 1
      End If
    Next j
  Next i
  position(count + 1) = Len(s) + 1
  Redim result(count)
  For i = 1 To count + 1
    result(i - 1) = Mid(s, position(i - 1) + 1, position(i) - position(i - 1) - 1)
  Next
End Sub

Sub CSet(buffer As String, s As Const String)
  Dim As Integer bLength = Len(buffer)
  Dim As Integer sLength = Len(s)
  Dim As Integer diff, lSpaces
  If sLength >= bLength Then
    LSet buffer, s
  Else
    diff = bLength - sLength
    lSpaces = diff \ 2
    LSet buffer, Space(lSpaces) + s
  End If
End Sub

Dim lines() As String
Dim count As Integer = 0

Open "align_columns.txt" For Input As #1

While Not Eof(1)
  Redim Preserve lines(count)
  Line Input #1, lines(count)
  count +=1
Wend

Close #1

Dim As Integer i,j, length, numColumns = 0
Dim As Integer numLines = UBound(lines) + 1
Dim fields() As String

' Work out the maximum number of columns
For i = 0 To numLines - 1
  Erase fields
  Split RTrim(lines(i), "$"), "$", fields()
  length = UBound(fields) + 1
  If length > numColumns Then numColumns = length
Next

' Split lines into fields and work out maximum size of each column
Dim matrix(numLines - 1, numColumns - 1) As String
Dim columnSizes(numColumns - 1) As Integer

For i = 0 To numLines - 1
  Erase fields
  Split RTrim(lines(i), "$"), "$", fields()
  For j = 0 To UBound(fields)
    matrix(i, j) = fields(j)
    length = Len(fields(j))
    If  length > columnSizes(j) Then columnSizes(j) = length
  Next j
Next i

Dim buffer As String

'Separate each column by 2 spaces
Open "align_left_columns.txt" For Output As #1
Open "align_right_columns.txt" For Output As #2
Open "align_center_columns.txt" For Output As #3

For i = 0 To UBound(matrix, 1)
  For j = 0 To UBound(matrix, 2)
    buffer = Space(columnSizes(j))
    LSet buffer, matrix(i, j)
    Print #1, buffer;
    RSet buffer, matrix(i, j)
    Print #2, buffer;
    CSet buffer, matrix(i, j)
    Print #3, buffer;
    If j < UBound(matrix, 2) Then
      Print #1, "  "; : Print #2, "  "; : Print #3, "  ";
    End If
  Next j
  Print #1, : Print #2, : Print #3,
Next i

Close #1 : Close #2 : Close #3