balance_tab_delimited_lines.rb

#!/usr/bin/env ruby
def lines
  @input ||= STDIN.read
  lines = 0
  @input.each_line do |line|
    line.split(/\|/).each_with_index do |c, i|
      yield lines, c, i
    end
    lines += 1
  end
end

maxes = []
lines do |l, c, i|
  maxes[i] ||= 0
  maxes[i] = c.size if maxes[i] < c.size
end

output = []
lines do |l, c, i|
  output[l] ||= []
  output[l][i] = c.chomp + (" " * (maxes[i] - c.size))
end

out = output.map { |l| l.join("|") }
puts out.join("\n")