> I am wondering what columns mean
From NetBackup 7 specification:
"-columns ncols
For the -L and -U reports, -columns provides an approximate upper bound
on the maximum line length. bperror does not try to produce lines exactly
ncols characters in length.
-columns does not apply to the -l report.
ncols must be at least 40. The default is 80."
> Playing around with bperror -l and bperror -L, I notice that the fourth column is the severity and an Error is severity 16, Info is severity 4, what are the other severity values?
Other fields, please, refer to the "Symantec NetBackup™ Commands" guide
> Has the output format for bperror -l changed from say release 5 to release 7?
No.