annotate man/indent.texi @ 52574:e0bca4b2b9ca

(Acknowledgements): New node, split from Distribution.
author Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
date Mon, 22 Sep 2003 15:48:36 +0000
parents 695cf19ef79e
children d38f0e75756e 375f2633d815
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1 @c This is part of the Emacs manual.
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2 @c Copyright (C) 1985, 86, 87, 93, 94, 95, 1997 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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3 @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
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4 @node Indentation, Text, Major Modes, Top
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5 @chapter Indentation
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6 @cindex indentation
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7 @cindex columns (indentation)
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8
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9 This chapter describes the Emacs commands that add, remove, or
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10 adjust indentation.
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11
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12 @table @kbd
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13 @item @key{TAB}
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14 Indent the current line ``appropriately'' in a mode-dependent fashion.
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15 @item @kbd{C-j}
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16 Perform @key{RET} followed by @key{TAB} (@code{newline-and-indent}).
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17 @item M-^
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18 Merge the previous and the current line (@code{delete-indentation}).
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19 This would cancel out the effect of @kbd{C-j}.
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20 @item C-M-o
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21 Split the current line at point; text on the line after point becomes a
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22 new line indented to the same column where point is located
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23 (@code{split-line}).
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24 @item M-m
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25 Move (forward or back) to the first nonblank character on the current
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26 line (@code{back-to-indentation}).
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27 @item C-M-\
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28 Indent several lines to the same column (@code{indent-region}).
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29 @item C-x @key{TAB}
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30 Shift a block of lines rigidly right or left (@code{indent-rigidly}).
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31 @item M-i
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32 Indent from point to the next prespecified tab stop column
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33 (@code{tab-to-tab-stop}).
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34 @item M-x indent-relative
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35 Indent from point to under an indentation point in the previous line.
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36 @end table
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37
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38 Emacs supports four general categories of operations that could all
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39 be called `indentation':
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40
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41 @enumerate
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42 @item
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43 Insert a tab character. You can type @kbd{C-q @key{TAB}} to do this.
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44
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45 A tab character is displayed as a stretch of whitespace which extends
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46 to the next display tab stop position, and the default width of a tab
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47 stop is eight. @xref{Display Custom}, for more details.
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48
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49 @item
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50 Advance to the next tab stop. You can set tab stops at your choice of
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51 column positions, then type @kbd{M-i} to advance to the next tab stop.
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52 The default is to have tab stops every eight columns, which means by
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53 default @kbd{M-i} inserts a tab character. To set the tab stops, use
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54 @kbd{M-x edit-tab-stops}.
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55
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56 @item
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57 Align a line with the previous line. More precisely, the command
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58 @kbd{M-x indent-relative} indents the current line under the beginning
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59 of some word in the previous line. In Fundamental mode and in Text
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60 mode, @key{TAB} runs the command @code{indent-relative}.
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61
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62 @item
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63 The most sophisticated method is @dfn{syntax-driven indentation}.
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64 Most programming languages have an indentation convention. For Lisp
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65 code, lines are indented according to their nesting in parentheses. C
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66 code uses the same general idea, but many details are different.
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67
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68 @kindex TAB
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69 Type @key{TAB} to do syntax-driven indentation, in a mode that
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70 supports it. It realigns the current line according with the syntax
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71 of the preceding lines. No matter where in the line you are when you
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72 type @key{TAB}, it aligns the line as a whole.
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73 @end enumerate
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74
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75 Normally, all of the above methods insert an optimal mix of tabs and
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76 spaces to align to the desired column. @xref{Just Spaces}, for how to
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77 disable use of tabs. However, @kbd{C-q @key{TAB}} always inserts a
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78 tab, even they are disabled for the indentation commands.
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79
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80 @c In Text mode, @key{TAB} runs the command @code{tab-to-tab-stop}, which
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81 @c indents to the next tab stop column. You can set the tab stops with
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82 @c @kbd{M-x edit-tab-stops}.
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83
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84 @menu
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85 * Indentation Commands:: Various commands and techniques for indentation.
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86 * Tab Stops:: You can set arbitrary "tab stops" and then
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87 indent to the next tab stop when you want to.
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88 * Just Spaces:: You can request indentation using just spaces.
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89 @end menu
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90
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91 @node Indentation Commands, Tab Stops, Indentation, Indentation
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92 @section Indentation Commands and Techniques
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93
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94 @kindex M-m
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95 @findex back-to-indentation
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96 To move over the indentation on a line, do @kbd{M-m}
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97 (@code{back-to-indentation}). This command, given anywhere on a line,
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98 positions point at the first nonblank character on the line.
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99
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100 To insert an indented line before the current line, do @kbd{C-a C-o
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101 @key{TAB}}. To make an indented line after the current line, use
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102 @kbd{C-e C-j}.
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103
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104 If you just want to insert a tab character in the buffer, you can type
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105 @kbd{C-q @key{TAB}}.
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106
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107 @kindex C-M-o
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108 @findex split-line
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109 @kbd{C-M-o} (@code{split-line}) moves the text from point to the end of
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110 the line vertically down, so that the current line becomes two lines.
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111 @kbd{C-M-o} first moves point forward over any spaces and tabs. Then it
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112 inserts after point a newline and enough indentation to reach the same
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113 column point is on. Point remains before the inserted newline; in this
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114 regard, @kbd{C-M-o} resembles @kbd{C-o}.
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115
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116 @kindex M-^
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117 @findex delete-indentation
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118 To join two lines cleanly, use the @kbd{M-^}
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119 (@code{delete-indentation}) command. It deletes the indentation at the
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120 front of the current line, and the line boundary as well, replacing them
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121 with a single space. As a special case (useful for Lisp code) the
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122 single space is omitted if the characters to be joined are consecutive
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123 open parentheses or closing parentheses, or if the junction follows
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124 another newline. To delete just the indentation of a line, go to the
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125 beginning of the line and use @kbd{M-\}
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126 (@code{delete-horizontal-space}), which deletes all spaces and tabs
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127 around the cursor.
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128
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129 If you have a fill prefix, @kbd{M-^} deletes the fill prefix if it
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130 appears after the newline that is deleted. @xref{Fill Prefix}.
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131
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132 @kindex C-M-\
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133 @kindex C-x TAB
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134 @findex indent-region
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135 @findex indent-rigidly
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136 There are also commands for changing the indentation of several lines
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137 at once. @kbd{C-M-\} (@code{indent-region}) applies to all the lines
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138 that begin in the region; it indents each line in the ``usual'' way, as
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139 if you had typed @key{TAB} at the beginning of the line. A numeric
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140 argument specifies the column to indent to, and each line is shifted
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141 left or right so that its first nonblank character appears in that
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142 column. @kbd{C-x @key{TAB}} (@code{indent-rigidly}) moves all of the
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143 lines in the region right by its argument (left, for negative
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144 arguments). The whole group of lines moves rigidly sideways, which is
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145 how the command gets its name.@refill
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146
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147 @cindex remove indentation
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148 If you want to remove all indentation from all of the line in the
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149 region, invoke @kbd{C-x @key{TAB}} with a large negative argument,
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150 such as -1000.
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151
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152 @findex indent-relative
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153 @kbd{M-x indent-relative} indents at point based on the previous line
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154 (actually, the last nonempty line). It inserts whitespace at point, moving
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155 point, until it is underneath an indentation point in the previous line.
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156 An indentation point is the end of a sequence of whitespace or the end of
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157 the line. If point is farther right than any indentation point in the
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158 previous line, the whitespace before point is deleted and the first
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159 indentation point then applicable is used. If no indentation point is
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160 applicable even then, @code{indent-relative} runs @code{tab-to-tab-stop}
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161 @ifinfo
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162 (@pxref{Tab Stops}),
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163 @end ifinfo
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164 @iftex
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165 (see next section),
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166 @end iftex
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167 unless it is called with a numeric argument, in which case it does
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168 nothing.
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169
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170 @code{indent-relative} is the definition of @key{TAB} in Indented Text
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171 mode. @xref{Text}.
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172
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173 @xref{Format Indentation}, for another way of specifying the
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174 indentation for part of your text.
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175
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176 @node Tab Stops, Just Spaces, Indentation Commands, Indentation
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177 @section Tab Stops
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178
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179 @cindex tab stops
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180 @cindex using tab stops in making tables
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181 @cindex tables, indentation for
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182 @kindex M-i
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183 @findex tab-to-tab-stop
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184 For typing in tables, you can use Text mode's definition of @key{TAB},
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185 @code{tab-to-tab-stop}. This command inserts indentation before point,
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186 enough to reach the next tab stop column. If you are not in Text mode,
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187 this command can be found on the key @kbd{M-i}.
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188
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189 @findex edit-tab-stops
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190 @findex edit-tab-stops-note-changes
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191 @kindex C-c C-c @r{(Edit Tab Stops)}
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192 @vindex tab-stop-list
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193 You can specify the tab stops used by @kbd{M-i}. They are stored in a
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194 variable called @code{tab-stop-list}, as a list of column-numbers in
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195 increasing order.
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196
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197 The convenient way to set the tab stops is with @kbd{M-x
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198 edit-tab-stops}, which creates and selects a buffer containing a
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199 description of the tab stop settings. You can edit this buffer to
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200 specify different tab stops, and then type @kbd{C-c C-c} to make those
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201 new tab stops take effect. @code{edit-tab-stops} records which buffer
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202 was current when you invoked it, and stores the tab stops back in that
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203 buffer; normally all buffers share the same tab stops and changing them
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204 in one buffer affects all, but if you happen to make
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205 @code{tab-stop-list} local in one buffer then @code{edit-tab-stops} in
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206 that buffer will edit the local settings.
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207
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208 Here is what the text representing the tab stops looks like for ordinary
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209 tab stops every eight columns.
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210
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211 @example
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212 : : : : : :
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213 0 1 2 3 4
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214 0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678
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215 To install changes, type C-c C-c
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216 @end example
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217
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218 The first line contains a colon at each tab stop. The remaining lines
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219 are present just to help you see where the colons are and know what to do.
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220
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221 Note that the tab stops that control @code{tab-to-tab-stop} have nothing
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222 to do with displaying tab characters in the buffer. @xref{Display Custom},
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223 for more information on that.
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224
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225 @node Just Spaces,, Tab Stops, Indentation
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226 @section Tabs vs. Spaces
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227
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228 @vindex indent-tabs-mode
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229 Emacs normally uses both tabs and spaces to indent lines. If you
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230 prefer, all indentation can be made from spaces only. To request
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231 this, set @code{indent-tabs-mode} to @code{nil}. This is a per-buffer
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232 variable, so altering the variable affects only the current buffer,
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233 but there is a default value which you can change as well.
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234 @xref{Locals}.
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235
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236 A tab is not always displayed in the same way. By default, tabs are
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237 eight columns wide, but some people like to customize their tools to
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238 use a different tab width. So by using spaces only, you can make sure
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239 that your file looks the same regardless of the tab width setting.
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240
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241 @findex tabify
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242 @findex untabify
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243 There are also commands to convert tabs to spaces or vice versa, always
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244 preserving the columns of all nonblank text. @kbd{M-x tabify} scans the
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245 region for sequences of spaces, and converts sequences of at least three
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246 spaces to tabs if that can be done without changing indentation. @kbd{M-x
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247 untabify} changes all tabs in the region to appropriate numbers of spaces.
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248
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249 @ignore
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250 arch-tag: acc07de7-ae11-4ee8-a159-cb59c473f0fb
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251 @end ignore