comparison man/indent.texi @ 25829:ac7e9e5e2ccb

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author Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
date Wed, 29 Sep 1999 15:17:24 +0000
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1 @c This is part of the Emacs manual.
2 @c Copyright (C) 1985, 86, 87, 93, 94, 95, 1997 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
4 @node Indentation, Text, Major Modes, Top
5 @chapter Indentation
6 @cindex indentation
7 @cindex columns (indentation)
8
9 This chapter describes the Emacs commands that add, remove, or
10 adjust indentation.
11
12 @c WideCommands
13 @table @kbd
14 @item @key{TAB}
15 Indent current line ``appropriately'' in a mode-dependent fashion.
16 @item @kbd{C-j}
17 Perform @key{RET} followed by @key{TAB} (@code{newline-and-indent}).
18 @item M-^
19 Merge two lines (@code{delete-indentation}). This would cancel out
20 the effect of @kbd{C-j}.
21 @item C-M-o
22 Split line at point; text on the line after point becomes a new line
23 indented to the same column that it now starts in (@code{split-line}).
24 @item M-m
25 Move (forward or back) to the first nonblank character on the current
26 line (@code{back-to-indentation}).
27 @item C-M-\
28 Indent several lines to same column (@code{indent-region}).
29 @item C-x @key{TAB}
30 Shift block of lines rigidly right or left (@code{indent-rigidly}).
31 @item M-i
32 Indent from point to the next prespecified tab stop column
33 (@code{tab-to-tab-stop}).
34 @item M-x indent-relative
35 Indent from point to under an indentation point in the previous line.
36 @end table
37
38 Most programming languages have some indentation convention. For Lisp
39 code, lines are indented according to their nesting in parentheses. The
40 same general idea is used for C code, though many details are different.
41
42 @kindex TAB
43 Whatever the language, to indent a line, use the @key{TAB} command. Each
44 major mode defines this command to perform the sort of indentation
45 appropriate for the particular language. In Lisp mode, @key{TAB} aligns
46 the line according to its depth in parentheses. No matter where in the
47 line you are when you type @key{TAB}, it aligns the line as a whole. In C
48 mode, @key{TAB} implements a subtle and sophisticated indentation style that
49 knows about many aspects of C syntax.
50
51 In Text mode, @key{TAB} runs the command @code{tab-to-tab-stop}, which
52 indents to the next tab stop column. You can set the tab stops with
53 @kbd{M-x edit-tab-stops}.
54
55 @menu
56 * Indentation Commands:: Various commands and techniques for indentation.
57 * Tab Stops:: You can set arbitrary "tab stops" and then
58 indent to the next tab stop when you want to.
59 * Just Spaces:: You can request indentation using just spaces.
60 @end menu
61
62 @node Indentation Commands, Tab Stops, Indentation, Indentation
63 @section Indentation Commands and Techniques
64
65 @kindex M-m
66 @findex back-to-indentation
67 To move over the indentation on a line, do @kbd{M-m}
68 (@code{back-to-indentation}). This command, given anywhere on a line,
69 positions point at the first nonblank character on the line.
70
71 To insert an indented line before the current line, do @kbd{C-a C-o
72 @key{TAB}}. To make an indented line after the current line, use
73 @kbd{C-e C-j}.
74
75 If you just want to insert a tab character in the buffer, you can type
76 @kbd{C-q @key{TAB}}.
77
78 @kindex C-M-o
79 @findex split-line
80 @kbd{C-M-o} (@code{split-line}) moves the text from point to the end of
81 the line vertically down, so that the current line becomes two lines.
82 @kbd{C-M-o} first moves point forward over any spaces and tabs. Then it
83 inserts after point a newline and enough indentation to reach the same
84 column point is on. Point remains before the inserted newline; in this
85 regard, @kbd{C-M-o} resembles @kbd{C-o}.
86
87 @kindex M-^
88 @findex delete-indentation
89 To join two lines cleanly, use the @kbd{M-^}
90 (@code{delete-indentation}) command. It deletes the indentation at the
91 front of the current line, and the line boundary as well, replacing them
92 with a single space. As a special case (useful for Lisp code) the
93 single space is omitted if the characters to be joined are consecutive
94 open parentheses or closing parentheses, or if the junction follows
95 another newline. To delete just the indentation of a line, go to the
96 beginning of the line and use @kbd{M-\}
97 (@code{delete-horizontal-space}), which deletes all spaces and tabs
98 around the cursor.
99
100 If you have a fill prefix, @kbd{M-^} deletes the fill prefix if it
101 appears after the newline that is deleted. @xref{Fill Prefix}.
102
103 @kindex C-M-\
104 @kindex C-x TAB
105 @findex indent-region
106 @findex indent-rigidly
107 There are also commands for changing the indentation of several lines
108 at once. @kbd{C-M-\} (@code{indent-region}) applies to all the lines
109 that begin in the region; it indents each line in the ``usual'' way, as
110 if you had typed @key{TAB} at the beginning of the line. A numeric
111 argument specifies the column to indent to, and each line is shifted
112 left or right so that its first nonblank character appears in that
113 column. @kbd{C-x @key{TAB}} (@code{indent-rigidly}) moves all of the
114 lines in the region right by its argument (left, for negative
115 arguments). The whole group of lines moves rigidly sideways, which is
116 how the command gets its name.@refill
117
118 @findex indent-relative
119 @kbd{M-x indent-relative} indents at point based on the previous line
120 (actually, the last nonempty line). It inserts whitespace at point, moving
121 point, until it is underneath an indentation point in the previous line.
122 An indentation point is the end of a sequence of whitespace or the end of
123 the line. If point is farther right than any indentation point in the
124 previous line, the whitespace before point is deleted and the first
125 indentation point then applicable is used. If no indentation point is
126 applicable even then, @code{indent-relative} runs @code{tab-to-tab-stop}
127 @ifinfo
128 (@pxref{Tab Stops}).
129 @end ifinfo
130 @iftex
131 (see next section).
132 @end iftex
133
134 @code{indent-relative} is the definition of @key{TAB} in Indented Text
135 mode. @xref{Text}.
136
137 @xref{Format Indentation}, for another way of specifying the
138 indentation for part of your text.
139
140 @node Tab Stops, Just Spaces, Indentation Commands, Indentation
141 @section Tab Stops
142
143 @cindex tab stops
144 @cindex using tab stops in making tables
145 @cindex tables, indentation for
146 @kindex M-i
147 @findex tab-to-tab-stop
148 For typing in tables, you can use Text mode's definition of @key{TAB},
149 @code{tab-to-tab-stop}. This command inserts indentation before point,
150 enough to reach the next tab stop column. If you are not in Text mode,
151 this command can be found on the key @kbd{M-i}.
152
153 @findex edit-tab-stops
154 @findex edit-tab-stops-note-changes
155 @kindex C-c C-c @r{(Edit Tab Stops)}
156 @vindex tab-stop-list
157 You can specify the tab stops used by @kbd{M-i}. They are stored in a
158 variable called @code{tab-stop-list}, as a list of column-numbers in
159 increasing order.
160
161 The convenient way to set the tab stops is with @kbd{M-x
162 edit-tab-stops}, which creates and selects a buffer containing a
163 description of the tab stop settings. You can edit this buffer to
164 specify different tab stops, and then type @kbd{C-c C-c} to make those
165 new tab stops take effect. @code{edit-tab-stops} records which buffer
166 was current when you invoked it, and stores the tab stops back in that
167 buffer; normally all buffers share the same tab stops and changing them
168 in one buffer affects all, but if you happen to make
169 @code{tab-stop-list} local in one buffer then @code{edit-tab-stops} in
170 that buffer will edit the local settings.
171
172 Here is what the text representing the tab stops looks like for ordinary
173 tab stops every eight columns.
174
175 @example
176 : : : : : :
177 0 1 2 3 4
178 0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678
179 To install changes, type C-c C-c
180 @end example
181
182 The first line contains a colon at each tab stop. The remaining lines
183 are present just to help you see where the colons are and know what to do.
184
185 Note that the tab stops that control @code{tab-to-tab-stop} have nothing
186 to do with displaying tab characters in the buffer. @xref{Display Vars},
187 for more information on that.
188
189 @node Just Spaces,, Tab Stops, Indentation
190 @section Tabs vs. Spaces
191
192 @vindex indent-tabs-mode
193 Emacs normally uses both tabs and spaces to indent lines. If you prefer,
194 all indentation can be made from spaces only. To request this, set
195 @code{indent-tabs-mode} to @code{nil}. This is a per-buffer variable;
196 altering the variable affects only the current buffer, but there is a
197 default value which you can change as well. @xref{Locals}.
198
199 @findex tabify
200 @findex untabify
201 There are also commands to convert tabs to spaces or vice versa, always
202 preserving the columns of all nonblank text. @kbd{M-x tabify} scans the
203 region for sequences of spaces, and converts sequences of at least three
204 spaces to tabs if that can be done without changing indentation. @kbd{M-x
205 untabify} changes all tabs in the region to appropriate numbers of spaces.