@c This is part of the Emacs manual.@c Copyright (C) 1985, 86, 87, 93, 94, 95, 1997 Free Software Foundation, Inc.@c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.@node Indentation, Text, Major Modes, Top@chapter Indentation@cindex indentation@cindex columns (indentation) This chapter describes the Emacs commands that add, remove, oradjust indentation.@c WideCommands@table @kbd@item @key{TAB}Indent the current line ``appropriately'' in a mode-dependent fashion.@item @kbd{C-j}Perform @key{RET} followed by @key{TAB} (@code{newline-and-indent}).@item M-^Merge the previous and the current line (@code{delete-indentation}).This would cancel out the effect of @kbd{C-j}.@item C-M-oSplit the current line at point; text on the line after point becomes anew line indented to the same column where point is located(@code{split-line}).@item M-mMove (forward or back) to the first nonblank character on the currentline (@code{back-to-indentation}).@item C-M-\Indent several lines to the same column (@code{indent-region}).@item C-x @key{TAB}Shift a block of lines rigidly right or left (@code{indent-rigidly}).@item M-iIndent from point to the next prespecified tab stop column(@code{tab-to-tab-stop}).@item M-x indent-relativeIndent from point to under an indentation point in the previous line.@end table Most programming languages have some indentation convention. For Lispcode, lines are indented according to their nesting in parentheses. Thesame general idea is used for C code, though many details are different.@kindex TAB Whatever the language, to indent a line, use the @key{TAB} command. Eachmajor mode defines this command to perform the sort of indentationappropriate for the particular language. In Lisp mode, @key{TAB} alignsthe line according to its depth in parentheses. No matter where in theline you are when you type @key{TAB}, it aligns the line as a whole. In Cmode, @key{TAB} implements a subtle and sophisticated indentation style thatknows about many aspects of C syntax. In Text mode, @key{TAB} runs the command @code{tab-to-tab-stop}, whichindents to the next tab stop column. You can set the tab stops with@kbd{M-x edit-tab-stops}. Normally, @key{TAB} inserts an optimal mix of tabs and spaces forthe intended indentation. @xref{Just Spaces}, for how to prevent useof tabs.@menu* Indentation Commands:: Various commands and techniques for indentation.* Tab Stops:: You can set arbitrary "tab stops" and then indent to the next tab stop when you want to.* Just Spaces:: You can request indentation using just spaces.@end menu@node Indentation Commands, Tab Stops, Indentation, Indentation@section Indentation Commands and Techniques@kindex M-m@findex back-to-indentation To move over the indentation on a line, do @kbd{M-m}(@code{back-to-indentation}). This command, given anywhere on a line,positions point at the first nonblank character on the line. To insert an indented line before the current line, do @kbd{C-a C-o@key{TAB}}. To make an indented line after the current line, use@kbd{C-e C-j}. If you just want to insert a tab character in the buffer, you can type@kbd{C-q @key{TAB}}.@kindex C-M-o@findex split-line @kbd{C-M-o} (@code{split-line}) moves the text from point to the end ofthe line vertically down, so that the current line becomes two lines.@kbd{C-M-o} first moves point forward over any spaces and tabs. Then itinserts after point a newline and enough indentation to reach the samecolumn point is on. Point remains before the inserted newline; in thisregard, @kbd{C-M-o} resembles @kbd{C-o}.@kindex M-^@findex delete-indentation To join two lines cleanly, use the @kbd{M-^}(@code{delete-indentation}) command. It deletes the indentation at thefront of the current line, and the line boundary as well, replacing themwith a single space. As a special case (useful for Lisp code) thesingle space is omitted if the characters to be joined are consecutiveopen parentheses or closing parentheses, or if the junction followsanother newline. To delete just the indentation of a line, go to thebeginning of the line and use @kbd{M-\}(@code{delete-horizontal-space}), which deletes all spaces and tabsaround the cursor. If you have a fill prefix, @kbd{M-^} deletes the fill prefix if itappears after the newline that is deleted. @xref{Fill Prefix}.@kindex C-M-\@kindex C-x TAB@findex indent-region@findex indent-rigidly There are also commands for changing the indentation of several linesat once. @kbd{C-M-\} (@code{indent-region}) applies to all the linesthat begin in the region; it indents each line in the ``usual'' way, asif you had typed @key{TAB} at the beginning of the line. A numericargument specifies the column to indent to, and each line is shiftedleft or right so that its first nonblank character appears in thatcolumn. @kbd{C-x @key{TAB}} (@code{indent-rigidly}) moves all of thelines in the region right by its argument (left, for negativearguments). The whole group of lines moves rigidly sideways, which ishow the command gets its name.@refill@findex indent-relative @kbd{M-x indent-relative} indents at point based on the previous line(actually, the last nonempty line). It inserts whitespace at point, movingpoint, until it is underneath an indentation point in the previous line.An indentation point is the end of a sequence of whitespace or the end ofthe line. If point is farther right than any indentation point in theprevious line, the whitespace before point is deleted and the firstindentation point then applicable is used. If no indentation point isapplicable even then, @code{indent-relative} runs @code{tab-to-tab-stop}@ifinfo(@pxref{Tab Stops}),@end ifinfo@iftex(see next section),@end iftexunless it is called with a numeric argument, in which case it doesnothing. @code{indent-relative} is the definition of @key{TAB} in Indented Textmode. @xref{Text}. @xref{Format Indentation}, for another way of specifying theindentation for part of your text.@node Tab Stops, Just Spaces, Indentation Commands, Indentation@section Tab Stops@cindex tab stops @cindex using tab stops in making tables@cindex tables, indentation for@kindex M-i@findex tab-to-tab-stop For typing in tables, you can use Text mode's definition of @key{TAB},@code{tab-to-tab-stop}. This command inserts indentation before point,enough to reach the next tab stop column. If you are not in Text mode,this command can be found on the key @kbd{M-i}.@findex edit-tab-stops@findex edit-tab-stops-note-changes@kindex C-c C-c @r{(Edit Tab Stops)}@vindex tab-stop-list You can specify the tab stops used by @kbd{M-i}. They are stored in avariable called @code{tab-stop-list}, as a list of column-numbers inincreasing order. The convenient way to set the tab stops is with @kbd{M-xedit-tab-stops}, which creates and selects a buffer containing adescription of the tab stop settings. You can edit this buffer tospecify different tab stops, and then type @kbd{C-c C-c} to make thosenew tab stops take effect. @code{edit-tab-stops} records which bufferwas current when you invoked it, and stores the tab stops back in thatbuffer; normally all buffers share the same tab stops and changing themin one buffer affects all, but if you happen to make@code{tab-stop-list} local in one buffer then @code{edit-tab-stops} inthat buffer will edit the local settings. Here is what the text representing the tab stops looks like for ordinarytab stops every eight columns.@example : : : : : :0 1 2 3 40123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678To install changes, type C-c C-c@end example The first line contains a colon at each tab stop. The remaining linesare present just to help you see where the colons are and know what to do. Note that the tab stops that control @code{tab-to-tab-stop} have nothingto do with displaying tab characters in the buffer. @xref{Display Custom},for more information on that.@node Just Spaces,, Tab Stops, Indentation@section Tabs vs. Spaces@vindex indent-tabs-mode Emacs normally uses both tabs and spaces to indent lines. If youprefer, all indentation can be made from spaces only. To requestthis, set @code{indent-tabs-mode} to @code{nil}. This is a per-buffervariable, so altering the variable affects only the current buffer,but there is a default value which you can change as well.@xref{Locals}.@findex tabify@findex untabify There are also commands to convert tabs to spaces or vice versa, alwayspreserving the columns of all nonblank text. @kbd{M-x tabify} scans theregion for sequences of spaces, and converts sequences of at least threespaces to tabs if that can be done without changing indentation. @kbd{M-xuntabify} changes all tabs in the region to appropriate numbers of spaces.