changeset 51145:4e1075214fa7

(Indentation): Explain the concepts. (Just Spaces): Explain why preventing tabs for indentation might be useful.

--- a/man/ChangeLog	Thu May 22 13:38:44 2003 +0000
+++ b/man/ChangeLog	Thu May 22 14:53:58 2003 +0000
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
[phone]  Kai Gro,A_(Bjohann  <[e-mail]>
+
+	* indent.texi (Indentation): Explain the concepts.
+	(Just Spaces): Explain why preventing tabs for indentation might
+	be useful.
+
 2003-05-03  Glenn Morris  <[e-mail]>
 
 	* faq.texi: Improve previous changes.

--- a/man/indent.texi	Thu May 22 13:38:44 2003 +0000
+++ b/man/indent.texi	Thu May 22 14:53:58 2003 +0000
@@ -35,10 +35,56 @@
 Indent from point to under an indentation point in the previous line.
 @end table
 
+  Emacs supports four general categories of operations that could all
+be called `indentation':
+
+@enumerate
+@item
+The most simple operation is to just insert a tab character.  This
+operation does not have a convenient key binding, because it is
+subsumed by the more general operation described next.  But you can use
+@kbd{C-q @key{TAB}} to insert a literal tab character.
+
+A tab character is displayed as a stretch of whitespace which extends
+to the next display tab stop position, and the default width of a tab
+stop is eight.  @xref{Display Custom}, for more details.
+
+@item
+Emacs also supports tab stops.  You can set them at arbitrary
+positions, and then use @kbd{M-i} to advance to the next tab stop.  The
+default tab stop list contains positions (columns) that are a multiple
+of eight, and so the effect of @kbd{M-i} is the same as that of
+@kbd{C-q @key{TAB}} in the default case.
+
+You can set the tab stops with @kbd{M-x edit-tab-stops}.
+
+@item
+You can align successive lines with each other.  This is called
+@dfn{relative indentation} in Emacs and is performed by the command
+@kbd{M-x indent-relative}.  The effect is best shown by an example:
+@example
+This shows the effect of relative indentation.
+^    ^     ^   ^      ^  ^        ^
+@end example
+The positions for the @code{^} characters on the second line were
+obtained using @kbd{M-x indent-relative}.
+
+In Fundamental mode and in Text mode, @key{TAB} runs the command
+@code{indent-relative}.
+
+@item
+The most sophisticated method is called @dfn{syntax-driven indentation}
+and is the default behavior of the @key{TAB} key in Emacs.
+
   Most programming languages have some indentation convention.  For Lisp
 code, lines are indented according to their nesting in parentheses.  The
 same general idea is used for C code, though many details are different.
 
+  For some languages, different kinds of indentation styles are
+commonly used.  Emacs accomodates this by allowing users to customize
+the indentation.  For example, see @ref{Customizing Indentation,,,ccmode},
+for a description of these facilities for the C language.
+
 @kindex TAB
   Whatever the language, to indent a line, use the @key{TAB} command.  Each
 major mode defines this command to perform the sort of indentation
@@ -48,13 +94,20 @@
 mode, @key{TAB} implements a subtle and sophisticated indentation style that
 knows about many aspects of C syntax.
 
-  In Text mode, @key{TAB} runs the command @code{tab-to-tab-stop}, which
-indents to the next tab stop column.  You can set the tab stops with
-@kbd{M-x edit-tab-stops}.
+@end enumerate
+
+  Normally, all of the above methods insert an optimal mix of tabs and
+spaces for the needed indentation.  @xref{Just Spaces}, for how to
+prevent use of tabs.  However, the first method (@kbd{C-q @key{TAB}})
+always inserts a tab, even if you prevented their use.
 
-  Normally, @key{TAB} inserts an optimal mix of tabs and spaces for
-the intended indentation.  @xref{Just Spaces}, for how to prevent use
-of tabs.
+@c   In Text mode, @key{TAB} runs the command @code{tab-to-tab-stop}, which
+@c indents to the next tab stop column.  You can set the tab stops with
+@c @kbd{M-x edit-tab-stops}.
+
+@c   Normally, @key{TAB} inserts an optimal mix of tabs and spaces for
+@c the intended indentation.  @xref{Just Spaces}, for how to prevent use
+@c of tabs.
 
 @menu
 * Indentation Commands::  Various commands and techniques for indentation.
@@ -208,6 +261,11 @@
 but there is a default value which you can change as well.
 @xref{Locals}.
 
+  A tab is not always displayed in the same way.  By default, tabs are
+eight columns wide, but some people like to customize their tools to
+use a different tab width.  So by using spaces only, you can make sure
+that your file looks the same regardless of the tab width setting.
+
 @findex tabify
 @findex untabify
   There are also commands to convert tabs to spaces or vice versa, always