tab-always-indent

tab-always-indent

[Robert Thorpe]

The documentation to tab-always-indent seems confusing to me.
It says:-
"*Controls the operation of the TAB key.
If t, hitting TAB always just indents the current line.
If nil, hitting TAB indents the current line if point is at the left margin
  or in the line's indentation, otherwise it insert a `real' tab character."

This is the behaviour in text modes, it's very often not the behaviour
in program modes.

In many progmodes there are analogous variables to
tab-always-indent like c-tab-always-indent.  In other progmodes
the feature more-or-less isn't there (eg lisp, scheme, prolog).

I think the doc should mention that it isn't a progmode feature.

Rob

Re: tab-always-indent

[Johan Bockgård]

"Robert Thorpe" <rthorpe@realworldtech.com> writes:

> I think the doc should mention that it isn't a progmode feature.

I think that modes should set `indent-line-function' and *not* rebind
the TAB key!

-- 
Johan Bockgård

Re: tab-always-indent

[Richard Stallman]

    I think that modes should set `indent-line-function' and *not* rebind
    the TAB key!

Maybe you are right, but rebinding TAB has been our standard practice
since the beginning.  I don't think we should consider changing this
now.

Re: tab-always-indent

[Robert Thorpe]

>     I think that modes should set `indent-line-function' and *not* rebind
>     the TAB key!
>
> Maybe you are right, but rebinding TAB has been our standard practice
> since the beginning.  I don't think we should consider changing this
> now.

How about just adding a couple of lines to the docs, that should clear up 
some confusion.

*** indent.el   Fri Dec 15 16:53:48 2006
--- indent1.el  Fri Dec 15 16:56:35 2006
***************
*** 50,56 ****
    "*Controls the operation of the TAB key.
  If t, hitting TAB always just indents the current line.
  If nil, hitting TAB indents the current line if point is at the left margin
!   or in the line's indentation, otherwise it insert a \"real\" tab character."

    :group 'indent
    :type '(choice (const nil) (const t) (const always)))

--- 50,58 ----
    "*Controls the operation of the TAB key.
  If t, hitting TAB always just indents the current line.
  If nil, hitting TAB indents the current line if point is at the left margin
!   or in the line's indentation, otherwise it insert a \"real\" tab character.
! Most programming language modes have an equivalent variable, e.g.
! c-tab-always-indent, and do not respect this variable."
    :group 'indent
    :type '(choice (const nil) (const t) (const always)))


Rob