Re: Tab problem

[Nick Chorley <nick@nospam.xyphias.com>]

Kai Grossjohann wrote:
> Nick Chorley <nick@nospam.xyphias.com> writes:
> 
> 
>>I have a problem with Emacs which is that I can't seem to enter more 
>>than 1 tab when in C++/Java mode (it does do the automatic indentation 
>>like when you're using if statements though). When in the "normal" text 
>>editing mode, I can't enter any tabs.
> 
> 
> Can you show why you need it?  The responses you get might be
> unexpected and might give you some insight in how to use Emacs better.
> 
> For example, if you wish to enter more tabs for indentation, then you
> act against Emacs' syntax-driven indenting code.  Using syntax-driven
> indentation is a most valuable tool in finding typos.  (A forgotten
> "}" will show up real quick because after that "}" the indentation is
> all wrong.)
> 
> As another example, if you wish to enter tabs to align code, then you
> might be happy with marking the lines to align and then typing M-x
> align RET.  This will produce things like:
> 
>     int   x        = 3;
>     float longname = 3.14;
> 
> Cool, isn't it?
> 
> You can always type M-i to advance to the next tab stop.  Advancing to
> the next tab stop does not always equate to inserting a tab character,
> but it's related.
> 
> Kai
> 
> 
> 
> 

It was mainly so I could put comments in without simply entering a load 
of spaces. Apart from that, well, I don't like the way it indents things 
like switch statements (ie. the case x: bits go right underneath the 
word switch, instead of being indented a bit, if you see what I mean). 
There were a few other things too, but I've got it sorted now.

Thanks though :).

Nick