Re: Tab problem

[Kai Grossjohann <kai@emptydomain.de>]

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