Tabs in VI

[Thomas Mitchell]

>} :set tabstop=8.  After setting the tabstop to zero, tabs are 8 long,

One thing I found was that for many terminals the command to clear
the tabs in termcap and terminfo was missing or wrong.  These
were AT&T as well as UCB files.  In fact a termcap application
note from a terminal manufacturer had the same error.

The result is that the editor attempts to reset the tabs --
thinks it has, but the terminal still has it wrong.  Then the I/O
update routines emit a tab char to be at a specific column but lo
the terminal still has the tab stops set in all the wrong places.

This produces some real junk with FORTRAN and COBOL modes.  

(Up on the Soap Box)
In general I hate what most people do with tabs.  On a typewriter
a tab is a tab stop (this is cool).  In a machine file a tab is
an ASCII character.  In the context of input it may be simple to
know what is expected.  Later on output it becomes tough to keep
a family of programs tracking on this same intent (not cool).
(Down from the Soap Box)

Thanks for your time,




-- 
Thomas P. Mitchell (mitch at stride1.Stride.COM)
Phone: (702)322-6868	TWX: 910-395-6073	FAX: (702)322-7975
MicroSage Computer Systems Inc.
Opinions expressed are probably mine.