Python indentation support

Zeev Atlas

I am not sure whether this is the correct place to post this. I am current in Notepad++ (7.7.1) and despite assertion to the contrary, indentation in .py files (Python), still defaults to tabs rather than to 4 spaces.
What do I miss?
ZA

Ekopalypse

@Zeev-Atlas

I’ve just download a fresh zip, unpacked it a nd tested it.
Python indentation was done using 4 spaces.

Could it be that your expectation was that tabs in existing code gets automatically
converted into spaces?
If so, no, this doesn’t happen and if you copy/paste source into a python document,
tabs don’t get converted either.

Alan Kilborn

@Zeev-Atlas

I don’t know if this is the case for you, but I’d suspect that if you update from an existing version that has tabs as the default, upgrading to a very recent version where spaces are the default…doesn’t change the setting for you (it keeps what you had). Only brand new installs would get the spaces behavior. Or I’m wrong.

Alan Kilborn

Regarding this:

if you copy/paste source into a python document,
tabs don’t get converted either.

…if that’s a key point of interest, then this thread may contain good info:

https://notepad-plus-plus.org/community/topic/17688/shouldn-t-paste-be-made-respecting-correct-space-at-least-preference

Zeev Atlas

I did not expect existing files with tabs to convert, but I expected something like (in an absolutely new file:)

class a1
…x=1 # Here I typed four spaces, the dots represent spaces <enter>
Here notepad++ did a tab, but I expected four spaces

I suspect that Alan is correct in saying “but I’d suspect that if you update from an existing version that has tabs as the default, upgrading to a very recent version where spaces are the default…doesn’t change the setting for you (it keeps what you had). Only brand new installs would get the spaces behavior.”

Is there a way to change the default short of totally uninstalling notepad++ and reinstalling?
Thanks
ZA

guy038

Hi, @zeev-atlas, @ekopalypse, @alan-kilborn and All,

May be I’ll be totally wrong, but why not use the indentation preferences, in Notepad++ Settings ?

Among my multiple N++ local versions, the last one, where I installed the Python plugin, is the v7.6.3 version.

After a quick test, in a new Python file, I confirm that hitting the TAB key wrote a tabulation char ( \x09 ), as mentioned by @zeev-atlas !

Now :

Go to Settings > Preferences... > Language > Tab Settings
Select the Python item, near the end of the drop-down list
Untick the use default value option
Verify that the tab size value is 4
Tick the Replace by space option
Click to the Close button to valid the changes close the Preferences dialog

=> From now on, any hit on the TAB key will write, automatically, 4 spaces as leading indentation ;-))

Again, I may have completely misunderstood the problem !

Best Regards,

guy038

Ekopalypse

@guy038

no you are not wrong, as of npp 7.7 the standard, for python, is to use spaces instead of tabs.

Alan Kilborn

@guy038

The original complaint was that Notepad++ (7.7.1) ... indentation in .py files (Python), still defaults to tabs rather than to 4 spaces

And this is simply not true. Notepad++ 7.7.1 defaults .py file indentation to spaces, not tabs.

Sure, it is easily changeable, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about what it defaults to.

richard turner

Thanks for all the tips mentioned in this article! it’s always good to read things you have heard before and are implementing, but from a different perspective, always pick up some extra bits of information.

Alan Kilborn

@richard-turner

Your posting in this thread is OK, but your profile points in the other direction. Tread lightly.