View source for How to set up tab spaces

This page will describe how to set up certain IDEs and Text Editors to not use the default tab character (\t) when the Tab key is pressed and instead use a predefined number of regular space characters instead.  This is useful because when importing/exporting to different editors and/or platforms these tab characters can be read differently causing code to not be displayed in it's original intended form


==Notepad++ v5.6.6==
<i>This part uses Notepad++ v5.6.6 to set up tab spaces.  Other versions should still be similar.</i>
<br />To change the default action of the tab key:

<ol>
   <li>Click on the <b>Settings</b> menu</li>
   <li>Select <b>Preferences</b></li>
   <li>Go to the <b>Language Menu/Tab Settings</b> tab</li>
   <li>Make sure <b>[Default]</b> is selected in the rightmost list</li>
   <li>At The bottom right, click the blue underlined number beside the <b>Tab size:</b></li>
   <li>Press 3, and press enter</li>
   <li>Check <b>Replace by space</b></li>
   <li>Click <b>Close</b></li>
</ol>

This should set up all newly opened documents to insert 3 spaces when the Tab key is pressed instead of the default \t.



==Visual Studio==
<i>Comfirmed to work for Visual Studio 2008/2010.  Should be the same for 2005 aswell</i>
<br />To change the default action of the tab key:

<ol>
   <li>Click on the <b>Tools</b> menu</li>
   <li>Select <b>Options...</b></li>
   <li>Click the <b>+</b> beside <b>Text Editor</b></li>
   <li>Click the <b>+</b> beside <b>All Languages</b> (or whatever language you want)</li>
   <li>Select <b>Tabs</b></li>
   <li>Type 3 for both <b>Tab size:</b> and <b>Indent size:</b></li>
   <li>Select the <b>Insert spaces</b> radio button</li>
   <li>Press Ok</li>
</ol>

This should set up all newly opened documents to insert 3 spaces when the Tab key is pressed instead of the default \t.

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