NAME

       textutil::tabify - Procedures to (un)tabify strings

SYNOPSIS

       package require Tcl  8.2

       package require textutil::tabify  ?0.7?

       ::textutil::tabify::tabify string ?num?

       ::textutil::tabify::tabify2 string ?num?

       ::textutil::tabify::untabify string ?num?

       ::textutil::tabify::untabify2 string ?num?

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DESCRIPTION

       The  package  textutil::tabify  provides  commands  that  convert  between  tabulation and
       ordinary whitespace in strings.

       The complete set of procedures is described below.

       ::textutil::tabify::tabify string ?num?
              Tabify the string by replacing any substring of num space chars by a tabulation and
              return the result as a new string. num defaults to 8.

       ::textutil::tabify::tabify2 string ?num?
              Similar  to  ::textutil::tabify  this  command  tabifies the string and returns the
              result as a new string. A different algorithm is used however. Instead of replacing
              any substring of num spaces this command works more like an editor. num defaults to
              8.

              Each line of the text in string is treated as  if  there  are  tabstops  every  num
              columns.  Only  sequences  of  space  characters  containing  more  than  one space
              character and found immediately before a tabstop are replaced with tabs.

       ::textutil::tabify::untabify string ?num?
              Untabify the string by replacing any tabulation char by a substring  of  num  space
              chars and return the result as a new string. num defaults to 8.

       ::textutil::tabify::untabify2 string ?num?
              Untabify  the string by replacing any tabulation char by a substring of at most num
              space   chars   and   return   the    result    as    a    new    string.    Unlike
              textutil::tabify::untabify  each  tab  is  not  replaced by a fixed number of space
              characters.  The command overlays each line in the string with tabstops  every  num
              columns  instead  and  replaces tabs with just enough space characters to reach the
              next   tabstop.   This   is   the   complement   of   the    actions    taken    by
              ::textutil::tabify::tabify2. num defaults to 8.

              There  is  one asymmetry though: A tab can be replaced with a single space, but not
              the other way around.

BUGS, IDEAS, FEEDBACK

       This document, and the package it describes,  will  undoubtedly  contain  bugs  and  other
       problems.    Please   report  such  in  the  category  textutil  of  the  Tcllib  Trackers
       [http://core.tcl.tk/tcllib/reportlist].  Please also report any ideas for enhancements you
       may have for either package and/or documentation.

       When proposing code changes, please provide unified diffs, i.e the output of diff -u.

       Note further that attachments are strongly preferred over inlined patches. Attachments can
       be made by going to the Edit form of the ticket immediately after its creation,  and  then
       using the left-most button in the secondary navigation bar.

SEE ALSO

       regexp(3tcl), split(3tcl), string(3tcl)

KEYWORDS

       formatting, string, tabstops

CATEGORY

       Text processing