SET TABS Sets tab stops for the buffer, the mode or effects of TAB, or the appearence of tab characters during editing. You can specify one of the following keywords per command: Keywords Effects ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AT Sets tab stops at specific columns. Values must be in ascending order, separated by spaces. For example: Command: SET TABS AT 6 14 31 EVERY (Default.) Sets tab stops at an equal interval. Default tab stops are EVERY 8 (that is, columns 9, 17, 25, 33, and so on). INSERT (Default.) TAB inserts a tab character, pushing the cursor and and text beginning with the current character to the right. MOVEMENT TAB moves the cursor to the next tab stop without inserting anything. The cursor stays on the current line and can move into the unused portion of the buffer ("white space") even if the cursor is set to bound. Useful for moving through tab-aligned text, such as tables and multicolumn lists. SPACES TAB inserts spaces instead of a tab character, pushing the cursor and text beginning with the current character to the right. (You can erase the spaces to adjust the placement of text.) Useful if the text will be printed or displayed on devices with different tab stops. Does NOT convert existing tab characters to spaces. INVISIBLE (Default.) Tab characters appear as blank space. VISIBLE Tab characters appear as a small HT (horizontal tab). This is an editing convenience; it does not affect how tab characters appear in printing or displaying a file. Example: The following commands set tab stops every 10 columns (that is, columns 11, 21, 31, and so on), make existing tab characters visible, and make TAB insert spaces rather than a tab character: Command: SET TABS EVERY 10 Command: SET TABS VISIBLE Command: SET TABS SPACES Usage notes: o Tab stops are buffer attributes---you can set different tab stops for each buffer you edit. Changing the tab stops affects any tab characters already in the buffer, so you may see your text move to the left or right depending on how much you increase or decrease tab stops. o To find out the tab stops of the buffer, use the SHOW command, or with the WPS keypad, press the Ruler key (GOLD-R). o To set the same tab stops for all your buffers, use an initialization file (typically named EVE$INIT.EVE) containing the SET TABS AT or SET TABS EVERY command you want and use that file when you invoke EVE. See help on Initialization Files. o Settings for tab mode and visibility are global attributes, applying in to all buffers. To save your settings for future editing sessions, use SAVE ATTRIBUTES to create a section file or to create or update a command file---see help on Attributes. o Tab stops are not stored in the output file. Therefore, in printing or typing the file, tab-aligned text may not appear the same as during editing, depending on the tab stops set for the printer or display device. You may want to use the CONVERT TABS command to replace tab characters with spaces. Related topics: Attributes Defaults Ruler Keys CONVERT TABS SHOW TAB