Whenever I print a C source file, the spacing and tabs
are all messed up.I've tried to fix the formatting with
the indent program, but that makes it worse. Also, vim
doesn't seem to recognise the formatting of indent. I've
noticed also that using 'less' to view a file demonstrates
the same messed up formatting as when I print. How can I get
everything formatted properly and working together? I wished
I could tell vim to reformat according to vim C style but
don't know if it can be done. Any suggestions?
thanks,
reddog

You probably should define your tab spacing using vim's "set tabstop=n" option, where 'n' is the position where you want your tabs to, well, stop.

With respect to your existing files, which having various tab-stops, use the same option describe above to fix them. If you are still unsatisfied with the results, there are tools that you can use to beautify your code. One tool I like is "uncrustify". I believe it is available at SourceForge.

I think I got this figured out, at least sort of. In the .vimrc in the home dir, add: set expandtab
This converts tabs to spaces. Also, there is a way to reformat in Vim:
type gg=G and this reformats the entire file. I think I found this in the help for cindent. It's in there somewhere. Dang! reading the manual is
actually helpful! What I really need is to print out manual sections
or cough up the bucks for a book. The free online book has some useful
stuff but I'm thinking about Robbins' book.
best,
reddog

Hi -

You're absolutely correct:
Anyway, I'm glad you found the "set expandtab" and your files should now be consistently formatted.

CAVEAT:
- Beware editing makefiles (which rely on tabs for their rules), or source-controlled source files (where expanding tabs can result in massive "diff's").