Auto-indent spaces with C in vim

Question

I ve been somewhat spoiled using Eclipse and java   I started using vim to do C coding in a linux environment  is there a way to have vim automatically do the proper spacing for blocks     So after typing a   the next line will have 2 spaces indented in  and a return on that line will keep it at the same indentation  and a   will shift back 2 spaces

User · Accepted Answer

These two commands should do it    set autoindent  set cindent   For bonus points put them in a file named  vimrc located in your home directory on linux

User · Answer

I think the best answer is actually explained on the vim wikia   http   vim wikia com wiki Indenting source code  Note that it advises against using  set autoindent    The best feature of all I find in this explanation is being able to set per-file settings  which is especially useful if you program in python and C    for example  as you d want 4 spaces for tabs in the former and 2 for spaces in the latter

User · Answer

and always remember this venerable explanation of Spaces   Tabs   http   www jwz org doc tabs-vs-spaces html

User · Answer

and always remember this venerable explanation of Spaces   Tabs   http   www jwz org doc tabs-vs-spaces html

User · Answer

and always remember this venerable explanation of Spaces   Tabs   http   www jwz org doc tabs-vs-spaces html

User · Answer

Simply run   user host     echo set autoindent  gt  gt   vimrc

User · Answer

A lot of vim s features  like autoindent and cindent  are turned off by default   To really see what vim can do for you  you need a decent    vimrc   A good starter one is in  VIMRUNTIME vimrc example vim   If you want to try it out  use   source  VIMRUNTIME vimrc example vim   when in vim     I d actually suggest just copying the contents to your    vimrc as it s well commented  and a good place to start learning how to use vim   You can do this by   e  VIMRUNTIME vimrc example vim  w     vimrc   This will overwrite your current    vimrc  but if all you have in there is the indent settings Davr suggested  I wouldn t sweat it  as the example vimrc will take care of that for you as well   For a complete walkthrough of the example  and what it does for you  see  help vimrc-intro

User · Answer

Try   set sw 2  set ts 2  set smartindent

User · Answer

I wrote all about tabs in vim  which gives a few interesting things you didn t ask about  To automatically indent braces  use    set cindent   To indent two spaces  instead of one tab of eight spaces  the vim default     set shiftwidth 2   To keep vim from converting eight spaces into tabs    set expandtab   If you ever want to change the indentation of a block of text  use  lt  and  gt   I usually use this in conjunction with block-select mode  v  select a block of text   lt  or  gt      I d try to talk you out of using two-space indentation  since I  and most other people  find it hard to read  but that s another discussion

User · Answer

A lot of vim s features  like autoindent and cindent  are turned off by default   To really see what vim can do for you  you need a decent    vimrc   A good starter one is in  VIMRUNTIME vimrc example vim   If you want to try it out  use   source  VIMRUNTIME vimrc example vim   when in vim     I d actually suggest just copying the contents to your    vimrc as it s well commented  and a good place to start learning how to use vim   You can do this by   e  VIMRUNTIME vimrc example vim  w     vimrc   This will overwrite your current    vimrc  but if all you have in there is the indent settings Davr suggested  I wouldn t sweat it  as the example vimrc will take care of that for you as well   For a complete walkthrough of the example  and what it does for you  see  help vimrc-intro

User · Answer

I wrote all about tabs in vim  which gives a few interesting things you didn t ask about  To automatically indent braces  use    set cindent   To indent two spaces  instead of one tab of eight spaces  the vim default     set shiftwidth 2   To keep vim from converting eight spaces into tabs    set expandtab   If you ever want to change the indentation of a block of text  use  lt  and  gt   I usually use this in conjunction with block-select mode  v  select a block of text   lt  or  gt      I d try to talk you out of using two-space indentation  since I  and most other people  find it hard to read  but that s another discussion

User · Answer

Try   set sw 2  set ts 2  set smartindent

User · Answer

A lot of vim s features  like autoindent and cindent  are turned off by default   To really see what vim can do for you  you need a decent    vimrc   A good starter one is in  VIMRUNTIME vimrc example vim   If you want to try it out  use   source  VIMRUNTIME vimrc example vim   when in vim     I d actually suggest just copying the contents to your    vimrc as it s well commented  and a good place to start learning how to use vim   You can do this by   e  VIMRUNTIME vimrc example vim  w     vimrc   This will overwrite your current    vimrc  but if all you have in there is the indent settings Davr suggested  I wouldn t sweat it  as the example vimrc will take care of that for you as well   For a complete walkthrough of the example  and what it does for you  see  help vimrc-intro

User · Answer

I wrote all about tabs in vim  which gives a few interesting things you didn t ask about  To automatically indent braces  use    set cindent   To indent two spaces  instead of one tab of eight spaces  the vim default     set shiftwidth 2   To keep vim from converting eight spaces into tabs    set expandtab   If you ever want to change the indentation of a block of text  use  lt  and  gt   I usually use this in conjunction with block-select mode  v  select a block of text   lt  or  gt      I d try to talk you out of using two-space indentation  since I  and most other people  find it hard to read  but that s another discussion

User · Answer

Try   set sw 2  set ts 2  set smartindent

User · Answer

A lot of vim s features  like autoindent and cindent  are turned off by default   To really see what vim can do for you  you need a decent    vimrc   A good starter one is in  VIMRUNTIME vimrc example vim   If you want to try it out  use   source  VIMRUNTIME vimrc example vim   when in vim     I d actually suggest just copying the contents to your    vimrc as it s well commented  and a good place to start learning how to use vim   You can do this by   e  VIMRUNTIME vimrc example vim  w     vimrc   This will overwrite your current    vimrc  but if all you have in there is the indent settings Davr suggested  I wouldn t sweat it  as the example vimrc will take care of that for you as well   For a complete walkthrough of the example  and what it does for you  see  help vimrc-intro

User · Answer

I think the best answer is actually explained on the vim wikia   http   vim wikia com wiki Indenting source code  Note that it advises against using  set autoindent    The best feature of all I find in this explanation is being able to set per-file settings  which is especially useful if you program in python and C    for example  as you d want 4 spaces for tabs in the former and 2 for spaces in the latter

User · Answer

Simply run   user host     echo set autoindent  gt  gt   vimrc

User · Answer

I wrote all about tabs in vim  which gives a few interesting things you didn t ask about  To automatically indent braces  use    set cindent   To indent two spaces  instead of one tab of eight spaces  the vim default     set shiftwidth 2   To keep vim from converting eight spaces into tabs    set expandtab   If you ever want to change the indentation of a block of text  use  lt  and  gt   I usually use this in conjunction with block-select mode  v  select a block of text   lt  or  gt      I d try to talk you out of using two-space indentation  since I  and most other people  find it hard to read  but that s another discussion

User · Answer

and always remember this venerable explanation of Spaces   Tabs   http   www jwz org doc tabs-vs-spaces html

User · Answer

Try   set sw 2  set ts 2  set smartindent

[c] Auto-indent spaces with C in vim?

Examples related to c

Examples related to vim

Examples related to coding-style

Examples related to vi