Awesome

Vim Smart Tabs

This is a github copy of Smart Tabs : Use tabs for indent, spaces for alignment originally created by Michael Geddes.

I copied it here just to be able to use it with vim plug and alikes, long time ago. I can't VimL, and I don't even use Vim anymore, so I only accept PRs, but don't actively maintain this library.

Alternatives

• Thyrum/vim-stabs - a redo of this library that is probably maintainer better

Note: The alternatives are listed for your convenience, and I didn't do any researcher on them.

Introduction (adopted from from vim.org)

There are many different arguments about tabs and stuff. My current personal preference is a choice of tabbing that is independent of anybody's viewing setting.

For the beginning of the line, this means we can use <tabs> which will expand whatever the reader wants it to. Trying to line up tabs at the end of the line is a little trickier, and making a few assumptions, my preference is to use spaces there.

This script allows you to use your normal tab settings for the beginning of the line, and have tabs expanded as spaces anywhere else. This effectively distinguishes indent from alignment.

• <tab> Uses editor tab settings to insert a tab at the beginning of the line (before the first non-space character), and inserts spaces otherwise.
• <BS> Uses editor tab settings to delete tabs or expanded tabs ala smarttab

:RetabIndent[!] [tabstop] - This is similar to the :retab command, with the exception that it affects all and only whitespace at the start of the line, changing it to suit your current (or new) tabstop and expandtab setting. With the bang (!) at the end, the command also strips trailing whitespace.

Installation:

With Pathogen:

mkdir -p ~/.vim/bundle && cd ~/.vim/bundle && git clone https://github.com/dpc/vim-smarttabs.git

Then run :Helptags from within vim to add helptags for the documentation.

Using vim-plug:

Add this to your init.vim or .vimrc:

Plug 'dpc/vim-smarttabs'

Then run :PlugInstall from within vim.

Manually:

Just copy smarttabs.vim into ~/.vim/plugin. Notice that this will not install the documentation.