Re: How to learn formatting options
- To: mathgroup@smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg10464] Re: [mg10337] How to learn formatting options
- From: "C. Woll" <carlw@u.washington.edu>
- Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 04:34:49 -0500
Hi Mike, I have some suggestions for you concerning tabs and indentation. On Thu, 8 Jan 1998, mike johnson wrote: > 2) By way of simple example, can someone tell me in glorious detail > (meaning every mouse click and every key stroke) how to change the > global default (in a default style sheet) of the amount of space on > screen taken by a tab character? (Yes, I found the TabSpacings variable > in Text Options in Formatting Options, but I cannot seem to change it.) The option TabSpacings in Formatting Options controls the way cells which display as Text or InputForm appear (see Cell->Display As), but it has no effect on those cells which display as StandardForm or TraditionalForm. If you hit the tab key in a cell which displays as Text or InputForm, the expected action occurs, but if you hit the tab key in a cell which displays as StandardForm, nothing happens. Since the default for Input cells is usually StandardForm, it seems very difficult if not impossible to structure input in the usual, readable way. One solution is to use InputForm for input cells, although then you are unable to use 2D typesetting. Another partial solution is to control the amount of indentation, as suggested by your next question. > 3) As a tougher example, can someone tell me how to control the way > lines indent automatically when an expression wraps from the end of one > line to the next? (There are a lot of choices here, including > LinebreakAdjustments, LineIndent, AutoIndent, etc.) The only way I've discovered to get these options to work the way you might want them to is as follows. With the scope set to Notebook or selection's style for Input cells, set AutoIndent to True, and set LineIndent to be whatever you want. Then, for Input cells which display as StandardForm, use \[IndentingNewLine] (alias: esc n l esc) instead of return. This still leaves you at the mercy of what Mathematica considers to be the indenting level, but its a step in the right direction. I don't know what option controls the amount of indentation when you use return instead. Carl Woll Dept of Physics U of Washington