Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcsun!ukc!icdoc!sot-ecs!mrd
From: mrd@ecs.soton.ac.uk (Mark Dobie)
Newsgroups: comp.editors
Subject: Re: aligning columns in vi
Keywords: columns, vi, stress
Message-ID: <6754@ecs.soton.ac.uk>
Date: 13 Feb 91 10:39:41 GMT
References: <4868@male.EBay.Sun.COM> <24231@neptune.inf.ethz.ch> <1991Feb12.015036.8245@hybrid.UUCP> <24593@neptune.inf.ethz.ch>
Organization: University of Southampton, UK
Lines: 43

In <24593@neptune.inf.ethz.ch> wyle@inf.ethz.ch (Mitchell Wyle) writes:

>In <1991Feb12.015036.8245@hybrid.UUCP> 
>javey@hybrid.UUCP (shahram javey) says:

>>I don't have access to indent. I use vi on my DOS machine (please don't tell
>>me to change my OS. DOS plus MKS took-kit is all I can handle).

>In the simtel20 dos archives, I found the following entries under "C"

>INDENT.ARC        37k  26.02.89  Indents 'C' programs (EXE and DOC, no source)
>INDENTSR.ARC      62k  06.01.90  Indents 'C' programs (C source only, no EXE)

>PPC.ARC           15k  02.10.88  'Pretty Printer' for 'C' language sources

>There are plenty of simtel20 mirror systems around if you can't ftp directly.

Indent is also available as part of the GNUish MSDOS project.

>I repeat: 

>Use indent(1), Shahram!  ;-)

Don't you think this is a sledgehammer to crack a nut? As I
understand, all that is needed is a quick way of formatting block
comments. I'm sure the rest of the code is fine. I would only use
indent to reformat other code which I couldn't read (eg Sun examples).
Using indent on my own code would be like implicitly accepting the
suggestions of a spelling checker on my writing - I would constantly
be correcting after it.

Anyway, I am sure block comments are used in other languages apart
from C, maybe for tables too, so a general method for lining things up
on the right in vi would be useful. Having said that, I have nothing
to offer (yet) and I agree that indent(1) is the quick solution, but
keep an eye on the rest of your code ;-).

				Mark.

-- 

Mark Dobie                              M.Dobie@uk.ac.soton.ecs (JANET)
University of Southampton		M.Dobie@ecs.soton.ac.uk (Bitnet)