Tab key == 4 spaces and auto-indent after curly braces in Vim

Question

How do I make vi-Vim never use tabs (converting spaces to tabs, bad!), makes the tab key == 4 spaces, and automatically indent code after curly brace blocks like Emacs does?

Also, how do I save these settings so I never have to input them again?

I've seen other questions related to this, but it always seems to be a little off from what I want.

Answer 1

As has been pointed out in a couple of answers below, the preferred method now is NOT to use smartindent, but instead use the following (in your .vimrc):

filetype plugin indent on
" show existing tab with 4 spaces width
set tabstop=4
" when indenting with '>', use 4 spaces width
set shiftwidth=4
" On pressing tab, insert 4 spaces
set expandtab

---

In your .vimrc: file:

set smartindent
set tabstop=4
set shiftwidth=4
set expandtab

The help files take a bit of time to get used to, but the more you read, the better Vim gets:

:help smartindent

Even better, you can embed these settings in your source for portability:

:help auto-setting

To see your current settings:

:set all

As graywh points out in the comments, smartindent has been replaced by cindent which "Works more cleverly", although still mainly for languages with C-like syntax:

:help C-indenting

Answer 2

Related, if you open a file that uses both tabs and spaces, assuming you've got

set expandtab ts=4 sw=4 ai

You can replace all the tabs with spaces in the entire file with

:%retab

Answer 3

The best way to get filetype-specific indentation is to use filetype plugin indent on in your vimrc. Then you can specify things like set sw=4 sts=4 et in .vim/ftplugin/c.vim, for example, without having to make those global for all files being edited and other non-C type syntaxes will get indented correctly, too (even lisps).

Answer 4

To have 4-space tabs in most files, real 8-wide tab char in Makefiles, and automatic indenting in various files including C/C++, put this in your ~/.vimrc file:

" Only do this part when compiled with support for autocommands.
if has("autocmd")
    " Use filetype detection and file-based automatic indenting.
    filetype plugin indent on

    " Use actual tab chars in Makefiles.
    autocmd FileType make set tabstop=8 shiftwidth=8 softtabstop=0 noexpandtab
endif

" For everything else, use a tab width of 4 space chars.
set tabstop=4       " The width of a TAB is set to 4.
                    " Still it is a \t. It is just that
                    " Vim will interpret it to be having
                    " a width of 4.
set shiftwidth=4    " Indents will have a width of 4.
set softtabstop=4   " Sets the number of columns for a TAB.
set expandtab       " Expand TABs to spaces.

Answer 5

On many Linux systems, like Ubuntu, the .vimrc file doesn't exist by default, so it is recommended that you create it first.

Don't use the .viminfo file that exist in the home directory. It is used for a different purpose.

Step 1: Go to your home directory

cd ~

Step 2: Create the file

vim .vimrc

Step 3: Add the configuration stated above

filetype plugin indent on
set tabstop=4
set shiftwidth=4
set expandtab

Step 3: Save file, by pressing Shift + ZZ.

Answer 6

The recommended way is to use filetype based indentation and only use smartindent and cindent if that doesn't suffice.

Add the following to your .vimrc

set expandtab
set shiftwidth=2
set softtabstop=2
filetype plugin indent on

Hope it helps as being a different answer.

Answer 7

edit your ~/.vimrc

$ vim ~/.vimrc

add following lines :

set tabstop=4
set shiftwidth=4
set softtabstop=4
set expandtab

Answer 8

From the VIM wiki:

:set tabstop=4
:set shiftwidth=4
:set expandtab

Answer 9

The auto-indent is based on the current syntax mode. I know that if you are editing Foo.java, then entering a { and hitting Enter indents the following line.

As for tabs, there are two settings. Within Vim, type a colon and then "set tabstop=4" which will set the tabs to display as four spaces. Hit colon again and type "set expandtab" which will insert spaces for tabs.

You can put these settings in a .vimrc (or _vimrc on Windows) in your home directory, so you only have to type them once.