{ "mode": "man", "parameter": "indent", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/indent/1/json", "generated": "2026-09-24T08:50:46Z", "synopsis": "indent [options] [input-files]\nindent [options] [single-input-file] [-o output-file]\nindent --version", "sections": { "NAME": { "content": "indent - changes the appearance of a C program by inserting or deleting whitespace.\n", "subsections": [] }, "SYNOPSIS": { "content": "indent [options] [input-files]\n\nindent [options] [single-input-file] [-o output-file]\n\nindent --version\n", "subsections": [] }, "DESCRIPTION": { "content": "This man page is generated from the file indent.texinfo. This is Edition of \"The indent\nManual\", for Indent Version , last updated .\n\nThe indent program can be used to make code easier to read. It can also convert from one\nstyle of writing C to another.\n\nindent understands a substantial amount about the syntax of C, but it also attempts to cope\nwith incomplete and misformed syntax.\n\nIn version 1.2 and more recent versions, the GNU style of indenting is the default.\n", "subsections": [] }, "OPTIONS": { "content": "", "subsections": [ { "name": "-as --align-with-spaces", "content": "If using tabs for indentation, use spaces for alignment.\nSee INDENTATION.\n", "long": "--align-with-spaces" }, { "name": "-bad --blank-lines-after-declarations", "content": "Force blank lines after the declarations.\nSee BLANK LINES.\n", "long": "--blank-lines-after-declarations" }, { "name": "-bap --blank-lines-after-procedures", "content": "Force blank lines after procedure bodies.\nSee BLANK LINES.\n", "long": "--blank-lines-after-procedures" }, { "name": "-bbb --blank-lines-before-block-comments", "content": "Force blank lines before block comments.\nSee BLANK LINES.\n", "long": "--blank-lines-before-block-comments" }, { "name": "-bbo --break-before-boolean-operator", "content": "Prefer to break long lines before boolean operators.\nSee BREAKING LONG LINES.\n", "long": "--break-before-boolean-operator" }, { "name": "-bc --blank-lines-after-commas", "content": "Force newline after comma in declaration.\nSee DECLARATIONS.\n", "long": "--blank-lines-after-commas" }, { "name": "-bl --braces-after-if-line", "content": "Put braces on line after if, etc.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--braces-after-if-line" }, { "name": "-blf --braces-after-func-def-line", "content": "Put braces on line following function definition line.\nSee DECLARATIONS.\n", "long": "--braces-after-func-def-line" }, { "name": "-bli_ --brace-indent_", "content": "Indent braces n spaces.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--brace-indent_" }, { "name": "-bls --braces-after-struct-decl-line", "content": "Put braces on the line after struct declaration lines.\nSee DECLARATIONS.\n", "long": "--braces-after-struct-decl-line" }, { "name": "-br --braces-on-if-line", "content": "Put braces on line with if, etc.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--braces-on-if-line" }, { "name": "-brf --braces-on-func-def-line", "content": "Put braces on function definition line.\nSee DECLARATIONS.\n", "long": "--braces-on-func-def-line" }, { "name": "-brs --braces-on-struct-decl-line", "content": "Put braces on struct declaration line.\nSee DECLARATIONS.\n", "long": "--braces-on-struct-decl-line" }, { "name": "-bs --Bill-Shannon --blank-before-sizeof", "content": "Put a space between sizeof and its argument.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--blank-before-sizeof" }, { "name": "-c_ --comment-indentation_", "content": "Put comments to the right of code in column n.\nSee COMMENTS.\n", "long": "--comment-indentation_" }, { "name": "-cbi_ --case-brace-indentation_", "content": "Indent braces after a case label N spaces.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--case-brace-indentation_" }, { "name": "-cd_ --declaration-comment-column_", "content": "Put comments to the right of the declarations in column n.\nSee COMMENTS.\n", "long": "--declaration-comment-column_" }, { "name": "-cdb --comment-delimiters-on-blank-lines", "content": "Put comment delimiters on blank lines.\nSee COMMENTS.\n", "long": "--comment-delimiters-on-blank-lines" }, { "name": "-cdw --cuddle-do-while", "content": "Cuddle while of do {} while; and preceding ‘}’.\nSee COMMENTS.\n", "long": "--cuddle-do-while" }, { "name": "-ce --cuddle-else", "content": "Cuddle else and preceding ‘}’.\nSee COMMENTS.\n", "long": "--cuddle-else" }, { "name": "-ci_ --continuation-indentation_", "content": "Continuation indent of n spaces.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--continuation-indentation_" }, { "name": "-cli_ --case-indentation_", "content": "Case label indent of n spaces.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--case-indentation_" }, { "name": "-cp_ --else-endif-column_", "content": "Put comments to the right of #else and #endif statements in column n.\nSee COMMENTS.\n", "long": "--else-endif-column_" }, { "name": "-cs --space-after-cast", "content": "Put a space after a cast operator.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--space-after-cast" }, { "name": "-d_ --line-comments-indentation_", "content": "Set indentation of comments not to the right of code to n spaces.\nSee COMMENTS.\n", "long": "--line-comments-indentation_" }, { "name": "-bfda --break-function-decl-args", "content": "Break the line before all arguments in a declaration.\nSee DECLARATIONS.\n", "long": "--break-function-decl-args" }, { "name": "-bfde --break-function-decl-args-end", "content": "Break the line after the last argument in a declaration.\nSee DECLARATIONS.\n", "long": "--break-function-decl-args-end" }, { "name": "-dj --left-justify-declarations", "content": "If -cd 0 is used then comments after declarations are left justified behind the declara‐\ntion.\nSee DECLARATIONS.\n", "long": "--left-justify-declarations" }, { "name": "-di_ --declaration-indentation_", "content": "Put variables in column n.\nSee DECLARATIONS.\n", "long": "--declaration-indentation_" }, { "name": "-fc1 --format-first-column-comments", "content": "Format comments in the first column.\nSee COMMENTS.\n", "long": "--format-first-column-comments" }, { "name": "-fca --format-all-comments", "content": "Do not disable all formatting of comments.\nSee COMMENTS.\n", "long": "--format-all-comments" }, { "name": "-fnc --fix-nested-comments", "content": "Fix nested comments.\nSee COMMENTS.\n", "long": "--fix-nested-comments" }, { "name": "-gnu --gnu-style", "content": "Use GNU coding style. This is the default.\nSee COMMON STYLES.\n", "long": "--gnu-style" }, { "name": "-gts --gettext-strings", "content": "Treat gettext (\"...\") and N(\"...\") as strings rather than as functions.\nSee BREAKING LONG LINES.\n", "long": "--gettext-strings" }, { "name": "-hnl --honour-newlines", "content": "Prefer to break long lines at the position of newlines in the input.\nSee BREAKING LONG LINES.\n", "long": "--honour-newlines" }, { "name": "-i_ --indent-level_", "content": "Set indentation level to n spaces.\nSee INDENTATION.\n", "long": "--indent-level_" }, { "name": "-il_ --indent-label_", "content": "Set offset for labels to column n.\nSee INDENTATION.\n", "long": "--indent-label_" }, { "name": "-ip_ --parameter-indentation_", "content": "Indent parameter types in old-style function definitions by n spaces.\nSee INDENTATION.\n", "long": "--parameter-indentation_" }, { "name": "-kr --k-and-r-style", "content": "Use Kernighan & Ritchie coding style.\nSee COMMON STYLES.\n", "long": "--k-and-r-style" }, { "name": "-l_ --line-length_", "content": "Set maximum line length for non-comment lines to n.\nSee BREAKING LONG LINES.\n", "long": "--line-length_" }, { "name": "-lc_ --comment-line-length_", "content": "Set maximum line length for comment formatting to n.\nSee COMMENTS.\n", "long": "--comment-line-length_" }, { "name": "-linux --linux-style", "content": "Use Linux coding style.\nSee COMMON STYLES.\n", "long": "--linux-style" }, { "name": "-lp --continue-at-parentheses", "content": "Line up continued lines at parentheses.\nSee INDENTATION.\n", "long": "--continue-at-parentheses" }, { "name": "-lps --leave-preprocessor-space", "content": "Leave space between ‘#’ and preprocessor directive.\nSee INDENTATION.\n", "long": "--leave-preprocessor-space" }, { "name": "-nlps --remove-preprocessor-space", "content": "Remove space between ‘#’ and preprocessor directive.\nSee INDENTATION.\n", "long": "--remove-preprocessor-space" }, { "name": "-nbad --no-blank-lines-after-declarations", "content": "Do not force blank lines after declarations.\nSee BLANK LINES.\n", "long": "--no-blank-lines-after-declarations" }, { "name": "-nbap --no-blank-lines-after-procedures", "content": "Do not force blank lines after procedure bodies.\nSee BLANK LINES.\n", "long": "--no-blank-lines-after-procedures" }, { "name": "-nbbo --break-after-boolean-operator", "content": "Do not prefer to break long lines before boolean operators.\nSee BREAKING LONG LINES.\n", "long": "--break-after-boolean-operator" }, { "name": "-nbc --no-blank-lines-after-commas", "content": "Do not force newlines after commas in declarations.\nSee DECLARATIONS.\n", "long": "--no-blank-lines-after-commas" }, { "name": "-nbfda --dont-break-function-decl-args", "content": "Don’t put each argument in a function declaration on a separate line.\nSee DECLARATIONS.\n", "long": "--dont-break-function-decl-args" }, { "name": "-ncdb --no-comment-delimiters-on-blank-lines", "content": "Do not put comment delimiters on blank lines.\nSee COMMENTS.\n", "long": "--no-comment-delimiters-on-blank-lines" }, { "name": "-ncdw --dont-cuddle-do-while", "content": "Do not cuddle } and the while of a do {} while;.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--dont-cuddle-do-while" }, { "name": "-nce --dont-cuddle-else", "content": "Do not cuddle } and else.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--dont-cuddle-else" }, { "name": "-ncs --no-space-after-casts", "content": "Do not put a space after cast operators.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--no-space-after-casts" }, { "name": "-ndj_ --dont-left-justify-declarations", "content": "Comments after declarations are treated the same as comments after other statements.\nSee DECLARATIONS.\n", "long": "--dont-left-justify-declarations" }, { "name": "-nfc1 --dont-format-first-column-comments", "content": "Do not format comments in the first column as normal.\nSee COMMENTS.\n", "long": "--dont-format-first-column-comments" }, { "name": "-nfca --dont-format-comments", "content": "Do not format any comments.\nSee COMMENTS.\n", "long": "--dont-format-comments" }, { "name": "-ngts --no-gettext-strings", "content": "Treat gettext (\"...\") and N(\"...\") as normal functions. This is the default.\nSee BREAKING LONG LINES.\n", "long": "--no-gettext-strings" }, { "name": "-nhnl --ignore-newlines", "content": "Do not prefer to break long lines at the position of newlines in the input.\nSee BREAKING LONG LINES.\n", "long": "--ignore-newlines" }, { "name": "-nip --no-parameter-indentation", "content": "Zero width indentation for parameters.\nSee INDENTATION.\n", "long": "--no-parameter-indentation" }, { "name": "-nlp --dont-line-up-parentheses", "content": "Do not line up parentheses.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--dont-line-up-parentheses" }, { "name": "-npcs --no-space-after-function-call-names", "content": "Do not put space after the function in function calls.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--no-space-after-function-call-names" }, { "name": "-nprs --no-space-after-parentheses", "content": "Do not put a space after every ’(’ and before every ’)’.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--no-space-after-parentheses" }, { "name": "-npsl --dont-break-procedure-type", "content": "Put the type of a procedure on the same line as its name.\nSee DECLARATIONS.\n", "long": "--dont-break-procedure-type" }, { "name": "-nsaf --no-space-after-for", "content": "Do not put a space after every for.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--no-space-after-for" }, { "name": "-nsai --no-space-after-if", "content": "Do not put a space after every if.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--no-space-after-if" }, { "name": "-nsaw --no-space-after-while", "content": "Do not put a space after every while.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--no-space-after-while" }, { "name": "-nsc --dont-star-comments", "content": "Do not put the ‘*’ character at the left of comments.\nSee COMMENTS.\n", "long": "--dont-star-comments" }, { "name": "-nsob --leave-optional-blank-lines", "content": "Do not swallow optional blank lines.\nSee BLANK LINES.\n", "long": "--leave-optional-blank-lines" }, { "name": "-nss --dont-space-special-semicolon", "content": "Do not force a space before the semicolon after certain statements. Disables ‘-ss’.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--dont-space-special-semicolon" }, { "name": "-ntac --dont-tab-align-comments", "content": "Do not pad comments out to the nearest tabstop.\nSee COMMENTS.\n", "long": "--dont-tab-align-comments" }, { "name": "-nut --no-tabs", "content": "Use spaces instead of tabs.\nSee INDENTATION.\n", "long": "--no-tabs" }, { "name": "-nv --no-verbosity", "content": "Disable verbose mode.\nSee MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONS.\n", "long": "--no-verbosity" }, { "name": "-orig --original", "content": "Use the original Berkeley coding style.\nSee COMMON STYLES.\n", "long": "--original" }, { "name": "-npro --ignore-profile", "content": "Do not read ‘.indent.pro’ files.\nSee INVOKING INDENT.\n", "long": "--ignore-profile" }, { "name": "-pal --pointer-align-left", "content": "Put asterisks in pointer declarations on the left of spaces, next to types: ‘‘char* p’’.\n", "long": "--pointer-align-left" }, { "name": "-par --pointer-align-right", "content": "Put asterisks in pointer declarations on the right of spaces, next to variable names:\n‘‘char *p’’. This is the default behavior.\n", "long": "--pointer-align-right" }, { "name": "-pcs --space-after-procedure-calls", "content": "Insert a space between the name of the procedure being called and the ‘(’.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--space-after-procedure-calls" }, { "name": "-pi_ --paren-indentation_", "content": "Specify the extra indentation per open parentheses ’(’ when a statement is broken.See\nSTATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--paren-indentation_" }, { "name": "-pmt --preserve-mtime", "content": "Preserve access and modification times on output files.See MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONS.\n", "long": "--preserve-mtime" }, { "name": "-ppi_ --preprocessor-indentation_", "content": "Specify the indentation for preprocessor conditional statements.See INDENTATION.\n", "long": "--preprocessor-indentation_" }, { "name": "-prs --space-after-parentheses", "content": "Put a space after every ’(’ and before every ’)’.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--space-after-parentheses" }, { "name": "-psl --procnames-start-lines", "content": "Put the type of a procedure on the line before its name.\nSee DECLARATIONS.\n", "long": "--procnames-start-lines" }, { "name": "-saf --space-after-for", "content": "Put a space after each for.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--space-after-for" }, { "name": "-sai --space-after-if", "content": "Put a space after each if.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--space-after-if" }, { "name": "-sar --spaces-around-initializers", "content": "Put a space after the ‘{’ and before the ‘}’ in initializers.\nSee DECLARATIONS.\n", "long": "--spaces-around-initializers" }, { "name": "-saw --space-after-while", "content": "Put a space after each while.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--space-after-while" }, { "name": "-sbi_ --struct-brace-indentation_", "content": "Indent braces of a struct, union or enum N spaces.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--struct-brace-indentation_" }, { "name": "-sc --start-left-side-of-comments", "content": "Put the ‘*’ character at the left of comments.\nSee COMMENTS.\n", "long": "--start-left-side-of-comments" }, { "name": "-slc --single-line-conditionals", "content": "Allow for unbraced conditionals (if, else, etc.) to have their inner statement on the\nsame line.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--single-line-conditionals" }, { "name": "-sob --swallow-optional-blank-lines", "content": "Swallow optional blank lines.\nSee BLANK LINES.\n", "long": "--swallow-optional-blank-lines" }, { "name": "-ss --space-special-semicolon", "content": "On one-line for and while statements, force a blank before the semicolon.\nSee STATEMENTS.\n", "long": "--space-special-semicolon" }, { "name": "-st --standard-output", "content": "Write to standard output.\nSee INVOKING INDENT.\n", "long": "--standard-output" }, { "name": "-T", "content": "See DECLARATIONS.\n", "flag": "-T" }, { "name": "-ts_ --tab-size_", "content": "Set tab size to n spaces.\nSee INDENTATION.\n", "long": "--tab-size_" }, { "name": "-ut --use-tabs", "content": "Use tabs. This is the default.\nSee INDENTATION.\n", "long": "--use-tabs" }, { "name": "-v --verbose", "content": "Enable verbose mode.\nSee MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONS.\n", "flag": "-v", "long": "--verbose" }, { "name": "-version", "content": "Output the version number of indent.\nSee MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONS.\n\n" } ] }, "INVOKING INDENT": { "content": "As of version 1.3, the format of the indent command is:\n\n\nindent [options] [input-files]\n\nindent [options] [single-input-file] [-o output-file]\n\n\nThis format is different from earlier versions and other versions of indent.\n\nIn the first form, one or more input files are specified. indent makes a backup copy of each\nfile, and the original file is replaced with its indented version. See BACKUP FILES, for an\nexplanation of how backups are made.\n\nIn the second form, only one input file is specified. In this case, or when the standard in‐\nput is used, you may specify an output file after the ‘-o’ option.\n\nTo cause indent to write to standard output, use the ‘-st’ option. This is only allowed when\nthere is only one input file, or when the standard input is used.\n\nIf no input files are named, the standard input is read for input. Also, if a filename named\n‘-’ is specified, then the standard input is read.\n\nAs an example, each of the following commands will input the program ‘slithytoves.c’ and\nwrite its indented text to ‘slithytoves.out’:\n\n\nindent slithytoves.c -o slithytoves.out\n\nindent -st slithytoves.c > slithytoves.out\n\ncat slithytoves.c | indent -o slithytoves.out\n\n\nMost other options to indent control how programs are formatted. As of version 1.2, indent\nalso recognizes a long name for each option name. Long options are prefixed by either ‘--’\nor ‘+’. [ ‘+’ is being superseded by ‘--’ to maintain consistency with the POSIX standard.]\nIn most of this document, the traditional, short names are used for the sake of brevity.\nSee OPTION SUMMARY, for a list of options, including both long and short names.\n\nHere is another example:\n\nindent -br test/metabolism.c -l85\n\nThis will indent the program ‘test/metabolism.c’ using the ‘-br’ and ‘-l85’ options, write\nthe output back to ‘test/metabolism.c’, and write the original contents of ‘test/metabo‐\nlism.c’ to a backup file in the directory ‘test’.\n\nEquivalent invocations using long option names for this example would be:\n\n\nindent --braces-on-if-line --line-length185 test/metabolism.c\n\nindent +braces-on-if-line +line-length185 test/metabolism.c\n\n\nIf you find that you often use indent with the same options, you may put those options into a\nfile named ‘.indent.pro’. indent will look for a profile file in three places. First it will\ncheck the environment variable INDENTPROFILE. If that exists its value is expected to name\nthe file that is to be used. If the environment variable does not exist, indent looks for\n‘.indent.pro’ in the current directory\nand use that if found. Finally indent will search your home directory for ‘.indent.pro’ and\nuse that file if it is found. This behaviour is different from that of other versions of in‐\ndent, which load both files if they both exist.\n\nThe format of ‘.indent.pro’ is simply a list of options, just as they would appear on the\ncommand line, separated by white space (tabs, spaces, and newlines). Options in ‘.in‐\ndent.pro’ may be surrounded by C or C++ comments, in which case they are ignored.\n\nCommand line switches are handled after processing ‘.indent.pro’. Options specified later\noverride arguments specified earlier, with one exception: Explicitly specified options always\noverride background options (See COMMON STYLES). You can prevent indent from reading an\n‘.indent.pro’ file by specifying the ‘-npro’ option.\n\n", "subsections": [] }, "BACKUP FILES": { "content": "As of version 1.3, GNU indent makes GNU-style backup files, the same way GNU Emacs does.\nThis means that either simple or numbered backup filenames may be made.\n\nSimple backup file names are generated by appending a suffix to the original file name. The\ndefault for this suffix is the one-character string ‘~’ (tilde). Thus, the backup file for\n‘python.c’ would be ‘python.c~’.\n\nInstead of the default, you may specify any string as a suffix by setting the environment\nvariable SIMPLEBACKUPSUFFIX to your preferred suffix.\n\nNumbered backup versions of a file ‘momeraths.c’ look like ‘momeraths.c.~23~’, where 23 is\nthe version of this particular backup. When making a numbered backup of the file ‘src/mo‐\nmeraths.c’, the backup file will be named ‘src/momeraths.c.~V~’, where V is one greater than\nthe highest version currently existing in the directory ‘src’. The environment variable VER‐\nSIONWIDTH controls the number of digits, using left zero padding when necessary. For in‐\nstance, setting this variable to \"2\" will lead to the backup file being named ‘mo‐\nmeraths.c.~04~’.\n\nThe type of backup file made is controlled by the value of the environment variable VER‐\nSIONCONTROL. If it is the string ‘simple’, then only simple backups will be made. If its\nvalue is the string ‘numbered’, then numbered backups will be made. If its value is ‘num‐\nbered-existing’, then numbered backups will be made if there already exist numbered backups\nfor the file being indented; otherwise, a simple backup is made. If VERSIONCONTROL is not\nset, then indent assumes the behaviour of ‘numbered-existing’.\n\nOther versions of indent use the suffix ‘.BAK’ in naming backup files. This behaviour can be\nemulated by setting SIMPLEBACKUPSUFFIX to ‘.BAK’.\n\nNote also that other versions of indent make backups in the current directory, rather than in\nthe directory of the source file as GNU indent now does.\n\n", "subsections": [] }, "COMMON STYLES": { "content": "There are several common styles of C code, including the GNU style, the Kernighan & Ritchie\nstyle, and the original Berkeley style. A style may be selected with a single background op‐\ntion, which specifies a set of values for all other options. However, explicitly specified\noptions always override options implied by a background option.\n\nAs of version 1.2, the default style of GNU indent is the GNU style. Thus, it is no longer\nnecessary to specify the option ‘-gnu’ to obtain this format, although doing so will not\ncause an error. Option settings which correspond to the GNU style are:\n\n-nbad -bap -nbc -bbo -bl -bli2 -bls -ncdb -nce -cp1 -cs -di2\n-ndj -nfc1 -nfca -hnl -i2 -ip5 -lp -pcs -nprs -psl -saf -sai\n-saw -nsc -nsob\n\nThe GNU coding style is that preferred by the GNU project. It is the style that the GNU\nEmacs C mode encourages and which is used in the C portions of GNU Emacs. (People interested\nin writing programs for Project GNU should get a copy of \"The GNU Coding Standards\", which\nalso covers semantic and portability issues such as memory usage, the size of integers, etc.)\n\nThe Kernighan & Ritchie style is used throughout their well-known book \"The C Programming\nLanguage\". It is enabled with the ‘-kr’ option. The Kernighan & Ritchie style corresponds\nto the following set of options:\n\n-nbad -bap -bbo -nbc -br -brs -c33 -cd33 -ncdb -ce -ci4 -cli0\n-cp33 -cs -d0 -di1 -nfc1 -nfca -hnl -i4 -ip0 -l75 -lp -npcs\n-nprs -npsl -saf -sai -saw -nsc -nsob -nss -par\n\nKernighan & Ritchie style does not put comments to the right of code in the same column at\nall times (nor does it use only one space to the right of the code), so for this style indent\nhas arbitrarily chosen column 33.\n\nThe style of the original Berkeley indent may be obtained by specifying ‘-orig’ (or by speci‐\nfying ‘--original’, using the long option name). This style is equivalent to the following\nsettings:\n\n-nbad -nbap -bbo -bc -br -brs -c33 -cd33 -cdb -ce -ci4 -cli0\n-cp33 -di16 -fc1 -fca -hnl -i4 -ip4 -l75 -lp -npcs -nprs -psl\n-saf -sai -saw -sc -nsob -nss -ts8\n\nThe Linux style is used in the linux kernel code and drivers. Code generally has to follow\nthe Linux coding style to be accepted. This style is equivalent to the following settings:\n\n-nbad -bap -nbc -bbo -hnl -br -brs -c33 -cd33 -ncdb -ce -ci4\n-cli0 -d0 -di1 -nfc1 -i8 -ip0 -l80 -lp -npcs -nprs -npsl -sai\n-saf -saw -ncs -nsc -sob -nfca -cp33 -ss -ts8 -il1\n\n", "subsections": [] }, "BLANK LINES": { "content": "Various programming styles use blank lines in different places. indent has a number of op‐\ntions to insert or delete blank lines in specific places.\n\nThe ‘-bad’ option causes indent to force a blank line after every block of declarations. The\n‘-nbad’ option causes indent not to force such blank lines.\n\nThe ‘-bap’ option forces a blank line after every procedure body. The ‘-nbap’ option forces\nno such blank line.\n\nThe ‘-bbb’ option forces a blank line before every boxed comment (See COMMENTS.) The ‘-nbbb’\noption does not force such blank lines.\n\nThe ‘-sob’ option causes indent to swallow optional blank lines (that is, any optional blank\nlines present in the input will be removed from the output). If the ‘-nsob’ is specified,\nany blank lines present in the input file will be copied to the output file.\n\n\n\n--blank-lines-after-declarations\nThe ‘-bad’ option forces a blank line after every block of declarations. The ‘-nbad’ option\ndoes not add any such blank lines.\n\nFor example, given the input\nchar *foo;\nchar *bar;\n/* This separates blocks of declarations. */\nint baz;\n\nindent -bad produces\n\nchar *foo;\nchar *bar;\n\n/* This separates blocks of declarations. */\nint baz;\n\nand indent -nbad produces\n\nchar *foo;\nchar *bar;\n/* This separates blocks of declarations. */\nint baz;\n\n\n--blank-lines-after-procedures\nThe ‘-bap’ option forces a blank line after every procedure body.\n\nFor example, given the input\n\nint\nfoo ()\n{\nputs(\"Hi\");\n}\n/* The procedure bar is even less interesting. */\nchar *\nbar ()\n{\nputs(\"Hello\");\n}\n\nindent -bap produces\n\nint\nfoo ()\n{\nputs (\"Hi\");\n}\n\n/* The procedure bar is even less interesting. */\nchar *\nbar ()\n{\nputs (\"Hello\");\n}\n\nand indent -nbap produces\n\nint\nfoo ()\n{\nputs (\"Hi\");\n}\n/* The procedure bar is even less interesting. */\nchar *\nbar ()\n{\nputs (\"Hello\");\n}\n\nNo blank line will be added after the procedure foo.\n\n", "subsections": [] }, "COMMENTS": { "content": "indent formats both C and C++ comments. C comments are begun with ‘/*’, terminated with ‘*/’\nand may contain newline characters. C++ comments begin with the delimiter ‘//’ and end at\nthe newline.\n\nindent handles comments differently depending upon their context. indent attempts to distin‐\nguish between comments which follow statements, comments which follow declarations, comments\nfollowing preprocessor directives, and comments which are not preceded by code of any sort,\ni.e., they begin the text of the line (although not necessarily in column 1).\n\nindent further distinguishes between comments found outside of procedures and aggregates, and\nthose found within them. In particular, comments beginning a line found within a procedure\nwill be indented to the column at which code is currently indented. The exception to this is\na comment beginning in the leftmost column; such a comment is output at that column.\n\nindent attempts to leave boxed comments unmodified. The general idea of such a comment is\nthat it is enclosed in a rectangle or ‘‘box’’ of stars or dashes to visually set it apart.\nMore precisely, boxed comments are defined as those in which the initial ‘/*’ is followed im‐\nmediately by the character ‘*’, ‘=’, ‘’, or ‘-’, or those in which the beginning comment de‐\nlimiter (‘/*’) is on a line by itself, and the following line begins with a ‘*’ in the same\ncolumn as the star of the opening delimiter.\n\nExamples of boxed comments are:\n\n/\n* Comment in a box!! *\n/\n\n/*\n* A different kind of scent,\n* for a different kind of comment.\n*/\n\nindent attempts to leave boxed comments exactly as they are found in the source file. Thus\nthe indentation of the comment is unchanged, and its length is not checked in any way. The\nonly alteration made is that an embedded tab character may be converted into the appropriate\nnumber of spaces.\n\nIf the ‘-bbb’ option is specified, all such boxed comments will be preceded by a blank line,\nunless such a comment is preceded by code.\n\nComments which are not boxed comments may be formatted, which means that the line is broken\nto fit within a right margin and left-filled with whitespace. Single newlines are equivalent\nto a space, but blank lines (two or more newlines in a row) are taken to mean a paragraph\nbreak. Formatting of comments which begin after the first column is enabled with the ‘-fca’\noption. To format those beginning in column one, specify ‘-fc1’. Such formatting is dis‐\nabled by default.\n\nThe right margin for formatting defaults to 78, but may be changed with the ‘-lc’ option. If\nthe margin specified does not allow the comment to be printed, the margin will be automati‐\ncally extended for the duration of that comment. The margin is not respected if the comment\nis not being formatted.\n\nIf the ‘-fnc’ option is specified, all comments with ‘/*’ embedded will have that character\nsequence replaced by a space followed by the character ‘*’ thus eliminating nesting.\n\nIf the comment begins a line (i.e., there is no program text to its left), it will be in‐\ndented to the column it was found in unless the comment is within a block of code. In that\ncase, such a comment will be aligned with the indented code of that block (unless the comment\nbegan in the first column). This alignment may be affected by the ‘-d’ option, which speci‐\nfies an amount by which such comments are moved to the left, or unindented. For example,\n‘-d2’ places comments two spaces to the left of code. By default, comments are aligned with\ncode, unless they begin in the first column, in which case they are left there by default ---\nto get them aligned with the code, specify ‘-fc1’.\n\nComments to the right of code will appear by default in column 33. This may be changed with\none of three options. ‘-c’ will specify the column for comments following code, ‘-cd’ speci‐\nfies the column for comments following declarations, and ‘-cp’ specifies the column for com‐\nments following preprocessor directives #else and #endif. ‘-dj’ together with ‘-cd0’ can be\nused to suppress alignment of comments to the right of declarations, causing the comment to\nfollow one tabstop from the end of the declaration. Normally ‘-cd0’ causes ‘-c’ to become ef‐\nfective.\n\nIf the code to the left of the comment exceeds the beginning column, the comment column will\nbe extended to the next tabstop column past the end of the code, unless the ‘-ntac’ option is\nspecified. In the case of preprocessor directives,comments are extended to to one space past\nthe end of the directive. This extension lasts only for the output of that particular com‐\nment.\n\nThe ‘-cdb’ option places the comment delimiters on blank lines. Thus, a single line comment\nlike /* Loving hug */ can be transformed into:\n\n/*\nLoving hug\n*/\n\nStars can be placed at the beginning of multi-line comments with the ‘-sc’ option. Thus, the\nsingle-line comment above can be transformed (with ‘-cdb -sc’) into:\n\n/*\n* Loving hug\n*/\n\n", "subsections": [] }, "STATEMENTS": { "content": "The ‘-br’ or ‘-bl’ option specifies how to format braces.\n\nThe ‘-br’ option formats statement braces like this:\n\nif (x > 0) {\nx--;\n}\n\nThe ‘-bl’ option formats them like this:\n\nif (x > 0)\n{\nx--;\n}\n\nIf you use the ‘-bl’ option, you may also want to specify the ‘-bli’ option. This option\nspecifies the number of spaces by which braces are indented. ‘-bli2’, the default, gives the\nresult shown above. ‘-bli0’ results in the following:\n\nif (x > 0)\n{\nx--;\n}\n\nIf you are using the ‘-br’ option, you probably want to also use the ‘-ce’ option. This\ncauses the else in an if-then-else construct to cuddle up to the immediately preceding ‘}’.\nFor example, with ‘-br -ce’ you get the following:\n\nif (x > 0) {\nx--;\n} else {\nfprintf (stderr, \"...something wrong?\\n\");\n}\n\nWith ‘-br -nce’ that code would appear as\n\nif (x > 0) {\nx--;\n}\nelse {\nfprintf (stderr, \"...something wrong?\\n\");\n}\n\nAn exception to the behavior occurs when there is a comment between the right brace and the\nsubsequent else statement. While the ‘-br’ option will cause a left brace to jump over the\ncomment, the else does not jump over the comment to cuddle because it has a strong likelihood\nof changing the meaning of the comment.\n\nThe ‘-cdw’ option causes the while in a do-while loop to cuddle up to the immediately preced‐\ning ‘}’. For example, with ‘-cdw’ you get the following:\n\ndo {\nx--;\n} while (x);\n\nWith ‘-ncdw’ that code would appear as\n\ndo {\nx--;\n}\nwhile (x);\n\nThe ‘-slc’ option allows for an unbraced conditional and its inner statement to appear on the\nsame line. For example:\n\nif (x) x--;\nelse x++;\n\nWithout ‘-slc’ that code would appear as\n\nif (x)\nx--;\nelse\nx++;\n\nThe ‘-cli’ option specifies the number of spaces that case labels should be indented to the\nright of the containing switch statement.\n\nThe default gives code like:\n\nswitch (i)\n{\ncase 0:\nbreak;\ncase 1:\n{\n++i;\n}\ndefault:\nbreak;\n}\n\nUsing the ‘-cli2’ that would become:\n\nswitch (i)\n{\ncase 0:\nbreak;\ncase 1:\n{\n++i;\n}\ndefault:\nbreak;\n}\n\nThe indentation of the braces below a case statement can be controlled with the ‘-cbin’ op‐\ntion. For example, using ‘-cli2 -cbi0’ results in:\n\nswitch (i)\n{\ncase 0:\nbreak;\ncase 1:\n{\n++i;\n}\ndefault:\nbreak;\n}\n\nIf a semicolon is on the same line as a for or while statement, the ‘-ss’ option will cause a\nspace to be placed before the semicolon. This emphasizes the semicolon, making it clear that\nthe body of the for or while statement is an empty statement. ‘-nss’ disables this feature.\n\nThe ‘-pcs’ option causes a space to be placed between the name of the procedure being called\nand the ‘(’ (for example, puts (\"Hi\");. The ‘-npcs’ option would give puts(\"Hi\");).\n\n\nIf the ‘-cs’ option is specified, indent puts a space between a cast operator and the object\nto be cast. The ‘-ncs’ ensures that there is no space between the cast operator and the ob‐\nject. Remember that indent only knows about the standard C data types and so cannot recognise\nuser-defined types in casts. Thus (mytype)thing is not treated as a cast.\n\nThe ‘-bs’ option ensures that there is a space between the keyword sizeof and its argument.\nIn some versions, this is known as the ‘BillShannon’ option.\n\nThe ‘-saf’ option forces a space between a for and the following parenthesis. This is the\ndefault.\n\nThe ‘-sai’ option forces a space between a if and the following parenthesis. This is the de‐\nfault.\n\nThe ‘-saw’ option forces a space between a while and the following parenthesis. This is the\ndefault.\n\nThe ‘-prs’ option causes all parentheses to be separated with a space from whatever is be‐\ntween them. For example, using ‘-prs’ results in code like:\n\nwhile ( ( ecode - scode ) < ( decind - 1 ) )\n{\nsetbufbreak ( bbdecind );\n*ecode++ = ’ ’;\n}\n\n", "subsections": [] }, "DECLARATIONS": { "content": "By default indent will line up identifiers, in the column specified by the ‘-di’ option. For\nexample, ‘-di16’ makes things look like:\n\nint foo;\nchar *bar;\n\nUsing a small value (such as one or two) for the ‘-di’ option can be used to cause the iden‐\ntifiers to be placed in the first available position; for example:\n\nint foo;\nchar *bar;\n\nThe value given to the ‘-di’ option will still affect variables which are put on separate\nlines from their types, for example ‘-di2’ will lead to:\n\nint\nfoo;\n\nIf the ‘-bc’ option is specified, a newline is forced after each comma in a declaration. For\nexample,\n\nint a,\nb,\nc;\n\nWith the ‘-nbc’ option this would look like\n\nint a, b, c;\n\nThe ‘-bfda’ option causes a newline to be forced after the comma separating the arguments of\na function declaration. The arguments will appear at one indention level deeper than the\nfunction declaration. This is particularly helpful for functions with long argument lists.\nThe option ‘-bfde’ causes a newline to be forced before the closing bracket of the function\ndeclaration. For both options the ’n’ setting is the default: -nbfda and -nbfde.\n\n\nFor example,\n\nvoid foo (int arg1, char arg2, int *arg3, long arg4, char arg5);\nWith the ‘-bfda’ option this would look like\n\nvoid foo (\nint arg1,\nchar arg2,\nint *arg3,\nlong arg4,\nchar arg5);\n\nWith, in addition, the ‘-bfde’ option this would look like\n\nvoid foo (\nint arg1,\nchar arg2,\nint *arg3,\nlong arg4,\nchar arg5\n);\n\nThe ‘-psl’ option causes the type of a procedure being defined to be placed on the line be‐\nfore the name of the procedure. This style is required for the etags program to work cor‐\nrectly, as well as some of the c-mode functions of Emacs.\n\nYou must use the ‘-T’ option to tell indent the name of all the typenames in your program\nthat are defined by typedef. ‘-T’ can be specified more than once, and all names specified\nare used. For example, if your program contains\n\ntypedef unsigned long CODEADDR;\ntypedef enum {red, blue, green} COLOR;\n\nyou would use the options ‘-T CODEADDR -T COLOR’.\n\n\nThe ‘-brs’ or ‘-bls’ option specifies how to format braces in struct declarations. The\n‘-brs’ option formats braces like this:\n\nstruct foo {\nint x;\n};\n\nThe ‘-bls’ option formats them like this:\n\nstruct foo\n{\nint x;\n};\n\n\nSimilarly to the structure brace ‘-brs’ and ‘-bls’ options,\nthe function brace options ‘-brf’ or ‘-blf’ specify how to format the braces in function de‐\nfinitions. The ‘-brf’ option formats braces like this:\n\nint one(void) {\nreturn 1;\n};\n\nThe ‘-blf’ option formats them like this:\n\nint one(void)\n{\nreturn 1;\n};\n\n\nThe ‘-sar’ option affects how indent will render initializer lists. Without ‘-sar’ they are\nformatted like this:\n\nint a[] = {1, 2, 3, 4};\n\nstruct s {\nconst char *name;\nint x;\n} a[] = {\n{\"name\", 0},\n{\"a\", 1}\n};\n\nWith ‘-sar’ they are formatted like this, with spaces inside the braces:\n\nint a[] = { 1, 2, 3, 4 };\n\nstruct s {\nconst char *name;\nint x;\n} a[] = {\n{ \"name\", 0 },\n{ \"a\", 1 }\n};\n\n", "subsections": [] }, "INDENTATION": { "content": "The most basic, and most controversial issues with regard to code formatting is precisely how\nindentation should be acoomplished. Fortunately, indent supports several different styles of\nidentation. The default is to use tabs for indentation, which is specified by the ‘-ut’ op‐\ntion. Assuming the default tab size of 8, the code would look like this:\n\nint a(int b)\n{\nreturn b;\n|------|\n1 tab\n}\n\nFor those that prefer spaces to tabs, ‘indent’ provides the ‘-nut’ option. The same code\nwould look like this:\n\nint a(int b)\n{\nreturn b;\n|------|\n8 spaces\n}\n\nAnother issue in the formatting of code is how far each line should be indented from the left\nmargin. When the beginning of a statement such as if or for is encountered, the indentation\nlevel is increased by the value specified by the ‘-i’ option. For example, use ‘-i8’ to\nspecify an eight character indentation for each level. When a statement is broken across two\nlines, the second line is indented by a number of additional spaces specified by the ‘-ci’\noption. ‘-ci’ defaults to 0. However, if the ‘-lp’ option is specified, and a line has a\nleft parenthesis which is not closed on that line, then continuation lines will be lined up\nto start at the character position just after the left parenthesis. This processing also ap‐\nplies to ‘[’ and applies to ‘{’ when it occurs in initialization lists. For example, a piece\nof continued code might look like this with ‘-nlp -ci3’ in effect:\n\np1 = firstprocedure (secondprocedure (p2, p3),\nthirdprocedure (p4, p5));\n\nWith ‘-lp’ in effect the code looks somewhat clearer:\n\np1 = firstprocedure (secondprocedure (p2, p3),\nthirdprocedure (p4, p5));\n\nWhen a statement is broken in between two or more paren pairs (...), each extra pair causes\nthe indentation level extra indentation:\n\nif ((((i < 2 &&\nk > 0) || p == 0) &&\nq == 1) ||\nn = 0)\n\nThe option ‘-ipN’ can be used to set the extra offset per paren. For instance, ‘-ip0’ would\nformat the above as:\n\nif ((((i < 2 &&\nk > 0) || p == 0) &&\nq == 1) ||\nn = 0)\n\nindent assumes that tabs are placed at regular intervals of both input and output character\nstreams. These intervals are by default 8 columns wide, but (as of version 1.2) may be\nchanged by the ‘-ts’ option. Tabs are treated as the equivalent number of spaces.\n\nBy default, indent will use tabs to indent as far as possible, and then pad with spaces until\nthe desired position is reached. However, with the ‘-as’ option, spaces will be used for\nalignment beyond the current indentation level. By default, assuming ‘-lp’ is enabled, the\ncode would be indented like so (‘t’ represents tabs, ‘s’ represents spaces):\n\nunsigned long reallylongprocname(unsigned long x, unsigned long y,\nint a)\n|------||-------||------||-------|\nt t t t ss\n{\np1 = firstprocedure (secondprocedure (p2, p3),\nthirdprocedure (p4, p5));\n|------||------||------|\nt t t sssss\n}\n\nThis is fine, if you assume that whoever is reading the code will honor your assumption of\n8-space tabs. If the reader was using 4-space tabs, it would look like this:\n\nunsigned long reallylongprocname(unsigned long x, unsigned long y,\nint a)\n|---||---||---||---|\nt t t t ss\n{\np1 = firstprocedure (secondprocedure (p2, p3),\nthirdprocedure (p4, p5));\n|---||---||---|\nt t t ssssss\n}\n\nThe ‘-as’ option fixes this so that the code will appear consistent regardless of what tab\nsize the user users to read the code. This looks like:\n\nunsigned long reallylongprocname(unsigned long x, unsigned long y,\nint a)\n\nssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss\n{\np1 = firstprocedure (secondprocedure (p2, p3),\nthirdprocedure (p4, p5));\n|------|\nt ssssssssssssssssssssss\n}\n\nThe indentation of type declarations in old-style function definitions is controlled by the\n‘-ip’ parameter. This is a numeric parameter specifying how many spaces to indent type dec‐\nlarations. For example, the default ‘-ip5’ makes definitions look like this:\n\nchar *\ncreateworld (x, y, scale)\nint x;\nint y;\nfloat scale;\n{\n. . .\n}\n\nFor compatibility with other versions of indent, the option ‘-nip’ is provided, which is\nequivalent to ‘-ip0’.\n\nANSI C allows white space to be placed on preprocessor command lines between the character\n‘#’ and the command name. By default, indent removes this space, but specifying the ‘-lps’\noption directs indent to leave this space unmodified. The option ‘-ppi’ overrides ‘-nlps’\nand ‘-lps’.\n\nThis option can be used to request that preprocessor conditional statements can be indented\nby to given number of spaces, for example with the option ‘-ppi 3’\n\n#if X\n#if Y\n#define Z 1\n#else\n#define Z 0\n#endif\n#endif\nbecomes\n#if X\n# if Y\n# define Z 1\n# else\n# define Z 0\n# endif\n#endif\n\nThis option sets the offset at which a label (except case labels) will be positioned. If it\nis set to zero or a positive number, this indicates how far from the left margin to indent a\nlabel. If it is set to a negative number, this indicates how far back from the current in‐\ndent level to place the label. The default setting is -2 which matches the behaviour of ear‐\nlier versions of indent. Note that this parameter does not affect the placing of case la‐\nbels; see the ‘-cli’ parameter for that. For example with the option ‘-il 1’\n\ngroup\nfunction()\n{\nif (dostuff1() == ERROR)\ngoto cleanup1;\n\nif (dostuff2() == ERROR)\ngoto cleanup2;\n\nreturn SUCCESS;\n\ncleanup2:\ndocleanup2();\n\ncleanup1:\ndocleanup1();\n\nreturn ERROR;\n}\nbecomes\ngroup\nfunction()\n{\nif (dostuff1() == ERROR)\ngoto cleanup1;\n\nif (dostuff2() == ERROR)\ngoto cleanup2;\n\nreturn SUCCESS;\n\ncleanup2:\ndocleanup2();\n\ncleanup1:\ndocleanup1();\n\nreturn ERROR;\n}\n\n", "subsections": [] }, "BREAKING LONG LINES": { "content": "With the option ‘-ln’, or ‘--line-lengthn’, it is possible to specify the maximum length of a\nline of C code, not including possible comments that follow it.\n\nWhen lines become longer than the specified line length, GNU indent tries to break the line\nat a logical place. This is new as of version 2.1 however and not very intelligent or flexi‐\nble yet.\n\nCurrently there are three options that allow one to interfere with the algorithm that deter‐\nmines where to break a line.\n\nThe ‘-bbo’ option causes GNU indent to prefer to break long lines before the boolean opera‐\ntors && and ||. The ‘-nbbo’ option causes GNU indent not have that preference. For example,\nthe default option ‘-bbo’ (together with ‘--line-length60’ and ‘--ignore-newlines’) makes\ncode look like this:\n\nif (mask\n&& ((mask[0] == ’\\0’)\n|| (mask[1] == ’\\0’\n&& ((mask[0] == ’0’) || (mask[0] == ’*’)))))\n\nUsing the option ‘-nbbo’ will make it look like this:\n\nif (mask &&\n((mask[0] == ’\\0’) ||\n(mask[1] == ’\\0’ &&\n((mask[0] == ’0’) || (mask[0] == ’*’)))))\n\nThe default ‘-hnl’, however, honours newlines in the input file by giving them the highest\npossible priority to break lines at. For example, when the input file looks like this:\n\nif (mask\n&& ((mask[0] == ’\\0’)\n|| (mask[1] == ’\\0’ && ((mask[0] == ’0’) || (mask[0] == ’*’)))))\n\nthen using the option ‘-hnl’, or ‘--honour-newlines’, together with the previously mentioned\n‘-nbbo’ and ‘--line-length60’, will cause the output not to be what is given in the last ex‐\nample but instead will prefer to break at the positions where the code was broken in the in‐\nput file:\n\nif (mask\n&& ((mask[0] == ’\\0’)\n|| (mask[1] == ’\\0’ &&\n((mask[0] == ’0’) || (mask[0] == ’*’)))))\n\nThe idea behind this option is that lines which are too long, but are already broken up, will\nnot be touched by GNU indent. Really messy code should be run through indent at least once\nusing the ‘--ignore-newlines’ option though.\n\nThe ‘-gts’ option affects how the gettext standard macros () and N() are treated. The de‐\nfault behavior (or the use of ‘-ngts’) causes indent to treat them as it does other func‐\ntions, so that a long string is broken like the following example.\n\nif (mask)\n{\nwarning (\n(\"This is a long string that stays together.\"));\n}\n\nWith the ‘-gts’ option, the underscore is treated as a part of the string, keeping it tied to\nthe string, and respecting the fact that gettext is unobtrusively providing a localized\nstring. This only works if (\" is together as a unit at the beginning of the string and \")\nis together as a unit at the end.\n\nif (mask)\n{\nwarning\n((\"This is a long string that stays together.\"));\n}\n\n", "subsections": [] }, "DISABLING FORMATTING": { "content": "Formatting of C code may be disabled for portions of a program by embedding special control\ncomments in the program. To turn off formatting for a section of a program, place the dis‐\nabling control comment /* *INDENT-OFF* */ on a line by itself just before that section. Pro‐\ngram text scanned after this control comment is output precisely as input with no modifica‐\ntions until the corresponding enabling comment is scanned on a line by itself. The enabling\ncontrol comment is /* *INDENT-ON* */, and any text following the comment on the line is also\noutput unformatted. Formatting begins again with the input line following the enabling con‐\ntrol comment.\n\nMore precisely, indent does not attempt to verify the closing delimiter (*/) for these C com‐\nments, and any whitespace on the line is totally transparent.\n\nThese control comments also function in their C++ formats, namely // *INDENT-OFF* and // *IN‐\nDENT-ON*.\n\nIt should be noted that the internal state of indent remains unchanged over the course of the\nunformatted section. Thus, for example, turning off formatting in the middle of a function\nand continuing it after the end of the function may lead to bizarre results. It is therefore\nwise to be somewhat modular in selecting code to be left unformatted.\n\nAs a historical note, some earlier versions of indent produced error messages beginning with\n*INDENT. These versions of indent were written to ignore any input text lines which began\nwith such error messages. I have removed this incestuous feature from GNU indent.\n\n", "subsections": [] }, "MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONS": { "content": "To find out what version of indent you have, use the command indent -version. This will re‐\nport the version number of indent, without doing any of the normal processing.\n\nThe ‘-v’ option can be used to turn on verbose mode. When in verbose mode, indent reports\nwhen it splits one line of input into two more more lines of output, and gives some size sta‐\ntistics at completion.\n\nThe ‘-pmt’ option causes indent to preserve the access and modification times on the output\nfiles. Using this option has the advantage that running indent on all source and header\nfiles in a project won’t cause make to rebuild all targets. This option is only available on\nOperating Systems that have the POSIX utime(2) function.\n\n", "subsections": [] }, "BUGS": { "content": "Please report any bugs to bug-indent@gnu.org.\n\nWhen indent is run twice on a file, with the same profile, it should never change that file\nthe second time. With the current design of indent, this can not be guaranteed, and it has\nnot been extensively tested.\n\nindent does not understand C. In some cases this leads to the inability to join lines. The\nresult is that running a file through indent is irreversible, even if the used input file was\nthe result of running indent with a given profile (‘.indent.pro’).\n\nWhile an attempt was made to get indent working for C++, it will not do a good job on any C++\nsource except the very simplest.\n\nindent does not look at the given ‘--line-length’ option when writing comments to the output\nfile. This results often in comments being put far to the right. In order to prohibit in‐\ndent from joining a broken line that has a comment at the end, make sure that the comments\nstart on the first line of the break.\n\nindent does not count lines and comments (see the ‘-v’ option) when indent is turned off with\n/* *INDENT-OFF* */.\n\nComments of the form /*UPPERCASE*/ are not treated as comment but as an identifier, causing\nthem to be joined with the next line. This renders comments of this type useless, unless they\nare embedded in the code to begin with.\n\n", "subsections": [] }, "COPYRIGHT": { "content": "The following copyright notice applies to the indent program. The copyright and copying per‐\nmissions for this manual appear near the beginning of ‘indent.texinfo’ and ‘indent.info’, and\nnear the end of ‘indent.1’.\n\nCopyright (c) 2015 Tim Hentenaar.\nCopyright (c) 2001 David Ingamells.\nCopyright (c) 1999 Carlo Wood.\nCopyright (c) 1995, 1996 Joseph Arceneaux.\nCopyright (c) 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2014 Free Software Foundation\nCopyright (c) 1985 Sun Microsystems, Inc.\nCopyright (c) 1980 The Regents of the University of California.\nCopyright (c) 1976 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.\nAll rights reserved.\n\nRedistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted\nprovided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are\nduplicated in all such forms and that any documentation,\nadvertising materials, and other materials related to such\ndistribution and use acknowledge that the software was developed\nby the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Illinois,\nUrbana, and Sun Microsystems, Inc. The name of either University\nor Sun Microsystems may not be used to endorse or promote products\nderived from this software without specific prior written permission.\nTHIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ‘‘AS IS’’ AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR\nIMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED\nWARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR\nPURPOSE.\n\n\nOptions’ Cross Key\nHere is a list of options alphabetized by long option, to help you find the corresponding\nshort option.\n\n\n--align-with-spaces -as\n--blank-lines-after-commas -bc\n--blank-lines-after-declarations -bad\n--blank-lines-after-procedures -bap\n--blank-lines-before-block-comments -bbb\n--braces-after-if-line -bl\n--braces-after-func-def-line -blf\n--brace-indent -bli\n--braces-after-struct-decl-line -bls\n--braces-on-if-line -br\n--braces-on-func-def-line -brf\n--braces-on-struct-decl-line -brs\n--break-after-boolean-operator -nbbo\n--break-before-boolean-operator -bbo\n--break-function-decl-args -bfda\n--break-function-decl-args-end -bfde\n--case-indentation -clin\n--case-brace-indentation -cbin\n--comment-delimiters-on-blank-lines -cdb\n--comment-indentation -cn\n--continuation-indentation -cin\n--continue-at-parentheses -lp\n--cuddle-do-while -cdw\n--cuddle-else -ce\n--declaration-comment-column -cdn\n--declaration-indentation -din\n--dont-break-function-decl-args -nbfda\n--dont-break-function-decl-args-end -nbfde\n--dont-break-procedure-type -npsl\n--dont-cuddle-do-while -ncdw\n--dont-cuddle-else -nce\n--dont-format-comments -nfca\n--dont-format-first-column-comments -nfc1\n--dont-line-up-parentheses -nlp\n--dont-left-justify-declarations -ndj\n--dont-space-special-semicolon -nss\n--dont-star-comments -nsc\n--dont-tab-align-comments -ntac\n--else-endif-column -cpn\n--format-all-comments -fca\n--format-first-column-comments -fc1\n--gnu-style -gnu\n--honour-newlines -hnl\n--ignore-newlines -nhnl\n--ignore-profile -npro\n--indent-label -iln\n--indent-level -in\n--k-and-r-style -kr\n--leave-optional-blank-lines -nsob\n--leave-preprocessor-space -lps\n--left-justify-declarations -dj\n--line-comments-indentation -dn\n--line-length -ln\n--linux-style -linux\n--no-blank-lines-after-commas -nbc\n--no-blank-lines-after-declarations -nbad\n--no-blank-lines-after-procedures -nbap\n--no-blank-lines-before-block-comments -nbbb\n--no-comment-delimiters-on-blank-lines -ncdb\n--no-space-after-casts -ncs\n--no-parameter-indentation -nip\n--no-space-after-for -nsaf\n--no-space-after-function-call-names -npcs\n--no-space-after-if -nsai\n--no-space-after-parentheses -nprs\n--no-space-after-while -nsaw\n--no-tabs -nut\n--no-verbosity -nv\n--original -orig\n--parameter-indentation -ipn\n--paren-indentation -pin\n--preserve-mtime -pmt\n--preprocessor-indentation -ppin\n--procnames-start-lines -psl\n--remove-preprocessor-space -nlps\n--single-line-conditionals -slc\n--space-after-cast -cs\n--space-after-for -saf\n--space-after-if -sai\n--space-after-parentheses -prs\n--space-after-procedure-calls -pcs\n--space-after-while -saw\n--space-special-semicolon -ss\n--spaces-around-initializers -sar\n--standard-output -st\n--start-left-side-of-comments -sc\n--struct-brace-indentation -sbin\n--swallow-optional-blank-lines -sob\n--tab-size -tsn\n--use-tabs -ut\n--verbose -v\n\n", "subsections": [] }, "RETURN VALUE": { "content": "• 0 means no errors or warnings were found during a successful invocation of the program.\n\n• 2 is returned if errors occur during formatting which do not prevent completion of the for‐\nmatting, but which appear to be manifested by incorrect code (i.e. code which wouldn't\ncompile).\n\n• 3 is returned if formatting of a file is halted because of an error with the file which\nprevents completion of formatting. If more than one input file was specified, indent con‐\ntinues to the next file.\n\n• 4 is returned if a serious internal problem occurs and the entire indent process is termi‐\nnated, even if all specified files have not been processed.\n\n• 64 is returned if an invocation problem (like an incorrect option) prevents any formatting\nto occur.\n", "subsections": [] }, "FILES": { "content": "$HOME/.indent.pro holds default options for indent.\n", "subsections": [] }, "AUTHORS": { "content": "Tim Hentenaar\nCarlo Wood\nJoseph Arceneaux\nJim Kingdon\nDavid Ingamells\n", "subsections": [] }, "HISTORY": { "content": "Derived from the UCB program \"indent\".\n", "subsections": [] }, "COPYING": { "content": "Copyright (C) 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2014, 2015 Free Software Foundation, Inc.\nCopyright (C) 1995, 1996 Joseph Arceneaux. Copyright (C) 1999 Carlo Wood. Copyright (C)\n2001 David Ingamells. Copyright (C) 2013 Łukasz Stelmach. Copyright (C) 2015 Tim Hentenaar.\n\nPermission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this manual provided the\ncopyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.\n\n\n\nINDENT(1)", "subsections": [] } }, "summary": "indent - changes the appearance of a C program by inserting or deleting whitespace.", "flags": [ { "flag": "", "long": "--align-with-spaces", "arg": null, "description": "If using tabs for indentation, use spaces for alignment. See INDENTATION." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--blank-lines-after-declarations", "arg": null, "description": "Force blank lines after the declarations. See BLANK LINES." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--blank-lines-after-procedures", "arg": null, "description": "Force blank lines after procedure bodies. See BLANK LINES." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--blank-lines-before-block-comments", "arg": null, "description": "Force blank lines before block comments. See BLANK LINES." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--break-before-boolean-operator", "arg": null, "description": "Prefer to break long lines before boolean operators. See BREAKING LONG LINES." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--blank-lines-after-commas", "arg": null, "description": "Force newline after comma in declaration. See DECLARATIONS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--braces-after-if-line", "arg": null, "description": "Put braces on line after if, etc. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--braces-after-func-def-line", "arg": null, "description": "Put braces on line following function definition line. See DECLARATIONS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--brace-indent_", "arg": null, "description": "Indent braces n spaces. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--braces-after-struct-decl-line", "arg": null, "description": "Put braces on the line after struct declaration lines. See DECLARATIONS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--braces-on-if-line", "arg": null, "description": "Put braces on line with if, etc. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--braces-on-func-def-line", "arg": null, "description": "Put braces on function definition line. See DECLARATIONS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--braces-on-struct-decl-line", "arg": null, "description": "Put braces on struct declaration line. See DECLARATIONS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--blank-before-sizeof", "arg": null, "description": "Put a space between sizeof and its argument. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--comment-indentation_", "arg": null, "description": "Put comments to the right of code in column n. See COMMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--case-brace-indentation_", "arg": null, "description": "Indent braces after a case label N spaces. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--declaration-comment-column_", "arg": null, "description": "Put comments to the right of the declarations in column n. See COMMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--comment-delimiters-on-blank-lines", "arg": null, "description": "Put comment delimiters on blank lines. See COMMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--cuddle-do-while", "arg": null, "description": "Cuddle while of do {} while; and preceding ‘}’. See COMMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--cuddle-else", "arg": null, "description": "Cuddle else and preceding ‘}’. See COMMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--continuation-indentation_", "arg": null, "description": "Continuation indent of n spaces. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--case-indentation_", "arg": null, "description": "Case label indent of n spaces. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--else-endif-column_", "arg": null, "description": "Put comments to the right of #else and #endif statements in column n. See COMMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--space-after-cast", "arg": null, "description": "Put a space after a cast operator. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--line-comments-indentation_", "arg": null, "description": "Set indentation of comments not to the right of code to n spaces. See COMMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--break-function-decl-args", "arg": null, "description": "Break the line before all arguments in a declaration. See DECLARATIONS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--break-function-decl-args-end", "arg": null, "description": "Break the line after the last argument in a declaration. See DECLARATIONS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--left-justify-declarations", "arg": null, "description": "If -cd 0 is used then comments after declarations are left justified behind the declara‐ tion. See DECLARATIONS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--declaration-indentation_", "arg": null, "description": "Put variables in column n. See DECLARATIONS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--format-first-column-comments", "arg": null, "description": "Format comments in the first column. See COMMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--format-all-comments", "arg": null, "description": "Do not disable all formatting of comments. See COMMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--fix-nested-comments", "arg": null, "description": "Fix nested comments. See COMMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--gnu-style", "arg": null, "description": "Use GNU coding style. This is the default. See COMMON STYLES." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--gettext-strings", "arg": null, "description": "Treat gettext (\"...\") and N(\"...\") as strings rather than as functions. See BREAKING LONG LINES." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--honour-newlines", "arg": null, "description": "Prefer to break long lines at the position of newlines in the input. See BREAKING LONG LINES." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--indent-level_", "arg": null, "description": "Set indentation level to n spaces. See INDENTATION." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--indent-label_", "arg": null, "description": "Set offset for labels to column n. See INDENTATION." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--parameter-indentation_", "arg": null, "description": "Indent parameter types in old-style function definitions by n spaces. See INDENTATION." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--k-and-r-style", "arg": null, "description": "Use Kernighan & Ritchie coding style. See COMMON STYLES." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--line-length_", "arg": null, "description": "Set maximum line length for non-comment lines to n. See BREAKING LONG LINES." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--comment-line-length_", "arg": null, "description": "Set maximum line length for comment formatting to n. See COMMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--linux-style", "arg": null, "description": "Use Linux coding style. See COMMON STYLES." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--continue-at-parentheses", "arg": null, "description": "Line up continued lines at parentheses. See INDENTATION." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--leave-preprocessor-space", "arg": null, "description": "Leave space between ‘#’ and preprocessor directive. See INDENTATION." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--remove-preprocessor-space", "arg": null, "description": "Remove space between ‘#’ and preprocessor directive. See INDENTATION." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-blank-lines-after-declarations", "arg": null, "description": "Do not force blank lines after declarations. See BLANK LINES." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-blank-lines-after-procedures", "arg": null, "description": "Do not force blank lines after procedure bodies. See BLANK LINES." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--break-after-boolean-operator", "arg": null, "description": "Do not prefer to break long lines before boolean operators. See BREAKING LONG LINES." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-blank-lines-after-commas", "arg": null, "description": "Do not force newlines after commas in declarations. See DECLARATIONS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--dont-break-function-decl-args", "arg": null, "description": "Don’t put each argument in a function declaration on a separate line. See DECLARATIONS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-comment-delimiters-on-blank-lines", "arg": null, "description": "Do not put comment delimiters on blank lines. See COMMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--dont-cuddle-do-while", "arg": null, "description": "Do not cuddle } and the while of a do {} while;. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--dont-cuddle-else", "arg": null, "description": "Do not cuddle } and else. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-space-after-casts", "arg": null, "description": "Do not put a space after cast operators. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--dont-left-justify-declarations", "arg": null, "description": "Comments after declarations are treated the same as comments after other statements. See DECLARATIONS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--dont-format-first-column-comments", "arg": null, "description": "Do not format comments in the first column as normal. See COMMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--dont-format-comments", "arg": null, "description": "Do not format any comments. See COMMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-gettext-strings", "arg": null, "description": "Treat gettext (\"...\") and N(\"...\") as normal functions. This is the default. See BREAKING LONG LINES." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--ignore-newlines", "arg": null, "description": "Do not prefer to break long lines at the position of newlines in the input. See BREAKING LONG LINES." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-parameter-indentation", "arg": null, "description": "Zero width indentation for parameters. See INDENTATION." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--dont-line-up-parentheses", "arg": null, "description": "Do not line up parentheses. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-space-after-function-call-names", "arg": null, "description": "Do not put space after the function in function calls. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-space-after-parentheses", "arg": null, "description": "Do not put a space after every ’(’ and before every ’)’. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--dont-break-procedure-type", "arg": null, "description": "Put the type of a procedure on the same line as its name. See DECLARATIONS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-space-after-for", "arg": null, "description": "Do not put a space after every for. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-space-after-if", "arg": null, "description": "Do not put a space after every if. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-space-after-while", "arg": null, "description": "Do not put a space after every while. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--dont-star-comments", "arg": null, "description": "Do not put the ‘*’ character at the left of comments. See COMMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--leave-optional-blank-lines", "arg": null, "description": "Do not swallow optional blank lines. See BLANK LINES." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--dont-space-special-semicolon", "arg": null, "description": "Do not force a space before the semicolon after certain statements. Disables ‘-ss’. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--dont-tab-align-comments", "arg": null, "description": "Do not pad comments out to the nearest tabstop. See COMMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-tabs", "arg": null, "description": "Use spaces instead of tabs. See INDENTATION." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-verbosity", "arg": null, "description": "Disable verbose mode. See MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--original", "arg": null, "description": "Use the original Berkeley coding style. See COMMON STYLES." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--ignore-profile", "arg": null, "description": "Do not read ‘.indent.pro’ files. See INVOKING INDENT." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--pointer-align-left", "arg": null, "description": "Put asterisks in pointer declarations on the left of spaces, next to types: ‘‘char* p’’." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--pointer-align-right", "arg": null, "description": "Put asterisks in pointer declarations on the right of spaces, next to variable names: ‘‘char *p’’. This is the default behavior." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--space-after-procedure-calls", "arg": null, "description": "Insert a space between the name of the procedure being called and the ‘(’. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--paren-indentation_", "arg": null, "description": "Specify the extra indentation per open parentheses ’(’ when a statement is broken.See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--preserve-mtime", "arg": null, "description": "Preserve access and modification times on output files.See MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--preprocessor-indentation_", "arg": null, "description": "Specify the indentation for preprocessor conditional statements.See INDENTATION." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--space-after-parentheses", "arg": null, "description": "Put a space after every ’(’ and before every ’)’. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--procnames-start-lines", "arg": null, "description": "Put the type of a procedure on the line before its name. See DECLARATIONS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--space-after-for", "arg": null, "description": "Put a space after each for. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--space-after-if", "arg": null, "description": "Put a space after each if. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--spaces-around-initializers", "arg": null, "description": "Put a space after the ‘{’ and before the ‘}’ in initializers. See DECLARATIONS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--space-after-while", "arg": null, "description": "Put a space after each while. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--struct-brace-indentation_", "arg": null, "description": "Indent braces of a struct, union or enum N spaces. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--start-left-side-of-comments", "arg": null, "description": "Put the ‘*’ character at the left of comments. See COMMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--single-line-conditionals", "arg": null, "description": "Allow for unbraced conditionals (if, else, etc.) to have their inner statement on the same line. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--swallow-optional-blank-lines", "arg": null, "description": "Swallow optional blank lines. See BLANK LINES." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--space-special-semicolon", "arg": null, "description": "On one-line for and while statements, force a blank before the semicolon. See STATEMENTS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--standard-output", "arg": null, "description": "Write to standard output. See INVOKING INDENT." }, { "flag": "-T", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "See DECLARATIONS." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--tab-size_", "arg": null, "description": "Set tab size to n spaces. See INDENTATION." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--use-tabs", "arg": null, "description": "Use tabs. This is the default. See INDENTATION." }, { "flag": "-v", "long": "--verbose", "arg": null, "description": "Enable verbose mode. See MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONS." }, { "flag": "", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Output the version number of indent. See MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONS." } ], "examples": [], "see_also": [], "tldr": { "source": "official", "description": "Change the appearance of a C/C++ program by inserting or deleting whitespace.", "examples": [ { "description": "Format C/C++ source according to the Linux style guide, automatically back up the original files, and replace with the indented versions", "command": "indent {{-linux|--linux-style}} {{path/to/source1.c path/to/source2.c ...}}" }, { "description": "Format C/C++ source according to the GNU style, saving the indented version to a different file", "command": "indent {{-gnu|--gnu-style}} {{path/to/source.c}} -o {{path/to/indented_source.c}}" }, { "description": "Format C/C++ source according to the style of Kernighan & Ritchie (K&R), no tabs, 3 spaces per indent, and wrap lines at 120 characters", "command": "indent {{-kr|--k-and-r-style}} {{-il|--indent-level}}3 {{-nut|--no-tabs}} {{-l|--line-length}}120 {{path/to/source.c}} -o {{path/to/indented_source.c}}" } ] } }