Replace tab characters by spaces in your text files with a free open source command line tool for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.
sfk detab=tabsize dir ext1 [ext2 ...] [-to outmask]
replace tabs by spaces within file(s) or text stream.
options
-to outmask do not overwrite original files, but write
to output files according to outmask, e.g.
-to tmp\$path\$base.$ext or -to tmp\$file
-yes if files are selected, really (re)write them.
without -yes, detab is only simulated.
-memlimit=n process files with up to n mbytes (default=300).
-nowarn do not tell about skipped or unreadable files.
see alsosfk scantab list files containing TAB characters.
sfk help opt how to change the memlimit permanently.
sfk view a text file viewer that can show all TAB
characters in blue by pressing CTRL+T.
web referencehttp://stahlworks.com/sfk-detabexamplessfk detab=3 sources .cpp .hpp
replace tabs by up to 3 blanks, within all .cpp and .hpp
files of directory tree "sources".
sfk select -dir src -file .java +detab=4 -to tmp\$file
list all .java files of src, then detab with tabsize 4,
writing all outputs to directory tree "tmp".
sfk detab=4 src .java -relnames -to tmp\$file
nearly the same, however stripping the "src" input directory
name from output file paths (not possible with "+detab" form).
sfk filter mytext.txt +detab=8
detab content of a single file to the console.
to find how many files would need detabbing, type for example:sfk scantab testfiles .hpp .cpp .txt
-> scans directory testfiles, and all subdirectories,
for .hpp, .cpp and .txt files containing tab characters.
example output:
list of files containing tabs:
testfiles\Formats\01-native-tab-crlf.txt
testfiles\Formats\02-crlf.txt
testfiles\Formats\03-native-tab-lf.txt
testfiles\Formats\04-lf.txt
testfiles\Formats\08-head-tail.txt
testfiles\Formats\20-tab-data-line.txt
6 files of 32 contain tabs.
to view TAB characters in your files interactively like this:
- download Depeche View Lite.
- click on "Open", select the folder containing your text files.
- click on the "showtab" button in the right bottom corner.
All TAB characters will be shown in blue, and all blanks in yellow.
to search for TAB characters interactively:
Within Depeche View, use the TAB keyword in your queries, e.g.
- type "TAB " to find all TAB characters.
(Type it all uppercase, and don't forget the blank after TAB)
- type "TAB }" to find all curly brackets } preceeded by a tab:
- type "foo TAB bar" to find the word combination "foo" and "bar"
with exactly one TAB character inbetween. Note that the blanks
around "TAB" are not used in the search.