@Section
   @Title { Tab characters }
   @Tag { tabs }
@Begin
@PP
Tab characters provide a convenient way to indent and align parts of C
tab.c @Index { tab characters in C programs }
programs.  With care, this alignment can be preserved in the final
print even with varying-width fonts.
@PP
The distance between two tab stops in the input file is by default taken
to be 8 characters, which is standard for Unix.  This can be changed with
the @Code "tabin" option.  For example,
@ID @Code "@CP tabin { 4 }"
informs Lout that tab stops occur every 4 characters in the input file.
@PP
The distance between two tab stops in the output file (on the printed
page) is quite a different thing, and it is determined by the value of
the @Code "tabout" option, which must be a Lout length.  For example,
@ID @Code "@CP tabout { 0.5i }"
requests that tab stops be placed at half-inch intervals.  In other
words, a distance of one tab stop in the input will be equivalent to a
distance of half an inch in the output.  For example,
@ID @Code "@CP style { varying } tabout { 3f }"
might produce the following, where tab characters in the input file
have been used for indenting and also to align the comments:
@ID @OneRow @CP style { varying } tabout { 3f } {
struct tnode {			/* the basic node */
	char *word;		/* points to the text */
	int count;		/* number of occurrences */
	struct tnode *left;	/* left child */
	struct tnode *right;	/* right child */
};
}
The value {@Code "3f"} means three times the current font size, and
it is the default value of @Code "tabout" for the @Code { varying }
and @Code { symbol } styles (Section {@NumberOf cpsetup}).  In a
12 point font this is 36 points, or half an inch.
@PP
If @Code "tabout" is made too small, there is a danger that the
alignment might fail.  For example,
@ID @Code "@CP style { varying } tabout { 0.2i }"
produces
@ID @OneRow @CP style { varying } tabout { 0.2i } {
struct tnode {			/* the basic node */
	char *word;		/* points to the text */
	int count;		/* number of occurrences */
	struct tnode *left;	/* left child */
	struct tnode *right;	/* right child */
};
}
given the same C text as the previous example.  The problem here is that
we are asking for @CP { /* } to appear four tab stops or 0.8 inches
from the left edge, and yet the material to its left on the line is
wider than this.  This causes @CP { /* } to be shifted further to the
right than expected, and the alignment is lost.  The only solution is
to increase {@Code "tabout"}.
@PP
In stand-alone mode there are @Code "-t" and @Code "-T" options
equivalent to @Code "tabin" and @Code "tabout" respectively.  For
example, @Code "-T0.5i" produces a half-inch tab width.
@End @Section