| INDENT(1) | General Commands Manual | INDENT(1) | 
indent —
| indent | [input-file [output-file]]
      [ -bacc|-nbacc]
      [-bad|-nbad]
      [-badp|-nbadp]
      [-bap|-nbap]
      [-bbb|-nbbb]
      [-bc|-nbc]
      [-bl|-br]
      [-bs|-nbs]
      [-cn]
      [-cdn]
      [-cdb|-ncdb]
      [-ce|-nce]
      [-cin]
      [-clin]
      [-cs|-ncs]
      [-dn]
      [-din]
      [-dj|-ndj]
      [-ei|-nei]
      [-eei|-neei]
      [-fbs|-nfbs]
      [-fc1|-nfc1]
      [-fcb|-nfcb]
      [-in]
      [-ip|-nip]
      [-ln]
      [-lcn]
      [-ldin]
      [-lp|-nlp]
      [-lpl|-nlpl]
      [-npro]
      [-Pfile]
      [-pcs|-npcs]
      [-psl|-npsl]
      [-sc|-nsc]
      [-sob|-nsob]
      [-st] [-ta]
      [-Ttypename]
      [-tsn]
      [-Ufile]
      [-ut|-nut]
      [-v|-nv]
      [--version] | 
indent utility is a C program
  formatter. It reformats the C program in the
  input-file according to the switches. The switches which
  can be specified are described below. They may appear before or after the file
  names.
NOTE: If you only specify an
    input-file, the formatting is done `in-place', that
    is, the formatted file is written back into input-file
    and a backup copy of input-file is written in the
    current directory. If input-file is named
    ‘/blah/blah/file’, the backup file is
    named ‘file.BAK’ by default. The
    extension used for the backup file may be overridden using the
    SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX environment variable.
If output-file is specified,
    indent checks to make sure that it is different from
    input-file.
The options listed below control the formatting style imposed by
    indent.
-bacc,
    -nbacc-bacc is specified, a blank line is forced
      around every conditional compilation block. For example, in front of every
      #ifdef and after every #endif. Other blank lines surrounding such blocks
      will be swallowed. Default: -nbacc.-bad,
    -nbad-bad is specified, a blank line is forced after
      every block of declarations. Default: -nbad.-badp,
    -nbadp-bad except that it
      only applies to the first set of declarations in a procedure (just after
      the first `{') and it causes a blank line to be generated even if there
      are no declarations. The default is -nbadp.-bap,
    -nbap-bap is specified, a blank line is forced after
      every procedure body. Default: -nbap.-bbb,
    -nbbb-bbb is specified, a blank line is forced
      before every block comment. Default: -nbbb.-bc,
    -nbc-bc is specified, then a newline is forced
      after each comma in a declaration. -nbc turns off
      this option. Default: -nbc.-bl,
    -br-bl lines up compound statements like
      this:
    
if (...)
{
  code
}
    
    Specifying -br (the default) makes
        them look like this:
if (...) {
  code
}
    
    -bs,
    -nbs-nbs.-cn-cdn-cdb,
    -ncdb
	/*
	 * this is a comment
	 */
    
    Rather than like this:
	/* this is a comment */
    
    This only affects block comments, not comments to the right of
        code. The default is -cdb.
-ce,
    -nce-ce.-cin-lp is in effect or
      the continuation indent is exactly half of the main indent.
      -ci defaults to the same value as
      -i.-clinswitch statement.
      -cli0.5 causes case labels to be indented half a
      tab stop. The default is -cli0.-cs,
    -ncs-ncs.-dn-d1 means that such comments are placed
      one indentation level to the left of code. Specifying the default
      -d0 lines up these comments with the code. See the
      section on comment indentation below.-din-di16.-dj,
    -ndj-dj
      left justifies declarations. -ndj indents
      declarations the same as code. The default is
      -ndj.-ei,
    -neielse-if processing. If
      it is enabled, an if following an
      else will have the same indentation as the
      preceding if statement. The default is
      -ei.-eei,
    -neeiif and
      while statements. These continuation lines will be
      indented one extra level. The default is
    -neei.-fbs,
    -nfbs-fbs.-fc1,
    -nfc1-nfc1
      should be used. The default is -fc1.-fcb,
    -nfcb-nfcb should be
      used. Block comments are then handled like box comments. The default is
      -fcb.-in-ip,
    -nip-ip.-ln-lcn-l.-ldin-lp,
    -nlp-lp, if a line has a left paren which is not
      closed on that line, then continuation lines will be lined up to start at
      the character position just after the left paren. For example, here is how
      a piece of continued code looks with -nlp in
      effect:
    
p1 = first_procedure(second_procedure(p2, p3),
  third_procedure(p4, p5));
    
    With -lp in effect (the default) the
        code looks somewhat clearer:
p1 = first_procedure(second_procedure(p2, p3),
                     third_procedure(p4, p5));
    
    Inserting two more newlines we get:
p1 = first_procedure(second_procedure(p2,
                                      p3),
                     third_procedure(p4,
                                     p5));
    
    -lpl,
    -nlpl-lpl, code surrounded by parentheses in
      continuation lines is lined up even if it would extend past the right
      margin. With -nlpl (the default), such a line that
      would extend past the right margin is moved left to keep it within the
      margin, if that does not require placing it to the left of the prevailing
      indentation level. These switches have no effect if
      -nlp is selected.-npro-Pfile-pcs,
    -npcs-pcs) all procedure calls will have a
      space inserted between the name and the `('. The default is
      -npcs.-psl,
    -npsl-psl) the names of procedures being
      defined are placed in column 1 - their types, if any, will be left on the
      previous lines. The default is -psl.-sc,
    -nsc-sc.-sob,
    -nsob-sob is specified, indent will swallow optional
      blank lines. You can use this to get rid of blank lines after
      declarations. Default: -nsob.-stindent to take its input from stdin and put
      its output to stdout.-ta-Ttypename-T can be specified more than once.
      You need to specify all the typenames that appear in your program that are
      defined by typedef - nothing will be harmed if you
      miss a few, but the program will not be formatted as nicely as it should.
      This sounds like a painful thing to have to do, but it is really a symptom
      of a problem in C: typedef causes a syntactic
      change in the language and indent cannot find all
      instances of typedef.-tsn-Ufile-ut,
    -nut-ut.-v,
    -nv-v
      turns on `verbose' mode; -nv turns it off. When in
      verbose mode, indent reports when it splits one
      line of input into two or more lines of output, and gives some size
      statistics at completion. The default is -nv.--versionindent to print its version number and
      exit.You may set up your own `profile' of defaults to
    indent by creating a file called
    .indent.pro in your login directory and/or the
    current directory and including whatever switches you like. A `.indent.pro'
    in the current directory takes precedence over the one in your login
    directory. If indent is run and a profile file
    exists, then it is read to set up the program's defaults. Switches on the
    command line, though, always override profile switches. The switches should
    be separated by spaces, tabs or newlines.
indent utility assumes that any comment with a dash or
  star immediately after the start of comment (that is, `/*-' or `/**') is a
  comment surrounded by a box of stars. Each line of such a comment is left
  unchanged, except that its indentation may be adjusted to account for the
  change in indentation of the first line of the comment.
Straight text. All other comments are treated as
    straight text. The indent utility fits as many words
    (separated by blanks, tabs, or newlines) on a line as possible. Blank lines
    break paragraphs.
-cn command line
  parameter. Otherwise, the comment is started at n
  indentation levels less than where code is currently being placed, where
  n is specified by the
  -dn command line parameter. If
  the code on a line extends past the comment column, the comment starts further
  to the right, and the right margin may be automatically extended in extreme
  cases.
indent leaves preprocessor lines alone. The
  only reformatting that it will do is to straighten up trailing comments. It
  leaves embedded comments alone. Conditional compilation
  (#ifdef...#endif) is recognized and
  indent attempts to correctly compensate for the
  syntactic peculiarities introduced.
indent utility understands a substantial amount
  about the syntax of C, but it has a `forgiving' parser. It attempts to cope
  with the usual sorts of incomplete and malformed syntax. In particular, the
  use of macros like:
#define forever for(;;)is handled properly.
indent utility uses the HOME
  environment variable.
indent command appeared in
  4.2BSD.
indent utility has even more switches than
  ls(1).
A common mistake is to try to indent all the C programs in a directory by typing:
indent *.cThis is probably a bug, not a feature.
| June 11, 2018 | NetBSD 9.4 |