| To access the Options window, select from the main menu: | Tools > Options (Windows® and Linux®) |
| mplab_ide > Preferences (macOS®) |
The Formatting tab in the Editor category controls the editor's automatic code formatting feature. Formatting rules such as the placement of braces, line alignment and spacing can all be specified here. These settings will determine how code is formatted when using features like code templates and the Format command under the Source menu.
Language: All Languages
1
Language
When set to All Languages…
2
Category
3
Properties
These settings for All Languages are overridden by default in the language-specific settings. Changing these values will have no effect unless you uncheck Override Global Options in the language-specific settings (C, C++ and C/C++ Header).
| Property | Possible Values |
| Expand Tabs to Spaces | Yes/No |
| Number of Spaces per Indent | Number of Spaces |
| Tab Size | Number of Spaces |
4
Right Margin
This property determines where the vertical red line is displayed in the editor, indicating what should be the maximum length of a line, specified as the number of characters. This is useful if you want to ensure your code can be printed in the width of a single page or if you are concerned about lines running too long, requiring scrolling to the right to view their ends.
The setting is only a visual cue and does not enforce the right margin, so you can continue typing lines as long as you wish.
If you want to eliminate the red line altogether, set the right margin to 0.
5
Example
The example box provides live, visual feedback as you change properties on the left side of the window. The sample code is displayed, reflecting the settings you specified.
Language: C, C++ and C/C++ Header
1
Language
When set to C, C++, or C/C++ Header you will be presented with an identical set of properties as shown below. Each set of properties are independent of one another, making it possible for C to have completely different settings from C++.
2
Category
The Category box acts as a filter for the Properties grid below. Each section in the Properties grid has a grey heading that corresponds to one of the categories in this list.
3
Override Global Options
Allow properties for this language's settings to override properties in the All Languages settings (enabled by default).
4
Style
This drop-down box lets you choose from a list of style presets for the selected language. Clicking on the Manage button will let you add, modify, delete, or create your own custom style preset.
5
Properties
In this section, you are presented with a list of all the formatting choices that programmers love to argue with each other about. These properties will be applied to a selected file whenever you select from the main menu Source ► Format. They will also be applied to individual blocks of code, added in via the Code Templates mechanism.
| Property | Possible Values |
| Indents | |
| Indent Size | Number of Spaces |
| Expand Tabs to Spaces | Yes/No |
| Tab Size | Number of Spaces |
| Statement Continuation Indent | Number of Spaces |
| Constructor Continuation Initializer List | Number of Spaces |
| Preprocessor Directives Indent | None Code Preprocessor |
| # at Start Line | Yes/No |
| Indent Namespaces | Yes/No |
| Indent Case Statements in Switch | Yes/No |
| Absolute Label Indentation | Yes/No |
| Indent Visibility | None Half Indent |
| Keep Extra Spaces | Yes/No |
| Braces Placement | |
| Namespace Declaration | Same Line New Line New Line Half Indented |
| Class Declaration | Same Line New Line New Line Half Indented |
| Function Declaration | Same Line New Line New Line Half Indented |
| Ignore Empty Function Body | Yes/No |
| "switch" Statement | Same Line New Line New Line Half Indented |
| Other | Same Line New Line New Line Half Indented |
| Multiline Alignment | |
| Function Parameters | Yes/No |
| Function Call Arguments | Yes/No |
| Array Initializer | Yes/No |
| "for" Statement | Yes/No |
| "if" Statement | Yes/No |
| "while" Statement | Yes/No |
| Other Parenthesis | Yes/No |
| New Line | |
| Function Name | Yes/No |
| "catch" | Yes/No |
| "else" | Yes/No |
| "while" | Yes/No |
| Spaces Before Keywords | |
| "catch" | Yes/No |
| "else" | Yes/No |
| "while" | Yes/No |
| Spaces Before Parentheses | |
| Function Declaration | Yes/No |
| Function Call | Yes/No |
| "catch" | Yes/No |
| "for" | Yes/No |
| "if" | Yes/No |
| "switch" | Yes/No |
| "while" | Yes/No |
| Other Keywords | Yes/No |
| Spaces Around Operators | |
| Assignment Operators | Yes/No |
| Binary Operators | Yes/No |
| Ternary Operators | Yes/No |
| Unary Operators | Yes/No |
| Spaces Before Left Braces | |
| Class Declaration | Yes/No |
| Function Declaration | Yes/No |
| Array Initializer | Yes/No |
| "catch" | Yes/No |
| "do" | Yes/No |
| "else" | Yes/No |
| "for" | Yes/No |
| "if" | Yes/No |
| "switch" | Yes/No |
| "try" | Yes/No |
| "while" | Yes/No |
| Spaces Within Parentheses | |
| Function Declaration | Yes/No |
| Function Call | Yes/No |
| Braces | Yes/No |
| Parentheses | Yes/No |
| "catch" | Yes/No |
| "for" | Yes/No |
| "if" | Yes/No |
| "switch" | Yes/No |
| Type Cast | Yes/No |
| "while" | Yes/No |
| Other Spaces | |
| Before Comma | Yes/No |
| After Comma | Yes/No |
| Before Semicolon | Yes/No |
| After Semicolon | Yes/No |
| Before Colon | Yes/No |
| After Colon | Yes/No |
| After Type Cast | Yes/No |
| Blank Lines | |
| Before Class | Number of Lines |
| After Class Header | Number of Lines |
| Before Function | Number of Lines |
| Other | |
| Add leading star in comment | Yes/No |
6
Example
The example box provides live, visual feedback as you change properties on the left side of the window. The sample code is displayed, reflecting the settings you specified.