Topic: Remove whitespace on save

Can anyone tell me what the editor option, 'Remove whitespace on save',  does?
It sounds v. useful but I've avoided using it before now in case it does something irretrievable which I later decide I didn't want.
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John

  • jeff
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Re: Remove whitespace on save

This option will remove trailing whitespace on every line of the file when the file is saved.  The option can be useful if you're working with source control systems to eliminate false "differences" that are based solely on extra spaces at the end of a line.

Jeff Armstrong
Approximatrix, LLC

Re: Remove whitespace on save

That WILL be useful, thank you.
I'm forever altering it myself, especially in blank lines where I entered a RETURN after an indented statements.

Is that trailing blanks ONLY?
No in-line changes?
What about tabs and spaces?  Not touched?
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John

  • jeff
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Re: Remove whitespace on save

The option will only remove trailing spaces (and tabs).  Nothing within a line will be touched.  A line with only spaces or tabs will have all it's spaces and tabs removed.

I actually added the feature after collaborating on an open-source project (SciPy, or Scientific Python).  Another developer requested that I trim trailing spaces because my code was causing fake "changes" in the project's source control.

Jeff Armstrong
Approximatrix, LLC