Variable: picture-tab-chars

picture-tab-chars is a customizable variable defined in picture.el.gz.

Value

"!-~"

Documentation

A character set which controls behavior of commands.

M-x picture-set-tab-stops (picture-set-tab-stops) and M-x picture-tab-search (picture-tab-search). The syntax for this variable is like the syntax used inside of [...] in a regular expression--but without the [ and the ]. It is NOT a regular expression, and should follow the usual rules for the contents of a character alternative. It defines a set of "interesting characters" to look for when setting
(or searching for) tab stops, initially "!-~" (all printing characters).
For example, suppose that you are editing a table which is formatted thus:
| foo | bar + baz | 23 *
| bubbles | and + etc | 97 *
and that picture-tab-chars is "|+*". Then invoking M-x picture-set-tab-stops (picture-set-tab-stops) on either of the previous lines would result in the following tab stops
: : : :
Another example - "A-Za-z0-9" would produce the tab stops
  : : : :

Note that if you want the character - to be in the set, it must be included in a range or else appear in a context where it cannot be taken for indicating a range (e.g. "-A-Z" declares the set to be the letters A through Z and the character -). If you want the character \ in the set it must be preceded by itself: "\\\\".

The command M-x picture-tab-search (picture-tab-search) is defined to move beneath (or to) a character belonging to this set independent of the tab stops list.

View in manual

Source Code

;; Defined in /usr/src/emacs/lisp/textmodes/picture.el.gz
;; Picture Tabs

(defcustom picture-tab-chars "!-~"
  "A character set which controls behavior of commands.
\\[picture-set-tab-stops] and \\[picture-tab-search].
The syntax for this variable is like the syntax used inside of `[...]'
in a regular expression--but without the `[' and the `]'.
It is NOT a regular expression, and should follow the usual
rules for the contents of a character alternative.
It defines a set of \"interesting characters\" to look for when setting
\(or searching for) tab stops, initially \"!-~\" (all printing characters).
For example, suppose that you are editing a table which is formatted thus:
| foo		| bar + baz | 23  *
| bubbles	| and + etc | 97  *
and that `picture-tab-chars' is \"|+*\".  Then invoking
\\[picture-set-tab-stops] on either of the previous lines would result
in the following tab stops
		:     :     :     :
Another example - \"A-Za-z0-9\" would produce the tab stops
  :		  :	:     :

Note that if you want the character `-' to be in the set, it must be
included in a range or else appear in a context where it cannot be
taken for indicating a range (e.g. \"-A-Z\" declares the set to be the
letters `A' through `Z' and the character `-').  If you want the
character `\\' in the set it must be preceded by itself: \"\\\\\".

The command \\[picture-tab-search] is defined to move beneath (or to) a
character belonging to this set independent of the tab stops list."
  :type 'string)