Vim newbie question about formatting code

Question

I just started learning vim and am wondering how I can get it to auto format some code.  For example:
check() {
for i in $nodes; do
ping -c 1 $i > /dev/null
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
echo "Looks like $i is up so initializing the cluster on it."
ssh $i "\$HOME/bin/cluster-setup.sh"
fi
done
I have tabstop=3 in my ~/.vimrc and I'd just like to apply formatting to that code block so it looks like:
check() {
for i in $nodes; do
ping -c 1 $i > /dev/null
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
echo "Looks like $i is up so initializing the cluster on it."
ssh $i "\$HOME/bin/cluster-setup.sh"
fi
done
I read about =i{ but it has no effect for me.
Thanks!
Last edited by graysky (2011-06-18 14:32:18)

Answer 1

graysky,
If you want vim to autoindent while typing, customize your ~/.vimrc file. I posted mine here: http://linuxandsuch.wordpress.com/2011/06/19/my-vimrc/ a few days back. I recommend all the options.
However, if you want to indent an already existing file use the indent program. Install with
sudo pacman -S indent
And then, to indent your file, run:
indent myfile.c
I'd recommend reading the manpage for indent to learn to tweak it to your coding style though .