Most "programmers' editors" have an option to use spaces instead of 
tabs, and to set the number of spaces to use.
Emacs has commands (look for "tabify" and "untabify" in the online help) 
to replace tabs with spaces, and vice-versa with a single keystroke.

Note: Most programmers prefer to use spaces instead of tabs because tab 
sizes vary between machines, programs, and even within a single 
program.  As long as a fixed-width font is used, spaces are always the 
same size.  This helps a lot when reviewing code written by someone 
else, as it ensures that things line up correctly on the reviewer's system.

Craig White wrote:

>IANAP (I am not a programmer)   ;-)
>
>but I have been impersonating one lately...
>
>I submitted code to horde project and one thing they objected to was
>using tabs for indents instead of spaces. I now know how to create
>unified diffs, diffs against cvs and this all is a learning process for
>me.
>
>Language is php
>
>Editor is emacs
>
>It seems that there are times when tabs are automatically converted into
>space indentations and sometimes they aren't.
>
>Is there a method to convert all the tabs to spaces?
>
>Craig
>
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