Talk:Tab key

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Proposed Move

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the debate was move -- tariqabjotu (joturner) 22:58, 1 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Tab → Tab key
Tab (disambiguation) → Tab

Rationale: It is nearly always called the tab key not the tab, and anyone searching for tab is just as likely to be looking for index card, GUI, musical or restaurant tabs.

Joe Llywelyn Griffith Blakesley _talk _contrib 15:52, 26 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Survey

Add *Support or *Oppose followed by an optional one-sentence explanation, then sign your opinion with ~~~~

Support; "Tab key" removes ambiguity. David Kernow 17:29, 26 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Support. Tab key should be added to the dab page after the move. Vegaswikian 22:52, 26 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Support, good call. --Dhartung | Talk 04:08, 27 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Support, this usage is not so prevalent to deserve the "undecorated" title. Duja 12:27, 27 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Discussion

Add any additional comments

Character vs. Key

Looking at this again, most of the article seems to be about the character rather than the key. Maybe it should have been moved to Tab (character)? It is probably OK where it is, as the character is derived from the key and is almost wholly used for indentation or tabulation. However, I would be grateful if anyone could comment on this before I disambiguate all the links to tab.

Joe Llywelyn Griffith Blakesley _talk _contrib 02:24, 2 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

But it isn't a character. -PatPeter 01:40, 7 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

programable printers

IBM Key punches were card programmable. You programmed the tab stops (among other things) on a punch card, and loaded the card onto the control drum. 150.101.166.15 06:08, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Human factors

A subtle reason why many people don't like the tabs is because the tab key is on the left edge of the key board. Very few people are aware of the extent to which human factors like keyboard layout precondition their responses. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 150.101.166.15 (talk) 06:14, 21 March 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Bias: Tabs in programming

"This of course is wrong; good programming practice means ..."

Clearly this is an opinion, it needs removing or a citation, though there are no rules written in stone regarding the construction of code.

A description of the "Tab key" doesn't need to mention programming in the first place. This page should really focus on the origins of the key, modern applications up till the last decade or so, and that's all. I'm pulling the whole section on 'whitespace in programming' because it has nothing to do with the tab key. The HTML section is pushing it, IMHO, but it sort of completes the tables on a typewriter -> printer control code -> on screen formatting evolution. Still, the HTML part could be replaced with something more generic, like a description of tab stops in word processors. A very, very brief mention of how the tab key is overloaded for a number of different computing tasks might cut it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.174.64.232 (talk) 07:11, 21 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Bias: "most incompatibility and conversion issues"

The following statement is biased:

"The most incompatibility and conversion issues ensue when the tab key generates HT characters and the editor is configured for tab stops spaced anything but the de facto standard, which for Unix, Unix-derived systems and older systems is every 8 characters and for Windows programming, every 4 characters. Interesting possibilities include 2 and even 3."

First, it would be interesting to see a citation that that is the most common problem. Second, the "problem" described isn't really even a problem in most cases because indentation is for indentaton, not formatting, and any code that doesn't look right unless indented a certain width is sloppy code. Third, a common problem (in my experience) is inconsistent spaces-for-tabs, where part of the program has four space indents, others have five, or two, or eight.

I move that we have a general summary of the arguments for and against. In fact, I move that the whole issue get its own article.

SnappingTurtle (talk) 19:44, 15 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

back tab key

What is a back tab key? Is it still in use today?--92.227.164.68 (talk) 08:07, 12 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]