Creating and removing tabs in vim

Question

How can I add and remove tabs in normal mode in vim? Also, how can I add and remove tabs in visual mode (like selecting a code block in a regular editor and hitting tab or shift tab?

Answer 1

in visual mode: select some text, usually a line with V and then hit Shift > or Shift < (to untab)

edit: if it's a line you want to indent then you don't have to select a line, just put the cursor on any line and hit the above shortcuts.

Answer 2

That would be the < and > commands.

Examples:

>>

Shift the current line one tab to the right

10<<

Shift the next ten lines one to the left

>'a

Shift the lines from the cursor to the mark a one to the right

>j

Shift the current line, and the one below it, one to the right.

Which is, of course, the generic >{range}, so very flexible.