How to indent a block of text rightward by 2 whitespace characters in Emacs?

Question

How to indent a block of text rightward by 2 whitespace characters in Emacs?

How to indent a block of text rightward by 4 whitespace characters in Emacs?

[EDIT] I need a method that doesn't interfere with CUA mode.

Answer 1

Try the key binding C-x TAB (aka C-x C-i) which is bound to indent-rigidly, which indents a region by a single space.

So, you'd indent by two by pressing that twice setting the region around the code you want to indent and typing:

C-x C-i C-x C-i

Or, you can pass a numeric prefix with

C-u 2 C-x C-i

To get 4 spaces, do a prefix with 4

C-u 4 C-x C-i

And, as a bonus, you can remove spaces with a negative prefix argument. Removing 4 spaces is accomplished by

C-u - 4 C-x C-i

Answer 2

You can also use Rectangles.

Mark the beginning of the region with C-Space, go to then end of the region and then type C-xrtRET.

Example:

v----------------------- cursor position
blabla bla bla bla
bla bla bla
bla bla bla

C-SpaceC-nC-n

blabla bla bla bla
bla bla bla
bla bla bla
^----------------------- cursor position

C-xrtM-2RET

  blabla bla bla bla
  bla bla bla
  bla bla bla
  ^----------------------- cursor position

Answer 3

I noticed your edit "I need a method that doesn't interfere with CUA mode." Assuming you have CUA mode enabled, I would also like to recommend you to try C-Enter (cua-set-rectangle-mark). Here is the sequence that works for me.

1. Move the cursor to the start (top-left) of the block.
2. Press C-ENTER.
3. Move the cursor down to the end (bottom-left) of the block.
4. Press SPACE twice or four times depending on your indentation width.
5. Press C-ENTER to quit the selection.