Delete space-expanded “tab” in Vim with one keystroke?

Question

I edit python code with Vim.

With tab key I get four spaces inserted for indentation, how can I delete those spaces with one "Backspace"(?) stroke - instead of four?

There has to be some "set" option for that...

Here is my .vimrc:

set autoindent
set ts=4
set sw=4
set et

Answer 1

You can use Ctrl+D to back up one tab stop. This actually moves the whole line to the left one tab stop; Ctrl+T does the same thing to the right. Note that these keystrokes only work in Insert mode (use << and >> for the equivalent in Command mode).

Answer 2

set softtabstop=4

Answer 3

Several options:

1. You could 'retab' all whitespaces so they're replaced with tabs. That way they could be easily deleted.
2. You could (this is untested, so I'm just proposing ideas here) make a function which 'execute's in normal mode 4 times the backspace key. Then map it to something. However, it has no way of knowing whether it will delete spaces or some important characters, so this is potentially unsafe.
3. '4X' will delete the last 4 characters (that's big X, not small, small one will act like the Del key'.

Answer 4

I wrote GreedyBackspace.vim for someone who wanted something like this. I don't personally use it so it's been a while since I've updated it. I haven't received any bug reports on it lately, though.

Answer 5

Have you checked using the expand tabs setting in your VIM?

:set noet

I usually prefer keeping the tabs on while working on the files.
When it is required, I replace the tabs to 4 spaces or as many as required.

:%s/<ctrl+V><tab>/    /g
                  ----

As a small bonus, your source file is shorter by 3 chars per tab :-)

Answer 6

I don't think there's a way. Once the tab key is expanded to four spaces, vim has no way of knowing they were ever a tab.