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Modelines

The Modelines plugin allows gedit to analyze the lines of text at the start and end of a file, and then apply a set of document preferences to the file. The Modelines plugin supports a subset of the options used by the Emacs, Kate and Vim text editors.

To enable the Modelines plugin, select gedit ▸ Preferences ▸ Plugins ▸ Modelines.

General Modeline Options

The following options can be set using gedit modelines:

  • Tab width

  • Indent width

  • Inserting spaces instead of tabs

  • Text Wrapping

  • Right margin width

Preferences set using modelines take precedence over the ones specified in the preference dialog.

Emacs Modelines

The first two lines of a document are scanned for Emacs modelines, and gedit supports the following Emacs modeline options:

  • Tab-width

  • Indent-offset

  • Indent-tabs-mode

  • Text auto-wrap

For more information on Emacs modelines, visit the GNU Emacs Manual.

Kate Modelines

The first and last ten lines a document are scanned for Kate modelines, and gedit supports the following Kate modeline options:

  • tab-width

  • indent-width

  • space-indent

  • word-wrap

  • word-wrap-column

For more information about Kate modelines, visit the Kate website.

Vim Modelines

The first and last three lines a document are scanned for Vim modelines, and gedit supports the following Vim modeline options:

  • et (expandtab)

  • ts (tabstop)

  • sw (shiftwidth)

  • wrap

  • textwidth

For more information on Vim modelines, visit the Vim website.