Tabular resets the cursor position to the beginning of the line

[voidus]

After running :Tabularize, the cursor is at the beginning of the line.

It would be nice if it was in the same logical position, so that running :Tabularize /= on

barfarbaz = foo
x = C

becomes

barfarbaz = foo
x         = C

with the cursor being on C in both cases. I hope you can understand what I mean.

[voidus]

Okay, I've been investigating this, and it might be a vim bug. I ran the function with :debug 20verbose Tabularize /somethingnotpresent and repeatedly checked col('.'). It jumped to 1 right after entering the Tabularize function...

> vim --version
VIM - Vi IMproved 7.4 (2013 Aug 10, compiled Jan 10 2014 09:33:13)
Included patches: 1-135
Compiled by Arch Linux
Huge version with GTK2 GUI.  Features included (+) or not (-):
+acl             +farsi           +mouse_netterm   +syntax
+arabic          +file_in_path    +mouse_sgr       +tag_binary
+autocmd         +find_in_path    -mouse_sysmouse  +tag_old_static
+balloon_eval    +float           +mouse_urxvt     -tag_any_white
+browse          +folding         +mouse_xterm     -tcl
++builtin_terms  -footer          +multi_byte      +terminfo
+byte_offset     +fork()          +multi_lang      +termresponse
+cindent         +gettext         -mzscheme        +textobjects
+clientserver    -hangul_input    +netbeans_intg   +title
+clipboard       +iconv           +path_extra      +toolbar
+cmdline_compl   +insert_expand   +perl            +user_commands
+cmdline_hist    +jumplist        +persistent_undo +vertsplit
+cmdline_info    +keymap          +postscript      +virtualedit
+comments        +langmap         +printer         +visual
+conceal         +libcall         +profile         +visualextra
+cryptv          +linebreak       +python          +viminfo
+cscope          +lispindent      -python3         +vreplace
+cursorbind      +listcmds        +quickfix        +wildignore
+cursorshape     +localmap        +reltime         +wildmenu
+dialog_con_gui  +lua             +rightleft       +windows
+diff            +menu            +ruby            +writebackup
+digraphs        +mksession       +scrollbind      +X11
+dnd             +modify_fname    +signs           -xfontset
-ebcdic          +mouse           +smartindent     +xim
+emacs_tags      +mouseshape      -sniff           +xsmp_interact
+eval            +mouse_dec       +startuptime     +xterm_clipboard
+ex_extra        +mouse_gpm       +statusline      -xterm_save
+extra_search    -mouse_jsbterm   -sun_workshop    -xpm
   system vimrc file: "/etc/vimrc"
     user vimrc file: "$HOME/.vimrc"
 2nd user vimrc file: "~/.vim/vimrc"
      user exrc file: "$HOME/.exrc"
  system gvimrc file: "/etc/gvimrc"
    user gvimrc file: "$HOME/.gvimrc"
2nd user gvimrc file: "~/.vim/gvimrc"
    system menu file: "$VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim"
  fall-back for $VIM: "/usr/share/vim"
Compilation: gcc -c -I. -Iproto -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -DFEAT_GUI_GTK  -pthread -I/usr/include/gtk-2.0 -I/usr/lib/gtk-2.0/include -I/usr/include/pango-1.0 -I/usr/include/atk-1.0 -I/usr/include/cairo -I/usr/include/pixman-1 -I/usr/include/libdrm -I/usr/include/libpng16 -I/usr/include/gdk-pixbuf-2.0 -I/usr/include/libpng16 -I/usr/include/pango-1.0 -I/usr/include/harfbuzz -I/usr/include/pango-1.0 -I/usr/include/glib-2.0 -I/usr/lib/glib-2.0/include -I/usr/include/freetype2  -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2  -march=x86-64 -mtune=generic -O2 -pipe -fstack-protector --param=ssp-buffer-size=4 -U_FORTIFY_SOURCE -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=1      
Linking: gcc   -L. -Wl,-O1,--sort-common,--as-needed,-z,relro -fstack-protector -rdynamic -Wl,-export-dynamic -Wl,-E -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib/perl5/core_perl/CORE  -Wl,-O1,--sort-common,--as-needed,-z,relro -L/usr/local/lib -Wl,--as-needed -o vim   -lgtk-x11-2.0 -lgdk-x11-2.0 -lpangocairo-1.0 -latk-1.0 -lcairo -lgdk_pixbuf-2.0 -lgio-2.0 -lpangoft2-1.0 -lpango-1.0 -lgobject-2.0 -lglib-2.0 -lfontconfig -lfreetype  -lSM -lICE -lXt -lX11 -lXdmcp -lSM -lICE  -lm -lncurses -lelf -lnsl   -lacl -lattr -lgpm -ldl  -L/usr/lib -llua -Wl,-E -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib/perl5/core_perl/CORE -Wl,-O1,--sort-common,--as-needed,-z,relro -fstack-protector -L/usr/local/lib  -L/usr/lib/perl5/core_perl/CORE -lperl -lnsl -ldl -lm -lcrypt -lutil -lpthread -lc -L/usr/lib/python2.7/config -lpython2.7 -lpthread -ldl -lutil -lm -Xlinker -export-dynamic   -lruby -lpthread -lgmp -ldl -lcrypt -lm  -L/usr/lib 

[voidus]

Basically, it should do what tpope does at https://gist.github.com/tpope/287147

[table-delete]

I'm seeing the same issue while I'm typing. For example, when I'm typing the second delimiter in my config file:

config {
  foo => true
  foobar =_

...as soon as I complete the delimiter my cursor zooms back to column one!

config {
  foo    => true
_ foobar =>

My vim config:

VIM - Vi IMproved 7.4 (2013 Aug 10, compiled Jan  2 2014 19:39:47)
Included patches: 1-52
Modified by pkg-vim-maintainers@lists.alioth.debian.org
Compiled by buildd@
Huge version with GTK2-GNOME GUI.  Features included (+) or not (-):
+acl             +farsi           +mouse_netterm   +syntax
+arabic          +file_in_path    +mouse_sgr       +tag_binary
+autocmd         +find_in_path    -mouse_sysmouse  +tag_old_static
+balloon_eval    +float           +mouse_urxvt     -tag_any_white
+browse          +folding         +mouse_xterm     +tcl
++builtin_terms  -footer          +multi_byte      +terminfo
+byte_offset     +fork()          +multi_lang      +termresponse
+cindent         +gettext         -mzscheme        +textobjects
+clientserver    -hangul_input    +netbeans_intg   +title
+clipboard       +iconv           +path_extra      +toolbar
+cmdline_compl   +insert_expand   +perl            +user_commands
+cmdline_hist    +jumplist        +persistent_undo +vertsplit
+cmdline_info    +keymap          +postscript      +virtualedit
+comments        +langmap         +printer         +visual
+conceal         +libcall         +profile         +visualextra
+cryptv          +linebreak       +python          +viminfo
+cscope          +lispindent      -python3         +vreplace
+cursorbind      +listcmds        +quickfix        +wildignore
+cursorshape     +localmap        +reltime         +wildmenu
+dialog_con_gui  +lua             +rightleft       +windows
+diff            +menu            +ruby            +writebackup
+digraphs        +mksession       +scrollbind      +X11
+dnd             +modify_fname    +signs           -xfontset
-ebcdic          +mouse           +smartindent     +xim
+emacs_tags      +mouseshape      -sniff           +xsmp_interact
+eval            +mouse_dec       +startuptime     +xterm_clipboard
+ex_extra        +mouse_gpm       +statusline      -xterm_save
+extra_search    -mouse_jsbterm   -sun_workshop    +xpm
   system vimrc file: "$VIM/vimrc"
     user vimrc file: "$HOME/.vimrc"
 2nd user vimrc file: "~/.vim/vimrc"
      user exrc file: "$HOME/.exrc"
  system gvimrc file: "$VIM/gvimrc"
    user gvimrc file: "$HOME/.gvimrc"
2nd user gvimrc file: "~/.vim/gvimrc"
    system menu file: "$VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim"
  fall-back for $VIM: "/usr/share/vim"
Compilation: gcc -c -I. -Iproto -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -DFEAT_GUI_GTK  -pthread -I/usr/include/gtk-2.0 -I/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gtk-2.0/include -I/usr/include/atk-1.0 -I/usr/include/cairo -I/usr/include/gdk-pixbuf-2.0 -I/usr/include/pango-1.0 -I/usr/include/gio-unix-2.0/ -I/usr/include/freetype2 -I/usr/include/glib-2.0 -I/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/glib-2.0/include -I/usr/include/pixman-1 -I/usr/include/libpng12 -I/usr/include/harfbuzz   -pthread -DORBIT2=1 -D_REENTRANT -I/usr/include/libgnomeui-2.0 -I/usr/include/libart-2.0 -I/usr/include/gconf/2 -I/usr/include/gnome-keyring-1 -I/usr/include/libgnome-2.0 -I/usr/include/libbonoboui-2.0 -I/usr/include/libgnomecanvas-2.0 -I/usr/include/gtk-2.0 -I/usr/include/gdk-pixbuf-2.0 -I/usr/include/gnome-vfs-2.0 -I/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gnome-vfs-2.0/include -I/usr/include/dbus-1.0 -I/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dbus-1.0/include -I/usr/include/glib-2.0 -I/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/glib-2.0/include -I/usr/include/orbit-2.0 -I/usr/include/libbonobo-2.0 -I/usr/include/bonobo-activation-2.0 -I/usr/include/libxml2 -I/usr/include/pango-1.0 -I/usr/include/gail-1.0 -I/usr/include/harfbuzz -I/usr/include/freetype2 -I/usr/include/atk-1.0 -I/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gtk-2.0/include -I/usr/include/cairo -I/usr/include/gio-unix-2.0/ -I/usr/include/pixman-1 -I/usr/include/libpng12     -g -O2 -fstack-protector --param=ssp-buffer-size=4 -Wformat -Werror=format-security -U_FORTIFY_SOURCE -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=1     -I/usr/include/tcl8.6  -D_REENTRANT=1  -D_THREAD_SAFE=1  -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE=1  
Linking: gcc   -L. -Wl,-Bsymbolic-functions -Wl,-z,relro -rdynamic -Wl,-export-dynamic -Wl,-E  -Wl,-Bsymbolic-functions -Wl,-z,relro -Wl,--as-needed -o vim   -lgtk-x11-2.0 -lgdk-x11-2.0 -latk-1.0 -lgio-2.0 -lpangoft2-1.0 -lpangocairo-1.0 -lgdk_pixbuf-2.0 -lcairo -lpango-1.0 -lfontconfig -lgobject-2.0 -lglib-2.0 -lfreetype     -lgnomeui-2 -lSM -lICE -lbonoboui-2 -lgnomevfs-2 -lgnomecanvas-2 -lgnome-2 -lpopt -lbonobo-2 -lbonobo-activation -lORBit-2 -lart_lgpl_2 -lgtk-x11-2.0 -lgdk-x11-2.0 -latk-1.0 -lgio-2.0 -lpangoft2-1.0 -lpangocairo-1.0 -lgdk_pixbuf-2.0 -lcairo -lpango-1.0 -lfontconfig -lfreetype -lgconf-2 -lgthread-2.0 -lgmodule-2.0 -lgobject-2.0 -lglib-2.0   -lSM -lICE -lXpm -lXt -lX11 -lXdmcp -lSM -lICE  -lm -ltinfo -lnsl  -lselinux  -lacl -lattr -lgpm -ldl  -L/usr/lib -llua5.2 -Wl,-E  -fstack-protector -L/usr/local/lib  -L/usr/lib/perl/5.18/CORE -lperl -ldl -lm -lpthread -lcrypt -L/usr/lib/python2.7/config-x86_64-linux-gnu -lpython2.7 -lpthread -ldl -lutil -lm -Xlinker -export-dynamic -Wl,-O1 -Wl,-Bsymbolic-functions  -L/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu -ltcl8.6 -ldl -lz -lpthread -lieee -lm -lruby-1.9.1 -lpthread -lrt -ldl -lcrypt -lm  -L/usr/lib

[shulima]

@table-delete In case you never figured it out: I'm pretty sure you're using rodjek's vim-puppet like me. I'm not sure whether tabular or vim-puppet is responsible for this bug, but a workaround is to turn off automatic hash alignment in vim-puppet by let g:puppet_align_hashes = 0.

[0racle]

This is old, but I though I'd weigh in. If you're doing INSERT mappings, deciding where to position the cursor after triggering Tabularize requires you to make some assumptions about what sort of input you're typing. The author of Tabularize can't make those assumptions for you.

If you look at tpope's script, you can see it checks which column the cursor was in before doing the Tabularize, and then moves the cursor to the right place afterwards.

For 'fat-arrow' separated key-value pairs (as seen in Perl and PHP) I wrote this function. This should behave how you expect for most cases.

function! s:PairUp()
    if getline('.')[ col('.') - 2 ] == '='
        Tabularize /=>
        normal! 0
        silent! echo searchpos('=>')
        call cursor( line('.'), col('.') + 1 )
    endif
endfunction

inoremap <silent>> ><Esc>:call <SID>PairUp()<CR>a

I'm not a vimscript expert so there might be a better way to acheive this, but for those interested, here's the rundown.

I've set my function to trigger on > rather than =>, because mapping => would introduce a delay each time you typed = while it waits for the next char.

The function looks at the character you typed just before >. If the character prior to > was =, then Tabularize. Then go to the beginning of the line, search for =>, and move the cursor 1 place forward... which should be just in front of =>.

Make sure you put an a after you function call to append and put you back into insert mode. There are ways to call a function from insert mode (<C-o>) but this just introduces complications with cursor position.

EDIT
I just realised this would incorrectly trigger on Perl's numeric sort operator <=>. That can be remedied by replacing the conditional with this...

if getline('.')[ col('.') - 3 : col('.') - 1 ] =~ '\s=>'

This looks at the 3 characters before the cursor and confirms they are a whitespace character followed by =>