Alignify

License

This software is dual-licensed to the public domain and under the following license: you are granted a perpetual, irrevocable license to copy, modify, publish, and distribute this file as you see fit.

What

Alignify is a python script designed to take a piece of code and align 'blocks' in that code. An example input is

int one = 1; // Duh
float pi = 3;   // Close enough.
string h2g2 = 42; // ...

And output:

int    one  =  1; // Duh
float  pi   =  3; // Close enough.
string h2g2 = 42; // ...

For more examples, see test.py

Why

Code readability matters. Alignify makes it easier to produce clean and readable code.

Key points

• Alignify is language agnostic. It works just as well with C++ as with JSON.
• Alignify aligns code blocks using spaces
• Alignify leaves indentation intact (tabs as well as spaces)
• The output can be re-alignified (eg. to re-align after a change)
• Alignify recognizes quoted strings ("double" and 'single')
• Alignify recognizes // C++, # Bash/Python and -- Lua comments
• Alignify may shorten the spacing in you code, but will always keep at least one space.

Aligning numbers

Alignify will align numbers on their decimal place:

Smart align

Alignify will intelligently insert space in the middle of a line to align similar tokens:

AST alignment

Alignify will group curly braces {...} and brackets [...] and recurse:

Limitations

• ASCII only.

How to use it

From a terminal

cat code.txt | python alignify.py
python alignify.py code.txt

As a Sublime Text 3 plugin

Copy alignify.py to Packages/User and add the following to your user keymap:

{ "keys": ["super+shift+a"], "command": "alignify" }

From Vim

Copy alignify.py to ~/.vim/alignify.py and add the following to your .vimrc:

map <C-A> :!~/.vim/alignify.py<CR>

Open Vim and mark the text you want to align with V (shift+v) and then ctrl+shift+a

As a service (Mac OS X)

• Create a new script in Automator
• Drag-drop a "Run Shell Script" (under Library->Utilities)
• Pick /usr/bin/python
• Make sure "Output replaces selected text" is checked
• Save it as "Alignify"
• Open System Preferences -> Keyboard
• Under "Services", bind cmd-shift-A to Alignify
• Select any text in any application and press cmd-shift-A to align it

In Qt Creator (Windows)

• Choose Tools->External->Configure... from the main menu.
• Select 'Text' in the tree-view and click the Add-button and choose 'Add Tool'.
• Name the tool 'Alignify'
• Write a short description in the 'Description'-field.
• Enter the path to your python.exe in the 'Executable'-field.
• Enter the path too the alignify.py script in the 'Argunments'-filed
• Change the 'Output'-dropdown menu to 'Replace Selection'.
• Put %{CurrentDocument:Selection} in the 'Input'-field.
• select OK or Apply.

You can now use Alignify from Tools->External->Text->Alignify on the main menu.

To bind the tool to a keyboard shortcut:

• Select Tools->Options... on the main menu. Select the Keyboard tab.
• SelectTools->External.Alignify on the list.
• Enter a shortcut in the 'Key sequence'-field, e.g. Ctrl+Shift+A.

Click OK and you're good to go.

TODO

• Group <...> for C++ templates.
• Figure out how to group (...) without adding spaced to empty () groups.