IDLE Indents convert to spaces and then throws error

[JustinBarker]

BPO	20690
Nosy	@terryjreedy
Files	test.py

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields:

assignee = None
closed_at = <Date 2014-02-21.22:45:35.321>
created_at = <Date 2014-02-19.22:08:56.173>
labels = ['expert-IDLE', 'type-bug', 'invalid']
title = 'IDLE Indents convert to spaces and then throws error'
updated_at = <Date 2014-02-21.22:45:35.289>
user = 'https://bugs.python.org/JustinBarker'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2014-02-21.22:45:35.289>
actor = 'terry.reedy'
assignee = 'none'
closed = True
closed_date = <Date 2014-02-21.22:45:35.321>
closer = 'terry.reedy'
components = ['IDLE']
creation = <Date 2014-02-19.22:08:56.173>
creator = 'Justin.Barker'
dependencies = []
files = ['34148']
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 20690
keywords = []
message_count = 2.0
messages = ['211664', '211883']
nosy_count = 2.0
nosy_names = ['terry.reedy', 'Justin.Barker']
pr_nums = []
priority = 'normal'
resolution = 'not a bug'
stage = 'resolved'
status = 'closed'
superseder = None
type = 'behavior'
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue20690'
versions = ['Python 3.3']

[JustinBarker]

When I add some lines to my module code, some of the tabs that I enter convert to spaces. This throws an inconsistency error and I can't get it to stop!

[terryjreedy]

Questions about how to use python (or Idle) are better directed to python-list or similar forums. In this case, you are asking how to edit a file with tabs in Idle, which converts tabs to spaces on entry. Idle editor windows have a Format menu with Tabify and Untabify options, both of which allow you to select the conversion between tabs and spaces. I personally would untabify the file first and edit. You could re-tabify at the end if needed. Or just edit (with spaces) and tabify the new stuff at the end.