Syntax


PRESERVE

[ ON | OFF | C | ? ]


Operands


ON | OFF | C

The desired PRESERVE status


?

Display the current status of the setting.


Description


The Profile option PRESERVE controls how SPFLite handles trailing spaces on text lines while writing the file to disk. 

The value of PRESERVE is stored as part of the PROFILE options which are maintained individually by file type.


Preserve ON/OFF Handling


If PRESERVE ON is specified, trailing blanks are retained as-is and written to the file. 


If PRESERVE OFF is specified, trailing blanks will be removed before writing the text to the file.


Note: PRESERVE OFF will not remove trailing blanks if they have been marked with any special attributes (like HILITE)


Preserve C Handling


If PRESERVE C is specified, trailing blanks are retained as-is and written to the file in the same way as PRESERVE ON, except when the last nonblank character of the line is a \ backslash. In this case only, such lines will have any trailing blanks removed before writing the text to the file. This option would be used in C and similar languages that use backslash as a continuation character but do not allow a backslash to be followed by whitespace.


(The language standards for C and C++, for example, do not allow the \ backslash continuation to be followed by whitespace, but require them to be the physically last character of the line.)


PRESERVE C ensures that the editor will not trim data lines (a file change detectable by programs like MAKE and DIFF) while guaranteeing that continuation lines do not contain spurious trailing blanks.


Timing of trailing-blank removal with PRESERVE OFF or PRESERVE C


The trimming action performed by PRESERVE OFF or PRESERVE C occurs when the file is saved or when END is processed, but during a SAVE operation when you continue editing the file, any existing trailing blanks are not removed from the then-current edit session. These trailing blanks will be removed when you close your file; this will be evident the next time you open your file again.


If you need these trailing blanks removed immediately, you should the TR line command. If you place a line command of TR/ on line 1 of your file, the entire file will have trailing blanks removed from all lines.


You can also review MINLEN  which also affects the length of your data lines.


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