Open Radar

 
Summary:
Xcode’s indentation of array/dictionary literals is never what I want. It seems to want to align everything to the opening character of the collection, but I want everything indented by one level. These are (or can be) mutually unambiguous code styles—both could be supported.


Steps to Reproduce:
1. In an Objective-C method, type out or copy/paste the following code:

NSArray *things = @[
	@1,
	@2,
	@3
];


Expected Results:
I expected Xcode to work with me, allowing the code to be indented the way I’ve demonstrated above. Note that this is how it works for static arrays (see Regression, below).


Actual Results:
Xcode actually wants to format it like this:

NSArray *things = @[
					@1,
					@2,
					@3,
					];


Regression:
C arrays are indented as I intend:

NSNumber *things[] = {
	@1,
	@2,
	@3,
};


Notes:
Code style is, obviously, subjective. The issue is not that Xcode prefers a different code style by default so much as that it actively fights me when I’m trying to edit the thing in question.

For example, I typically will place the cursor before the first character of an element on a line, and type ⇧⌘← to select all the whitespace to the beginning of the line. Then I’ll delete it, and ⌥⇥ my way to the indentation level I want.

However, if the array literal is being passed as an argument to a verbose method, the method might get wrapped onto a new line, meaning that each element now takes up multiple lines with the leading whitespace which Xcode inserts, at which point it’s much more typing and figuring until I have it where I want it.

I think it would be reasonable to support both, either by configuration, or by inferring intent. If the user types the first element on the same line as the @[, then indent the way Xcode currently does; otherwise indent as for C arrays. I.e., this style:

NSArray *things = @[ @1,
					 @2,
					 @3];

is unambiguous with this style:

NSArray *things = @[
	@1,
	@2,
	@3
];

(Note: the elements in the former are correctly aligned when rendered in a monospace font.)

Either way (configuration or convention), please, please help me to spend less time reindenting array/dictionary literals to conform with a code style guide I may not have any control over (and which is, in any case, something my editor shouldn’t be making harder for me).