[mini.align] Padding or margin on only one side of '='

[idr4n]

Contributing guidelines

• I have read CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md

Module(s)

mini.align

Question

Hi there,

I am trying to transition from vim-easy-align to mini.align and pretty much everything is working out of the box. Thanks for this plugin!

I was wondering how can I add some padding only to the left of a pattern, say '='. For example:

I want to align around '=' the following lines:

item1 = something
item2-foo = something
item3 = something
item4-bas = something
item5 = something

This is very straightforward if I select the lines and then ga, =, which will give me a padding of one space around the '='.

But let's say I want to add extra padding (4 spaces) to the left of '=' only. I tried gA, =, m, , <cr>, which gives me padding on both sides of '=':

item1        =    something
item2-foo    =    something
item3        =    something
item4-bas    =    something
item5        =    something

Thanks in advance for your help!

[echasnovski]

I don't think this is possible with built-in capabilities. There are two approaches I'd recommend here:

• Write custom modifier that can pre_merge step that tweaks first separator (for example, adds specific string to its left side). This is complex, but possible.
• Align as usual (ga=) but manually tweak with blockwise edit. Put cursor on the first = in first line, press <C-v>, navigate down to the last line, press I followed by four spaces and <Esc>. This is pretty straightforward as spaces are aligned already.

My suggestion would be to use manual (second) approach, but if it a regular occurrence then invest into writing a dedicated modifier.