Re: [unicode-2] whitespace-auto-cleanup always replaces leading spaces with tabs

[martin rudalics]

> I set it in custom-set-variables; another likely scenario, I would think.

whitespace.el has this form

(defcustom whitespace-check-indent-whitespace indent-tabs-mode

which, as Miles explained, gets evaluated when whitespace is loaded with
the value `indent-tabs-mode' has at that time.  Apparently you set
`indent-tabs-mode' to a different value afterwards.  Hence, the values
of `indent-tabs-mode' and `whitespace-check-indent-whitespace'
eventually conflict in one of your buffers.  I just wanted to know your
particular usage pattern in order to propose a solution.

> With regard to your request, I'm unfamiliar with -Q and so far I haven't
> found documentation for it. So, more explicit instructions about what
> you'd like me to try would be appreciated.

-Q is an initial option.  From the Emacs manual:

`-Q'
`--quick'
     Start emacs with minimum customizations.  This is like using `-q'
     and `--no-site-file', but also disables the startup screen.

>>IMHO there's no reasonable way to reconcile a user's settings of
>>`indent-tabs-mode' with those of `whitespace-check-indent-whitespace'. I
>>think `whitespace-indent-cleanup' should be executed iff
>>`indent-tabs-mode' is non-nil in the current buffer.  But I'm afraid
>>that anything we change here will break existing customizations.
>
>
> Why isn't it reasonable for whitespace-indent-cleanup to change tabs in
> indentation to spaces when indent-tabs-mode is nil?

It is reasonable.  Unfortunately, the decisions of
`whitespace-indent-cleanup' are based on the actual value of
`whitespace-check-indent-whitespace' and not on that of
`indent-tabs-mode'.