Visual C++ keeps destroying my code formatting alignment

Question

I'm working on an open source project that uses horizontal alignment in source code. The code is written in C++, and I'm using Visual Studio 2013. Visual Studio tries to be smart concerning spacing, but ends up destroying my manual alignment.

A typical piece of code looks like this:

bool  →   →   → GetFieldWithType  →   → ( int idx, cc8* name, int type );
bool  →   →   → GetFieldWithType  →   → ( int idx, int key, int type );
static cc8*   → GetLuaTypeName    →   → ( int type );
void* →   →   → GetPtrUserData    →   → ( int idx );

Now, if I add another line just like this, as soon as I type the opening parenthesis (after two tabs), Visual Studio removes the two tabs I just entered and replaces them with a single space. I try to be patient and hit Ctrl+Z to undo the automatic formatting. But as soon as I type the semicolon, it kills the tabs all over again.

I found an option in Tools > Options > Text Editor > C/C++ > Formatting > Spacing > Spacing for function parentheses that toggles whether to insert a space before the opening parenthesis of an argument list. If I deactivate this option, VS still insists on removing the tabs before the opening parenthesis, it just doesn't add a space. How do I get rid of this behavior?

To be clear: I'm fine with VS automatically inserting spaces (according to what I configured). I don't want to deactivate automatic formatting altogether. I just don't want it to remove the spacing I just manually entered.

Answer 1

Go to Tools > Options > Text Editor > C/C++.

Under Tabs you can change "Insert spaces" to "Keep tabs". If you don't want VS mucking up your indentation at all, you can also turn off indenting here.

Under Formatting > Spacing you can uncheck (almost) all the "Remove space..." options.

Hope that helps!