Setting indentation type for clangd lsp formatting

[nicolasdumitru]

Hello! I am trying to get my lsp to format c and c++ code with tabs instead of spaces when using vim.lsp.buf.format, but I don't know how to do this and I need some help.
Here you can find my entire lsp-zero configuration.

[VonHeikemen]

I believe you can configure clangd formatting options using a file called .clang-format in the root of your project.

[nicolasdumitru]

That's good to know, but I'd like to set a kind of "base" setting for my projects and then (maybe) override it with .clang-format as needed.

[surbhitt]

Hey @nicolasdumitru did you figure it out? I wanna do the same thing.

[nicolasdumitru]

Yes. First of all @VonHeikemen's answer helped me a lot. What I found is that you can have both what I said (a general default) and a project-specific set of rules. For the general defaults, place a .clang-format with your preferences in your $HOME and for the project-specific formatting rules, place a .clang-format in your project's root directory. From what I've tested, clang-format seems to just search the parent directory of the file currently being edited and the its parent directory and so on until it reaches /. I don't know if the .clang-format in your project's directory just overrides what is in $HOME/.clang-format or it just makes clang-format complete. Also, I haven't tested if git repositories have an impact in determining what .clang-format file is used. This should be a pretty decent starting point. Play around with it. Have fun and I hope this helps you!

My setup (where I've tested this stuff):
OS: Arch Linux (distro shouldn't matter too much/at all I think)
Editor: Neovim v0.9.5 (setup at the moment of testing this - plugins were up to date at the moment of writing)
clang, clangd, clang-format version: 16.0.6

[surbhitt]

thanks a lot

[nicolasdumitru]

You're welcome. I hope it's what you were looking for.