Summary

WrapAsYouType is a plugin for the Sublime Text text editor. The plugin automatically performs hard word wrapping within specified sections of a file, in real time as the user types. For example, WrapAsYouType could limit lines of C++ code contained in block comments (between /* and */) and sequences of line comments (after //) to a width of 80 columns.

Note that you must set the "wrap_as_you_type_sections" setting for WrapAsYouType to operate; see the “Quick start” section.

Table of contents

• Features
• Limitations
• Installation
• Quick start
• Description
• Settings
  • "wrap_as_you_type_sections"
  • Example, C, C++, Go, Java, JavaScript, Objective-C, PHP, Scala, and similar
  • Example, Python in Sublime 3 and 4
  • Example, Python in Sublime 2
  • Example, Rust
  • Example, wrap the entire document
  • Example, CSS
  • Example, Bash, R, Ruby, and similar
  • Example, C#
  • Example, Perl
  • Additional notes
  • "wrap_as_you_type_word_regex"
  • "wrap_as_you_type_space_between_words"
  • "wrap_as_you_type_paragraphs"
  • Example, DocBlocks with dynamic typing
  • Example, DocBlocks with static typing
  • Example, Google-style Python docstrings
  • "wrap_as_you_type_enter_extends_section"
  • "wrap_as_you_type_passive"
  • "wrap_as_you_type_disabled"
• Comparison with Auto (Hard) Wrap

Features

• Compatible with Sublime Text 2, 3, and 4.
• Performs hard word wrapping in real time.
• Changes to the middle of a paragraph can result in reflowing the rest of the paragraph.
• Able to limit word wrapping to user-specified sections. The boundaries of word-wrapped sections are identified using Sublime scopes.
• Maintains the initial indentation of each wrappable section.
• Allows for different paragraphs with different internal levels of indentation, without word wrapping text from one paragraph to another.
• Allows the user to specify text for the beginning of each line. For example, in C++ block comments, the user may want to start each line with " * ".
• Provides additional settings for further customization.

Limitations

• Not likely to be useful for automatically wrapping code or similar non-text content.
• Only operates when there is a single selection cursor and nothing is selected.
• Pollutes the undo history.
• Could misbehave if used simultaneously with another Sublime plugin that also modifies a document in response to changes to the document.

Installation

You can install the WrapAsYouType plugin using Package Control. If you haven't already, install Package Control by following the instructions on https://packagecontrol.io/installation. Open Sublime and bring up the command palette, by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows or Linux or Super+Shift+P on macOS. Select “Package Control: Install Package”, then “WrapAsYouType”.

Alternatively, you can install WrapAsYouType manually by downloading (cloning) it into your Sublime installation's packages directory. You can locate the directory by going to “Preferences” > “Browse Packages…” in the menu bar.

Quick start

After installing WrapAsYouType, open the syntax-specific settings of your favorite file type. To do so, open a file of the desired type (e.g. a *.java file). In the menu bar, go to “Preferences” > “Settings - Syntax Specific” (in Sublime 2, it's “Preferences” > “Settings - More” > “Syntax Specific - User”).

Then, set the "wrap_as_you_type_sections" setting to one of the sample values. To do so, click one of the following links, copy-paste the example configuration into your syntax-specific settings, and save.

• Bash
• C
• C++
• C#
• CSS
• Go
• Java
• JavaScript
• Objective-C
• Perl
• PHP
• Plain text
• Python in Sublime 2
• Python in Sublime 3 and 4
• R
• Ruby
• Rust
• Scala
• Other

Description

WrapAsYouType automatically performs hard word wrapping within specified sections of a file, in real time as the user types. For example, WrapAsYouType could limit lines of C++ code contained in block comments (between /* and */) and sequences of line comments (after //) to a width of 80 columns.

A WrapAsYouType “fixup” function operates whenever a document is modified and there is a single, empty selection cursor. This function attempts to fix word wrapping in the vicinity of the cursor. For example, this may have the effect of moving text from the end of the current line to the beginning of the next line or into a new line, or moving text from the beginning of the current line to the end of the previous line, or moving text from the beginning of the next line to the end of the current line and reflowing the entire paragraph after the current line.

WrapAsYouType allows the user to specify the wrap width in the "wrap_as_you_type_sections" setting. If a wrap width is not provided in that setting, WrapAsYouType falls back to the value of the "wrap_width" setting, then to the first element of the "rulers" setting, then to 80.

WrapAsYouType also allows the user to specify text for the beginning of each line, such as " * " for C++ block comments and "//" for C++ line comments. For example:

/**
 * This is how a block comment might look in C++ when each line starts with an
 * asterisk.
 */

On a given line, when identifying the text to wrap, WrapAsYouType ignores any whitespace before and after the “line start” string.

WrapAsYouType has the notion of a “paragraph.” It will only move text within a single paragraph, and not from one paragraph to another. By default, two consecutive lines are in the same paragraph if they have the same indentation, both before and after the “line start” string.

Example:

/**
 * Part 1:
 *     This is a description of part 1.  WrapAsYouType will not attempt to move
 *     the word "This" to the end of the line containing "Part 1", because they
 *     are considered to be in different paragraphs.
 * Part 2:
 *     Description of part 2.  There are four paragraphs in this example.
 */

If a line does not start with optional whitespace followed by the line start, then it is not eligible for wrapping. In addition, the first line of a wrappable section (such as a block comment) is not eligible for wrapping, unless the section extends to the beginning of the first line. WrapAsYouType never breaks up an individual word, so if a word is so long that it extends beyond the wrap width, WrapAsYouType leaves the word on its own line.

You may find that occasionally, WrapAsYouType gets in the way of what you are trying to type. Perhaps you are creating a diagram using ASCII art, or perhaps your comment contains a code sample. In these cases, it is recommended that you use the "toggle_wrap_as_you_type" command to temporarily disable WrapAsYouType in the current tab. You can bind the command to a key combination by going to the “Preferences” > “Key Bindings” menu item.

Example:

[
    {
        "command": "toggle_wrap_as_you_type",
        "keys": ["super+alt+w"]
    }
]

Settings

"wrap_as_you_type_sections"

"wrap_as_you_type_sections" is a critical setting that informs WrapAsYouType of where in the document to perform word wrapping. You must set "wrap_as_you_type_sections" for WrapAsYouType to operate. Typically, you should set it as a syntax-specific setting, by going to “Preferences” > “Settings - Syntax Specific” in the menu bar.

Example, C, C++, Go, Java, JavaScript, Objective-C, PHP, Scala, and similar

{
    "wrap_as_you_type_sections": [
        {
            "allowed_line_starts": ["* ", "*\t"],
            "selector":
                "comment.block - (punctuation.definition.comment.begin | punctuation.definition.comment.end)"
        },
        {
            "combining_selector":
                "source - (comment | constant | entity | invalid | keyword | punctuation | storage | string | variable)",
            "line_start": "//",
            "selector": "comment.line"
        }
    ]
}

"wrap_as_you_type_sections" is an array of objects. Each element has the following entries:

• "line_start" (optional): The text appearing at the start of each line, as elaborated in the “Description” section above. Defaults to the empty string "". Note that sections for single-line comments should specify a value that starts with the line comment punctuation - "//" in the above example.
• "allowed_line_starts" (optional): A non-empty list of allowable "line_start" values. See the example for Rust for details. It is an error to include both an "allowed_line_starts" entry and a "line_start" entry.
• "wrap_width" (optional): The wrap width for this section type.
• "selector": A selector for identifying text that is in the section. See below for details.
• "combining_selector" (optional): A selector for extending a section. See below for details.

The location of a section is described using Sublime selectors. A selector indicates whether we match a given set of scope names. For example, a selector may be used to determine whether the scope "source.c++ meta.class.c++ meta.block.c++ comment.block.c" is a match. To see the scope names at a given point in a document, use the "show_scope_name" command. By default, this is bound to Ctrl+Alt+Shift+P on Windows and Linux and Ctrl+Shift+P on macOS.

A simple selector (such as "comment.block") matches a scope if any of the scope names is equal to the selector, or starts with the selector followed by a dot. Simple selectors can be composed into complex selectors using | (or), & (and), and - (subtraction), as well as parentheses.

To determine whether a given starting position is inside a given section, we check whether it matches the "selector" entry. From there, the section extends forwards and backwards to include positions that also match the "selector" entry, or that match the "combining_selector" entry, if there is one. The section stops extending in the forwards and backwards directions once we reach positions that do not match either of the selectors.

The motivation behind having a separate "combining_selector" entry is to support word wrapping within sequences of indented single-line comments. The single-line comments themselves match the "comment.line" selector, but the indentation does not match that selector. We must have some way of treating all of these comments as part of a single combined section; hence, "combining_selector".

The above sample value of "wrap_as_you_type_sections" illustrates how we can combine consecutive line comments into a single section. The "combining_selector" entry matches any source code that does not contain various code elements; i.e. it only matches whitespace. This instructs WrapAsYouType to combine a sequence of line comments separated by nothing but whitespace into a single section.

Example, Python in Sublime 3 and 4

{
    "wrap_as_you_type_sections": [
        {
            "selector": "comment.block - punctuation.definition.comment",
            "wrap_width": 72
        },
        {
            "combining_selector":
                "source - (comment | constant | entity | invalid | keyword | punctuation | storage | string | variable)",
            "line_start": "#",
            "selector": "comment.line",
            "wrap_width": 79
        }
    ],
    "wrap_as_you_type_paragraphs": [
        {
            "first_line_regex": "^(\"\"?|''?)$",
            "single_line": true
        }
    ]
}

This example applies to Python files in versions 3 and 4 of Sublime Text. Here, we specify different "wrap_width" values for block comments and line comments. This way, we wrap line comments at 79 columns and block comments at 72 columns, per the recommendations in PEP 8.

Note that in Python, it is recommended to start a block comment with a concise description of the commented element, on the same line as the opening """. With the above configuration, WrapAsYouType will not perform word wrapping on that summary, because WrapAsYouType does not perform wrapping on the first line of a section, unless the section includes the entire first line.

Example, Python in Sublime 2

{
    "wrap_as_you_type_sections": [
        {
            "selector":
                "(string.quoted.double.block | string.quoted.single.block) - punctuation.definition.string",
            "wrap_width": 72
        },
        {
            "combining_selector":
                "source - (comment | constant | entity | invalid | keyword | punctuation | storage | string | variable)",
            "line_start": "#",
            "selector": "comment.line",
            "wrap_width": 79
        }
    ],
    "wrap_as_you_type_paragraphs": [
        {
            "first_line_regex": "^(\"\"?|''?)$",
            "single_line": true
        }
    ]
}

In version 2 of Sublime Text, the built-in syntax file for Python does not scope docstring comments as "comment.block", so we need to use "string.quoted.*.block" selectors instead. This has the side effect of causing WrapAsYouType to wrap all triple-quoted strings, not just docstrings.

Example, Rust

{
    "wrap_as_you_type_sections": [
        {
            "allowed_line_starts": ["* ", "*\t"],
            "selector":
                "comment.block - (punctuation.definition.comment.begin | punctuation.definition.comment.end)"
        },
        {
            "allowed_line_starts": ["// ", "/// ", "//! "],
            "combining_selector":
                "source - (comment | constant | entity | invalid | keyword | punctuation | storage | string | variable)",
            "selector": "comment.line"
        }
    ]
}

The "allowed_line_starts" entry allows us to specify multiple possible line starts for a section object. Logically speaking, such a section object describes multiple separate section types: one for each allowed line start. In the above example, WrapAsYouType distinguishes among double-slash, triple-slash, and double-slash-bang comments. It will not move text between two adjacent sections with different line starts, e.g. from a triple-slash comment to a double-slash comment.

Depending on the value of "wrap_as_you_type_sections", it may be possible for the selection cursor to match multiple allowed line starts in a given section type, or to match multiple section types. If this happens, WrapAsYouType uses the earliest matching line start in the earliest matching section type.

Example, wrap the entire document

{
    "wrap_as_you_type_sections": [{"selector": "source | text"}]
}

Example, CSS

{
    "wrap_as_you_type_sections": [
        {
            "allowed_line_starts": ["* ", "*\t"],
            "selector":
                "comment.block - (punctuation.definition.comment.begin | punctuation.definition.comment.end)"
        }
    ]
}

Example, Bash, R, Ruby, and similar

{
    "wrap_as_you_type_sections": [
        {
            "combining_selector":
                "source - (comment | constant | entity | invalid | keyword | punctuation | storage | string | variable)",
            "line_start": "#",
            "selector": "comment.line"
        }
    ]
}

Example, C#

{
    "wrap_as_you_type_sections": [
        {
            "allowed_line_starts": ["* ", "*\t"],
            "selector":
                "comment.block - (comment.block.documentation | punctuation.definition.comment.begin | punctuation.definition.comment.end)"
        },
        {
            "combining_selector":
                "source - (comment | constant | entity | invalid | keyword | punctuation | storage | string | variable)",
            "line_start": "///",
            "selector":
                "comment.line.documentation | comment.block.documentation"
        },
        {
            "combining_selector":
                "source - (comment | constant | entity | invalid | keyword | punctuation | storage | string | variable)",
            "line_start": "//",
            "selector": "comment.line - comment.line.documentation"
        }
    ]
}

Example, Perl

{
    "wrap_as_you_type_sections": [
        {
            "selector":
                "comment.block - entity.name.tag - punctuation.definition.comment"
        },
        {
            "combining_selector":
                "source - (comment | constant | entity | invalid | keyword | punctuation | storage | string | variable)",
            "line_start": "#",
            "selector": "comment.line"
        }
    ]
}

Additional notes

If your favorite syntax is not listed above, and you want to wrap comments, it shouldn't be too difficult to take an example for a similar syntax and modify it to work with your syntax.

In languages like C++, if you don't like starting each line of a block comment with an asterisk, then remove "allowed_line_starts": ["* ", "*\t"], from the appropriate example. You should also add the following setting:

{
    "wrap_as_you_type_paragraphs": [
        {
            "first_line_regex": "^\\*$",
            "single_line": true
        }
    ]
}

Some people prefer to put a space after the single-line comment punctuation when writing text comments, and not to put a space when commenting out code. For example:

// This is a text comment
void foo(bool condition) {
    // This is also a text comment, but the below comments are code comments
    //if (condition) {
    //    bar1();
    //} else {
    //    bar2();
    //    bar3();
    //}
    bar4();
}

In this case, you would benefit by changing the appropriate "line_start" entry from "//" to "// " (or from "#" to "# ", etc.). This causes WrapAsYouType to refrain from performing word wrapping inside of non-indented code comments. However, note that WrapAsYouType will identify indented code comments as wrappable text. In the example, it will move bar3(); to the same line as bar2();, if given the chance. This could be considered a limitation of WrapAsYouType.

"wrap_as_you_type_word_regex"

"wrap_as_you_type_word_regex" is a Python regular expression used to determine where the words are, i.e. where WrapAsYouType is allowed to insert line breaks. When matched against a non-empty string with no leading or trailing whitespace, it identifies all of the words in that line of text. We obtain a list of non-overlapping words by scanning a line of text from beginning to end, looking for matches. "wrap_as_you_type_word_regex" defaults to "[\\S\xa0]+", which defines a “word” as a maximal sequence of non-whitespace (and non-breaking space) characters.

"wrap_as_you_type_word_regex" may match a string that has a space in it. This prevents WrapAsYouType from splitting that string at the internal space.

Example:

{
    "wrap_as_you_type_word_regex": "[^\\s\\{]+|\\{[^\\}]*\\}?"
}

The above example forces WrapAsYouType to keep all text appearing between { and } together as a single word. It's unclear why you would want to do this, but it's just an example.

"wrap_as_you_type_word_regex" may also match two words that do not have a space between them. In conjunction with the "wrap_as_you_type_space_between_words" setting, this can be used to indicate optional mid-“word” breaking points.

Example:

{
    "wrap_as_you_type_space_between_words": [
        {
            "first_word_regex": "[^\\-]-+$",
            "space": ""
        }
    ],
    "wrap_as_you_type_word_regex": "[^\\s\\-]+-*|-+[^\\s\\-]*-*"
}

The above example permits WrapAsYouType to split words right after hyphens. For example, WrapAsYouType is permitted to break up “cookie-cutter” so that “cookie-” appears at the end of one line and “cutter” appears at the beginning of the next line.

"wrap_as_you_type_word_regex" is not permitted to produce zero-length words, or to leave any non-whitespace characters unmatched (not part of any word). Any regular expression that permits this is invalid as a "wrap_as_you_type_word_regex" setting.

"wrap_as_you_type_space_between_words"

The "wrap_as_you_type_space_between_words" setting enables the user to specify custom spacing between pairs of words.

Example:

{
    "wrap_as_you_type_space_between_words": [
        {
            "first_word_regex": "^(?!e\\.g\\.|i\\.e\\.).*[.?!]$",
            "space": "  "
        }
    ]
}

The above example causes WrapAsYouType to put two spaces after each word ending in a period, question mark, or exclamation mark, excluding the abbreviations “e.g.” and “i.e.”

"wrap_as_you_type_space_between_words" is an array of objects. Each object has the following entries:

• "first_word_regex" (optional): A Python regular expression to match the pre-space word against.
• "second_word_regex" (optional): A Python regular expression to match the post-space word against.
• "space": The space to use between the words, if there is a match. This must consist exclusively of whitespace.

If the "first_word_regex" pattern matches anywhere in the pre-space word, or the "first_word_regex" entry is absent, then the pre-space word matches. Similarly for "second_word_regex" and the post-space word. If both the pre-space word and the post-space word match, then we use the "space" entry as the spacing between the two words. Note that if multiple elements of "wrap_as_you_type_space_between_words" match a given pair of words, we use the first matching element. If no elements match, then we default to " ".

The "space" entry may be the empty string "", in which case no space is added between the words. In conjunction with the "wrap_as_you_type_word_regex" setting, this can be used to indicate optional mid-“word” breaking points.

Example:

{
    "wrap_as_you_type_space_between_words": [
        {
            "first_word_regex": "[^\\-]-+$",
            "space": ""
        }
    ],
    "wrap_as_you_type_word_regex": "[^\\s\\-]+-*|-+[^\\s\\-]*-*"
}

The above example permits WrapAsYouType to split words right after hyphens. For example, WrapAsYouType is permitted to break up “cookie-cutter” so that “cookie-” appears at the end of one line and “cutter” appears at the beginning of the next line.

"wrap_as_you_type_paragraphs"

The "wrap_as_you_type_paragraphs" setting provides a way to identify paragraph breaks, where these cannot be determined based on the indentation. One possible use case is Javadoc tags, as in the following example:

public class Sqrt {
    /**
     * Computes a square root.
     * @param value The value to compute the square root of.  This must be at
     *        least 0.
     * @return The square root of "value".
     */
    public static double sqrt(double value) {
        ...
    }
}

In this example, the block comment has three paragraphs: one beginning with "Computes", one beginning with "@param", and one beginning with "@return". Each line that begins with an @ symbol starts a new paragraph. We can use the "wrap_as_you_type_paragraphs" setting to get WrapAsYouType to respect this rule, as in the following example:

{
    "wrap_as_you_type_paragraphs": [
        {
            "first_line_regex": "^@([a-zA-Z]+(\\s+|$)|$)",
            "indent_group": 0
        }
    ]
}

"wrap_as_you_type_paragraphs" is an array of objects. Each object has the following entries:

• "first_line_regex": A Python regular expression to match a line's text against. If the pattern matches anywhere in a given line's text, then WrapAsYouType regards that line as the first line in a paragraph. A line's “text” is given by taking the line and removing the section's line start, and then removing any leading and trailing whitespace. Note that if a line has no text, then it is never considered as part of any paragraph.
• "indent_levels" (optional): The number of levels to indent lines in the paragraph after the first line, relative to the indentation of the first line. One level is a number of spaces equal to the tab width. By default, there is no indentation.
• "indent" (optional): The indentation of the lines in the paragraph after the first line, relative to the indentation of the first line. This must consist exclusively of whitespace. It is an error to include both an "indent" entry and an "indent_levels" entry.
• "indent_group" (optional): The regular expression group to use to determine the indentation of the lines in the paragraph after the first line, relative to the indentation of the first line. This can be a group number or a group name. If the "indent_group" entry is present and the group exists as part of the earliest "first_line_regex" match, then the indentation string is the same as the group string, but with each character that is not a tab replaced with a space. If there is an "indent_group" entry and there is also an "indent" or "indent_levels" entry, then the "indent_group" entry predominates.
• "single_line" (optional): Whether the paragraph consists of only one line: the line matching "first_line_regex". Defaults to false. WrapAsYouType does not wrap single-line paragraphs that extend beyond the wrap width. If "single_line" is true, then the "indent_levels", "indent", and "indent_group" entries may not be present.

The above example uses an "indent_group" entry to specify the indentation of a paragraph's lines after the first. "indent_group" is 0. This refers to the group that contains the entire match, which consists of the Javadoc tag and the following space(s). The indentation has the same length as the match. Thus, the lines after a Javadoc tag are aligned with the word after the tag.

If a line of text matches multiple elements' "first_line_regex" patterns, then the first matching element predominates.

Example, DocBlocks with dynamic typing

{
    "wrap_as_you_type_paragraphs": [
        {
            "first_line_regex":
                "^@(arg|argument|prop|property|param(\\[(in|out|in,out)\\])?)\\s+([^\\{\\s]\\S*|\\{[^\\}]*\\})\\s+([^\\[\\s]\\S*|\\[[^\\]]*\\])\\s+",
            "indent_group": 0
        },
        {
            "first_line_regex":
                "^@(exception|result|returns?|throws?)\\s+([^\\{\\s]\\S*|\\{[^\\}]*\\})\\s+",
            "indent_group": 0
        },
        {
            "first_line_regex":
                "^@(defgroup|link|retval|section|see|snippet|snippetdoc|snippetlineno|source|subsection)\\s+\\S+\\s+",
            "indent_group": 0
        },
        {
            "first_line_regex": "^@([a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z\\[,\\]]*(\\s+|$)|$)",
            "indent_group": 0
        }
    ]
}

The above setting configures WrapAsYouType to recognize various DocBlock formats, such as JSDoc. However, it is only for formats where data types are specified as part of the @param and @return tags, and where variable names are specified as part of the @param tag.

The lines after a DocBlock tag are indented so that they line up with the textual description for the tag, as in the following JavaScript code:

/**
 * Computes a square root.
 * @param  {number} value The value to compute the square root of.  This must be
 *                        at least 0.
 * @return {number}       The square root of "value".  The square root is the
 *                        nonnegative number "s" for which s * s is equal to
 *                        "value".
 */
function sqrt(value) {
    ...
}

If a different level of indentation is desired, you can adjust the setting to suit your needs.

Example, DocBlocks with static typing

{
    "wrap_as_you_type_paragraphs": [
        {
            "first_line_regex":
                "^@(serialField|param(\\[(in|out|in,out)\\])?)\\s+([^\\[\\s]\\S*|\\[[^\\]]*\\])\\s+",
            "indent_group": 0
        },
        {
            "first_line_regex":
                "^@(exception|throws?)\\s+([^\\{\\s]\\S*|\\{[^\\}]*\\})\\s+",
            "indent_group": 0
        },
        {
            "first_line_regex":
                "^@(defgroup|retval|section|see|snippet|snippetdoc|snippetlineno|subsection|tparam)\\s+\\S+\\s+",
            "indent_group": 0
        },
        {
            "first_line_regex": "^@([a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z\\[,\\]]*(\\s+|$)|$)",
            "indent_group": 0
        }
    ]
}

This setting configures WrapAsYouType to recognize DocBlock formats such as Javadoc, where data types are not specified as part of the @param and @return tags, and where variable names are specified as part of the @param tag.

Example, Google-style Python docstrings

{
    "wrap_as_you_type_paragraphs": [
        {
            "first_line_regex": "^(\\*?\\*?[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z_0-9]*|[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z_0-9]*\\[.+\\]|[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z_0-9]* \\([^\\)]+\\)): ",
            "indent_levels": 1
        },
        {
            "first_line_regex": "^((>>>|\\.\\.\\.)( |$)|<BLANKLINE>$)",
            "single_line": true
        },
        {
            "first_line_regex": "^(\"\"?|''?)$",
            "single_line": true
        }
    ]
}

"wrap_as_you_type_enter_extends_section"

If "wrap_as_you_type_enter_extends_section" is set to true, pressing the enter key inserts both a newline and the current section's line start. This is useful for extending a block comment or a sequence of line comments. You can still use Shift+enter to get the default newline behavior.

More precisely, if the selection cursor is in a wrappable section and this section extends to the beginning of the line, then pressing enter inserts a newline followed by the section's line start string, along with the appropriate indentation.

"wrap_as_you_type_passive"

If "wrap_as_you_type_passive" is set to true, WrapAsYouType is less aggressive with the changes it makes. In particular, it does not attempt to move words from the beginning of the current line to the end of the previous line.

One use case would be when editing structured comments such as DocBlocks. Typically, WrapAsYouType can be instructed to respect the formatting of such comments by using the "wrap_as_you_type_paragraphs" setting. However, if a user is unable or unwilling to configure "wrap_as_you_type_paragraphs" to recognize the formatting that the comments are using, he may prefer to set "wrap_as_you_type_passive" to true.

"wrap_as_you_type_disabled"

"wrap_as_you_type_disabled" is a boolean indicating whether the WrapAsYouType plugin should cease to operate. The "toggle_wrap_as_you_type" command inverts "wrap_as_you_type_disabled" in the current tab.

You may find that occasionally, WrapAsYouType gets in the way of what you are trying to type. Perhaps you are creating a diagram using ASCII art, or perhaps your comment contains a code sample. In these cases, it is recommended that you use the "toggle_wrap_as_you_type" command to temporarily disable WrapAsYouType. You can bind the command to a key combination by going to the “Preferences” > “Key Bindings” menu item.

Example:

[
    {
        "command": "toggle_wrap_as_you_type",
        "keys": ["super+alt+w"]
    }
]

If you want to permanently disable WrapAsYouType, consider uninstalling it or adding it to the "ignored_packages" setting instead.

Example:

{
    "ignored_packages": ["WrapAsYouType"]
}

Comparison with Auto (Hard) Wrap

WrapAsYouType is similar to the Auto (Hard) Wrap plugin in that both automatically perform hard word wrapping as the user types. However, WrapAsYouType has a number of advantages over Auto (Hard) Wrap.

Advantages of WrapAsYouType over Auto (Hard) Wrap:

• Auto (Hard) Wrap does not reflow entire paragraphs. For example, adding a little bit of text to the middle of a correctly flowed paragraph results in a nearly full line, followed by a nearly empty line, followed by a nearly full line.
• Auto (Hard) Wrap wraps all text, not just comments. By contrast, WrapAsYouType gives users the option to only wrap comments, or even to configure which sections to wrap.
• Auto (Hard) Wrap does not always respect indentation.
• Auto (Hard) Wrap does not support custom line starts, such as starting each line in a C++ block comment with " * ".

Advantages of Auto (Hard) Wrap over WrapAsYouType:

• WrapAsYouType requires the user to provide special settings for each programming language.