tabulator (Tab)
Tabs are positioning characters and aids in word processing programs. There are the horizontal tabs( HT), the vertical tabs( VT) and the decimal tabs.
The horizontal tab (HT) is a positioning character in word processing. With this format control character, text lines, text paragraphs or text blocks can be positioned in the horizontal, i.e. in line direction, at precisely defined and adjustable positions. The horizontal tab is used to align texts, for example in listings or highlighting.
The tabulator position can be set, the indentation occurs when the tabulator key is pressed. In doing so, the cursor jumps to the next tab stop. In text programs, the tabulator position can be determined by the tabulator arrows in the stop bar. The Horizontal Tabulation control character has the ASCII value 009 in the ASCII character set.
A Vertical Tabulator (VT) is a format control character from the ASCII character set that is used to advance the writing device line by line to the next predetermined position. The VT control character occupies the position 0B (hex.) or 011 (dec.) in the ASCII code.