> I'm looking for the the xslt equivalent of the expand command 
> in unix to apply to a text input file and surprised I'm not 
> finding anything with a google search.
> 
> The expand command changes the tabs to the appropriate number 
> of blanks, and writes the results on the standard output.
> 
> http://www.softpanorama.org/Tools/expand.shtml
> 

If the expand command in UNIX does the right thing, why not use it? 

I think most people achieve this kind of effect using special-purpose
buttons in their IDE these days.

Regards,

Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/
http://twitter.com/michaelhkay