allow utils.text.indent to [optionally] flatten existing indentation.

IPython/config/application.py

@@ -161,7 +161,7 b' class Application(SingletonConfigurable):'
             help = trait.get_metadata('help')
             print alias, "(%s)"%longname, ':', trait.__class__.__name__
             if help:
-                print indent(help)
+                print indent(help, flatten=True)
         print
     
     def print_flag_help(self):
@@ -176,7 +176,7 b' class Application(SingletonConfigurable):'
         
         for m, (cfg,help) in self.flags.iteritems():
             print '--'+m
-            print indent(help)
+            print indent(help, flatten=True)
         print
     
     def print_help(self):

IPython/config/configurable.py

@@ -44,7 +44,6 b' class MultipleInstanceError(ConfigurableError):'
 # Configurable implementation
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-
 class Configurable(HasTraits):
 
     config = Instance(Config,(),{})
@@ -151,7 +150,7 b' class Configurable(HasTraits):'
             header = "%s.%s : %s" % (cls.__name__, k, v.__class__.__name__)
             final_help.append(header)
             if help is not None:
-                final_help.append(indent(help))
+                final_help.append(indent(help, flatten=True))
         return '\n'.join(final_help)
 
     @classmethod

IPython/utils/text.py

@@ -391,15 +391,39 b' def igrep(pat,list):'
     return grep(pat,list,case=0)
 
 
-def indent(str,nspaces=4,ntabs=0):
+def indent(instr,nspaces=4, ntabs=0, flatten=False):
     """Indent a string a given number of spaces or tabstops.
 
     indent(str,nspaces=4,ntabs=0) -> indent str by ntabs+nspaces.
+    
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    
+    instr : basestring
+        The string to be indented.
+    nspaces : int (default: 4)
+        The number of spaces to be indented.
+    ntabs : int (default: 0)
+        The number of tabs to be indented.
+    flatten : bool (default: False)
+        Whether to scrub existing indentation.  If True, all lines will be
+        aligned to the same indentation.  If False, existing indentation will
+        be strictly increased.
+    
+    Returns
+    -------
+    
+    str|unicode : string indented by ntabs and nspaces.
+    
     """
-    if str is None:
+    if instr is None:
         return
     ind = '\t'*ntabs+' '*nspaces
-    outstr = '%s%s' % (ind,str.replace(os.linesep,os.linesep+ind))
+    if flatten:
+        pat = re.compile(r'^\s*', re.MULTILINE)
+    else:
+        pat = re.compile(r'^', re.MULTILINE)
+    outstr = re.sub(pat, ind, instr)
     if outstr.endswith(os.linesep+ind):
         return outstr[:-len(ind)]
     else: