Developers use Text ASCII files for tons of things - source code, Xml, html pages, etc... There are tons of different editors for these different kinds of files (Visual Studio, XmlSpy, FrontPage, NotePad, etc...). Given that multiple developers are working on the same files and storing them in source control, there are two potential options that should be consistent between your text editors:
- Make sure they have the same tab settings (such as a tab = 4 spaces)
- Make sure they use the same line break character (such as CR & LF).
For example, if you have XmlSpy use regular tabs, but Visual Studio use tabs=4 spaces, then when the same file is edited in both, it may get totally reformatted. This can cause merge problems. However if they both have the same tab and line break settings, then they won't be reformatted differently.
Most tools have these settings stored under something like Tools > Options. It's a quick thing to check, but an annoying thing if it goes unchecked.
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