EMACS and TAB key (indent vs \t insert)

Question

Let's say I have a <weird language> file and I'm editing it.

If the cursor is at the beginning of a sentence (let's say an if , which is already indented 2 levels) and I hit TAB , I'd expect EMACS to increase +1 the indent level of that line (using a TAB or N SPACEs , depending on the indent style used in the file).

Anyways, if I hit TAB and the cursor is after the if , I'd expect EMACS to insert a plain \\t .

How can I make EMACS behave like this?

Regards

Answer 1

Took current indentation as at-beginning. That condition might need a modification. See also third clause.

(defun my-indent-or-insert-tab ()
  "Insert a TAB or indent depending on context. "
  (interactive "*")
  (cond((eq (current-column) (current-indentation)) 
        (indent-for-tab-command))
       ((member (char-after) (list ?\t ? ?\n))
        (insert "\t"))
       (t (message "%s" "Don't know what to do if inside word"))))