Fix indentation of if statement after else on separate line #81178

Copilot · 2025-11-12T12:05:31Z

Fix indentation of if statement after else on a separate line [WIP]

Problem

When an if statement appears on a different line from an else keyword, it should be indented like any other embedded statement, but currently it is not indented at all.

Root Cause

The issue has two parts:

In IndentBlockFormattingRule.cs, the AddEmbeddedStatementsIndentationOperation method excludes all IfStatementSyntax from indentation when they are the statement of an ElseClauseSyntax, regardless of whether they are on the same line or different lines.
In AnchorIndentationFormattingRule.cs, an anchor indentation operation is added for ALL StatementSyntax nodes (including IfStatementSyntax), which preserves the relative position of the if keyword and prevents it from being indented.

Changes Made

Current Status

Test Results:

✅ FormatElseIfOnSameLineWithExtraSpaces - PASSES: When else if (with extra spaces) is on the same line, it correctly formats to else if with a single space
✅ FormatElseReturnOnSeparateLines - PASSES: Confirms indent mechanism works for other statement types (e.g., return)
❌ FormatElseIfOnSeparateLines - FAILS: When else and if are on different lines, the if is not being indented

Investigation:
Found that AnchorIndentationFormattingRule adds an anchor operation for all statements (line 51-53), which preserves the relative position of the if keyword and prevents indentation. Added code to skip the anchor operation when there's a newline between else and if, but the test still fails. The logic appears correct but may not be executing as expected or there may be another source of anchor operations.

<issue_title>if block not indented after else</issue_title>

Version Used: 2.0.0.61213
if (true) { }
else
if (false) { }
should be auto-formatted (after typing } or explicitly formatting document) as
if (true) { }
else
    if (false) { }

Fixes if block not indented after else #16328

Original prompt

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>if block not indented after else</issue_title>
<issue_description>Version Used: 2.0.0.61213

if (true) { }
else
if (false) { }

should be auto-formatted (after typing } or explicitly formatting document) as

if (true) { }
else
    if (false) { }
```</issue_description>

<agent_instructions>@copilot see if you can figure out where this is happening.  The rule should be this.  If 'if' is on the same line as the preceding 'else', then we should force a single space between them.  If it's not on the same line, it should be like any embedded statement in the 'else' and should be indented one level.

presumably we're just checking if the 'else' has an embedded 'if' and just bailing out, instead of handling the individual cases smartly.</agent_instructions>

## Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

<comments>
<comment_new><author>@Pilchie</author><body>
Interesting.  We don't touch the indentation of the `if` at all, no matter where it is.

Related to https://github.com/dotnet/roslyn/issues/12315</body></comment_new>
</comments>

Fixes if block not indented after else #16328

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Co-authored-by: CyrusNajmabadi <4564579+CyrusNajmabadi@users.noreply.github.com>

CyrusNajmabadi · 2025-11-12T12:51:32Z

src/Workspaces/CSharpTest/Formatting/FormattingTests.cs

+            if (false) { }
+                }
+            }
+            """);


@copilot add a test that demonstrates that if we start with else if ... (where the else/if are on the same line) that the if is moved one space after the else.

Added test FormatElseIfOnSameLineWithExtraSpaces that verifies when else if (with multiple spaces) is on the same line, it formats to else if with a single space. The test passes. (ceaa90b)

@copilot Your fix doesn't seem to have worked. I have debugged through it and i can see that it is appropriate getting hit and appropriately calling AddEmbeddedStatementsIndentationOperation(list, elseClause.Statement);. However, we still don't actually see the if-statement get indented.

I've added another test that shows that this does work properly with another statement kind (like a 'return statement'). Figure out what other code there must be somewhere in the formatting engine that is causing us to still not move the 'if' statement. Perhaps it's some sort of suppression. Or something else entirely. It's very strange.

I've traced through the code and confirmed the indent operation is being added via AddIndentBlockOperation(list, firstToken, lastToken, TextSpan.FromBounds(...)). The return statement test passes, confirming the mechanism works for other statement types.

For IfStatementSyntax specifically, I suspect there may be:

An anchor/alignment operation being added elsewhere that overrides the indent

The IfStatementSyntax node being processed after the ElseClauseSyntax and adding a conflicting operation

Some special handling in the formatting engine's operation resolution

Could you point me to where in the formatting engine I should look for how indent operations are resolved/applied, or if there's specific handling for IfStatementSyntax that might be interfering?

Co-authored-by: CyrusNajmabadi <4564579+CyrusNajmabadi@users.noreply.github.com>

CyrusNajmabadi · 2025-11-12T12:59:12Z

src/Workspaces/CSharpTest/Formatting/FormattingTests.cs

            }
            """);

+    [Fact, WorkItem("https://github.com/dotnet/roslyn/issues/12286")]


@copilot update the links to be #16328

Updated both WorkItem attributes to reference the correct issue #16328 (c665e40)

Co-authored-by: CyrusNajmabadi <4564579+CyrusNajmabadi@users.noreply.github.com>

CyrusNajmabadi · 2025-11-12T16:26:26Z

...s/SharedUtilitiesAndExtensions/Compiler/CSharp/Formatting/Rules/IndentBlockFormattingRule.cs

+                    if (!lastToken.IsMissing)
+                    {
+                        AddIndentBlockOperation(list, firstToken, lastToken, TextSpan.FromBounds(firstToken.FullSpan.Start, lastToken.FullSpan.End));
+                    }


@copilot inlining had no effect. The original call here was correct as it was calling into the overload of AddEmbeddedStatementsIndentationOperation that takes a statement as the second operation.

In terms of finding the issue, can you look around in the sibling files of this rule and see if there are any suspect behaviors around IfStatementSyntax, ElseClauseSyntax, IfKeyword, ElseKeyword, etc?

Found the issue! AnchorIndentationFormattingRule adds an anchor indentation operation for ALL StatementSyntax nodes (lines 51-53), which preserves the if keyword's position and prevents the indent operation from taking effect.

I added a check to skip the anchor operation when an IfStatementSyntax is on a separate line from its else keyword (889d7e7), but the test still fails. The logic looks correct - it checks for newline trivia and returns early to skip adding the anchor. However, the if is still not being indented.

Could there be another source adding an anchor operation, or is there something about how anchor and indent operations interact that I'm missing?

…if on separate lines Co-authored-by: CyrusNajmabadi <4564579+CyrusNajmabadi@users.noreply.github.com>

Initial plan

c72dac3

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and CyrusNajmabadi Nov 12, 2025

Copilot started work on behalf of CyrusNajmabadi November 12, 2025 12:05 View session

WIP: Add logic to indent if statement after else on different lines

64b0b8a

Co-authored-by: CyrusNajmabadi <4564579+CyrusNajmabadi@users.noreply.github.com>

dotnet-policy-service bot added the VSCode label Nov 12, 2025

Attempt to fix else-if indentation (test still failing)

aa0b966

Co-authored-by: CyrusNajmabadi <4564579+CyrusNajmabadi@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Fix indentation for if block after else~~ Fix indentation of if statement after else on separate line Nov 12, 2025

Copilot AI requested a review from CyrusNajmabadi November 12, 2025 12:39

Copilot finished work on behalf of CyrusNajmabadi November 12, 2025 12:39

CyrusNajmabadi reviewed Nov 12, 2025

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Copilot started work on behalf of CyrusNajmabadi November 12, 2025 12:51 View session

Add test for else-if on same line with extra spaces

ceaa90b

Co-authored-by: CyrusNajmabadi <4564579+CyrusNajmabadi@users.noreply.github.com>

CyrusNajmabadi marked this pull request as ready for review November 12, 2025 12:58

CyrusNajmabadi requested a review from a team as a code owner November 12, 2025 12:58

Copilot AI requested a review from CyrusNajmabadi November 12, 2025 12:59

Copilot finished work on behalf of CyrusNajmabadi November 12, 2025 12:59

CyrusNajmabadi reviewed Nov 12, 2025

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Copilot started work on behalf of CyrusNajmabadi November 12, 2025 12:59 View session

Update WorkItem links to correct issue number 16328

c665e40

Co-authored-by: CyrusNajmabadi <4564579+CyrusNajmabadi@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI requested a review from CyrusNajmabadi November 12, 2025 13:06

Copilot finished work on behalf of CyrusNajmabadi November 12, 2025 13:06

JoeRobich approved these changes Nov 12, 2025

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Add test

d26f895

Copilot started work on behalf of CyrusNajmabadi November 12, 2025 15:36 View session

Addressing PR comments

f74ab56

Co-authored-by: CyrusNajmabadi <4564579+CyrusNajmabadi@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot finished work on behalf of CyrusNajmabadi November 12, 2025 15:51

CyrusNajmabadi reviewed Nov 12, 2025

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Copilot started work on behalf of CyrusNajmabadi November 12, 2025 16:27 View session

Add check in AnchorIndentationFormattingRule to skip anchor for else-…

889d7e7

…if on separate lines Co-authored-by: CyrusNajmabadi <4564579+CyrusNajmabadi@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI requested a review from CyrusNajmabadi November 12, 2025 16:53

Copilot finished work on behalf of CyrusNajmabadi November 12, 2025 16:53

CyrusNajmabadi added 4 commits November 12, 2025 18:33

REvert

e939fc4

Fix

c040b94

Fix

a9a0f11

REvert

c5b674d

CyrusNajmabadi enabled auto-merge (rebase) November 12, 2025 18:35

auto-merge was automatically disabled November 12, 2025 20:16
Rebase failed

CyrusNajmabadi merged commit 5b20f50 into main Nov 12, 2025
26 checks passed

CyrusNajmabadi deleted the copilot/fix-indent-after-else branch November 12, 2025 20:17

dotnet-policy-service bot added this to the Next milestone Nov 12, 2025

CyrusNajmabadi mentioned this pull request Nov 13, 2025

Autoformatting: nested if-else indentation #12315

Closed

dotnet-bot mentioned this pull request Nov 14, 2025

[Automated] PRs inserted in VS build main-11213.22 #81230

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Fix indentation of if statement after else on a separate line [WIP]

Problem

Root Cause

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Current Status

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