--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/textshaper/indent.py	Fri Jan 17 18:17:59 2014 -0800
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+"""
+indentation of text blocks
+"""
+
+import optparse
+import os
+import sys
+
+def indent(text, indentation=4, space=' ', strict=False):
+    """
+    indent a block of text
+
+    text -- lines of text to indent
+    indentation -- number of spaces to indent
+    space -- what to indent with
+    strict -- whether to enforce required whitespace for negative indentation
+    """
+
+    if not indentation:
+        # nothing to do
+        return text
+
+    if indentation > 0:
+        retval = [space * indentation + line for line in text]
+    else:
+        # negative indentation
+        indentation = -indentation
+        retval = []
+        for line in text:
+            prefix = line[:indentation]
+            for index, char in enumerate(prefix):
+                if not char == space:
+                    if strict:
+                        raise AssertionError("Found non-'%s' charcter at column %d for indentation -%d" % (space, index, indentation))
+                    break
+            else:
+                index = indentation
+            retval.append(line[index:])
+
+def main(args=sys.argv[1:]):
+
+    usage = '%prog [options]'
+    parser = optparse.OptionParser(usage=usage, description=__doc__)
+    options, args = parser.parse_args(args)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main()