Grrr, this is starting to get on my nerves a bit now...
Format is a word usually used to describe a specific set of instructions... A PNG file is in PNG file format. If it wasnt in this format, it wouldn't be a PNG. The PHP function number_format formats a number to a specific format set. It is not given a guideline when formatting the number, its given a strict format.
An additional tab and indent in a PHP script is nothing to do with the file format, and IMO, should not be described as file formatting. When its interpreted, the PHP library doesn't care about spaces, tabs, indents etc unless they are meaningful (eg: in a string).
The guideline of coding would be a reccomended use, to promote readability. Say for example, you state that all declared functions should be camel-case (eg: readFileData()) and all opening braces should be proceeded by a newline and indent.. A model piece of code:
function readFileData(){
// Do something...
}
So.. We have a perfectly sensible guideline... What happens if we break the guideline though, and dont do a newline? Well.. nothing, we just dont have such easy readability, but no functionality is lost.
However, if the file format called for a newline and indent after every brace, and we broke the format by not doing that, the file should technically be corrupt (as it doesn't follow the format) and therefore wouldn't work. But of course, it would, hence why tabbing and indenting and other things to promote readability have nothing to do with the syntax format...
Oh jesus, Missing-Score, get over yourself. The word Format has its own god damn meaning, and one of this is how things are formated and displayed. Like a list, how a list is formated, alphabeticle, etc. Just like in code, if I choose to format my code using spaces.
Before you go geek on me think about what the word really means out side of coding as I am talking to you and not explaining code, I'm using words to describe things, to describe how I code, the format or layout of how my code is written.