UI Bug with Xcode's invisible characters in documentation comments

Feedback number: FB12128126

I like to display invisible characters in my text editors/IDEs because I want to know if the spaces I’m seeing are spaces or tabs. I also like to be able to tell immediately if I’m seeing multiple spaces or not.

Here is an example of what that looks like. Notice the grey dots between words. screenshot of xcode showing invisible spaces rendered visible

In Xcode, you can find this in the Editor menu labeled as Invisibles.

screenshot snippet of the editor menu in xcode showing the invisibles item

Today I noticed that when using documentation comments, the invisibles are misaligned and lay on top of the characters instead of between them. I submitted a feedback, but I’m not sure it will ever be addressed so I wrote this post in case someone else runs into the same thing.

screenshot of xcode showing invisibles in documentation comment misaligned layout

misaligned invisibles in documentation comment.