produce copy-paste-able pdf output with correct indentation with listing

Question

Here is a block of latex code to produce some Python code.  I'd like to be able to copy and paste it into Python.

documentclass{standalone}

usepackage{listings}             % Include the listings-package
begin{document}
lstset{language=Python,
  columns=fullflexible,
  basicstyle=ttfamily,
  showstringspaces=false
}

begin{lstlisting}
def test(inputvariable):
    if inputvariable == 4:
        print("The input variable is 4 .")
        print("So I'm giving this response.")
    print("done with if statement.")

test(4)
test(3)
end{lstlisting}

end{document}

It looks right:

Unfortunately when I copy and paste it, the indentation is lost, and that's pretty key to how Python works.

Is it possible to get the spacing to appear when I copy/paste it?

Ulrike Fischer · Accepted Answer

Inho it is not really possible in a reliable way. It depends too much on the pdf viewer. It is possible to insert real spaces with the pdffakespace primitive, but the indentation is preserved in sumatra only if I map the space (globally!) to the Unicode Character 'FIGURE SPACE' (U+2007), and in the adobe reader it still disappears.

documentclass{article}

usepackage{listings}             
usepackage[T1]{fontenc}

makeatletter
lst@AddToHook{Init}
    {deflst@outputspace{ pdffakespace}}
makeatother

input{glyphtounicode}

% saner but doesn't work
%pdfglyphtounicode{space}{0020}

% works in sumatra:
pdfglyphtounicode{space}{2007}

begin{document}

lstset{language=Python,
  columns=fullflexible,
  basicstyle=ttfamily,
  showspaces,
  showstringspaces=false
}

begin{lstlisting}
def test(inputvariable):
    if inputvariable == 4:
        print("The input variable is 4 .")
        print("So I'm giving this response.")
    print("done with if statement.")

test(4)
test(3)
end{lstlisting}

end{document}

produce copy-paste-able pdf output with correct indentation with listing

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