import os
import re


def indent(instr, nspaces=4, ntabs=0, flatten=False):
    """Indent a string a given number of spaces or tabstops.

    indent(str,nspaces=4,ntabs=0) -> indent str by ntabs+nspaces.

    Parameters
    ----------

    instr : basestring
        The string to be indented.
    nspaces : int (default: 4)
        The number of spaces to be indented.
    ntabs : int (default: 0)
        The number of tabs to be indented.
    flatten : bool (default: False)
        Whether to scrub existing indentation.  If True, all lines will be
        aligned to the same indentation.  If False, existing indentation will
        be strictly increased.

    Returns
    -------

    str|unicode : string indented by ntabs and nspaces.

    """
    if instr is None:
        return
    ind = '\t' * ntabs + ' ' * nspaces
    if flatten:
        pat = re.compile(r'^\s*', re.MULTILINE)
    else:
        pat = re.compile(r'^', re.MULTILINE)
    outstr = re.sub(pat, ind, instr)
    if outstr.endswith(os.linesep + ind):
        return outstr[:-len(ind)]
    else:
        return outstr