def indent_char2int(indent):
    """Convert a character indent into a number of spaces that should be used.
    Tabs are set to be equivalent to 4 spaces.

    Args:
        indent (str): String indent.

    Returns:
        int: Number of whitespaces that is equivalent to the provided string.

    """
    if isinstance(indent, str):
        indent = len(indent.replace('\t', '    '))
    return indent
