~~NOTOC~~



====== Vim auto-completion howto ======

vim has a great feature that allows to auto-complete a word while typing it in insert mode. This article shows how it works.


===== Auto-complete from the current file =====

If you know that the word appeared earlier in the same text file, you can type the first letters then press **//CTRL-x CTRL-p//**. If the word you are typing appears later in the text then press **//CTRL-x CTRL-n//**. This will create a menu that shows the different possible matching words that have the same prefix.


{{technotes:complete.jpeg|}}




===== Auto-complete from source files =====
 
When writing a program and you want to insert a function call, and you just remember how the function starts. \\
You can type the beginning of the function name then press **//CTRL-x CTRL-]//**. This will create a menu with alternative candidates for the symbol you typed. You need to create a tag file using ctags to use the latter feature.

{{technotes:tags.jpeg|}}


===== Auto-completing a filename =====

If the word you are inserting corresponds to a file name, then use 
**//CTRL-x CTRL-f//**

{{technotes:fname.jpeg|}}



===== Other auto-completion commands =====

This is the list of available auto-completion commands in vim.

<code>

Completion can be done for:

1. Whole lines                                          |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-L|
2. keywords in the current file                         |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-N|
3. keywords in 'dictionary'                             |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K|
4. keywords in 'thesaurus', thesaurus-style             |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-T|
5. keywords in the current and included files           |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-I|
6. tags                                                 |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-]|
7. file names                                           |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-F|
8. definitions or macros                                |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-D|
9. Vim command-line                                     |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-V|
10. User defined completion                             |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-U|
11. omni completion                                     |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-O|
12. Spelling suggestions                                |i_CTRL-X_s|
13. keywords in 'complete'                              |i_CTRL-N|
</code>

See //help completion// in vim for more info.


{{tag>unix coding howto}}