Any word completion

Tip 4 Printable Monobook Previous Next

created February 24, 2001 · complexity basic · author Jamo.sp · version 5.7

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In insert mode, type the first couple of characters of a word, then press
Ctrl-N to insert the next matching word, or
Ctrl-P to insert the previous matching word.

This is particularly useful when entering the names of variables in a program.

The 'complete' option controls where the keywords are searched (include files, tag files, buffers, ...).
The 'completeopt' option controls how the completion occurs (for example, whether a menu is shown).

References

• :help i_CTRL-N
• :help i_CTRL-P
• :help ins-completion
• :help 'complete'
• :help 'completeopt'
• :help i_CTRL-X_CTRL-P
• :help i_CTRL-X_CTRL-N

Comments

Also see script#182 and script#73

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Completion such as this is also why it is a good idea to have descriptive variable names, so you can easily tell if you have the completion you were after.

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It's completion that made me unable to use Visual Studio's editor (which has some completion, but it's not as good) anymore. I get lots of use out of:

File completion: <C-X><C-F>
Line completion: <C-X><C-L>
Omni completion: <C-X><C-O>

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I have found myself performing a lot of Ctrl-P/Ctr-N commands on the same strings, and when this happens, I generally add an abbreviation, which saves me a keystroke or two. I do a lot of programming in ColdFusion, and I have these lines in my .vimrc:

ab Attr Attributes
ab Appl Application
ab Vari Variables
ab Req Request
ab CFQ CFQUERY
ab CFO CFOUTPUT
...

Vim will finish the word as soon as you type a character after the abbreviation.

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Example of a multiline abbreviation:

:ab mul Multiple<CR>lines

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If you've several words you'd like to complete, you can use Ctrl-X Ctrl-P to extend the match.
For example, suppose a line exists in your file:

$res = mysql_query($q) or die(mysql_error());

You want to type the line:

$result = mysql_query($q) or die(mysql_error());

Type:

$result = my

Keep pressing Ctrl-P until you get to mysql_query.

Then pressing Ctrl-X Ctrl-P will give:

$result = mysql_query($q

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To move the cursor to a certain position after the abbreviation, try one of these:

?ab<enter>

Where ab is the letters at the position you want (search backwards).

Nb

Where N is the number of words you want to go back. For example, 7b will take you back 7 words.

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To get a C-style comment when you type 'com', you can add this to your .vimrc file:

iab com /*<cr><cr>/<Up>

which will expand to:

/*
 * <here-is-the-cursor-position>
 */

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Here are some useful abbreviations for Java code:

abbr psvm public static void main(String[] args){<cr>}<esc>O
abbr sysout System.out.println("");<esc>2hi
abbr sop System.out.println("");<esc>2hi
abbr syserr System.err.println("");<esc>2hi
abbr sep System.err.println("");<esc>2hi

abbr forl for (int i = 0; i < ; i++) {<esc>7hi
abbr tryb try {<cr>} catch (Exception ex) {<cr> ex.printStackTrace();<cr>}<esc>hx3ko
abbr const public static final int

abbr ctm System.currentTimeMillis()
abbr slept try {<cr> Thread.sleep();<cr>}<esc>hxA catch(Exception ex) {<cr> ex.printStackTrace();<cr>}<esc>hx3k$hi

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