C++ code completion

In this tip I'll show you how to setup C++ code completion in Vim.

1. First install OmniCppComplete: [1]

2. Now make a directory that will hold your ctags. I have that in: ~/.vim/tags

3. Create stdc++ tags: Download and unpack modified headers from [2] to ~/.vim/tags/cpp_source

4. Run ctags:

$ cd ~/.vim/tags
$ ctags -R --c++-kinds=+p --fields=+iaS --extra=+q --language-force=C++ cpp_src 
$ mv tags cpp

5. Add additional tags (change to your system/likings):

$ ctags -R --c++-kinds=+p --fields=+iaS --extra=+q --language-force=C++ /usr/include/GL/ && mv tags gl # for OpenGL
$ ctags -R --c++-kinds=+p --fields=+iaS --extra=+q --language-force=C++ /usr/include/SDL/ && mv tags sdl # for SDL
$ ctags -R --c++-kinds=+p --fields=+iaS --extra=+q --language-force=C++ /usr/include/qt4/ && mv tags qt4 # for QT4

6. Edit your ~/.vimrc and change to your system/likings:

"
" configure tags - add additional tags here or comment out not used ones
"
set tags+=~/.vim/tags/cpp
set tags+=~/.vim/tags/gl
set tags+=~/.vim/tags/sdl
set tags+=~/.vim/tags/qt4
" build tags of your own project with CTRL+F12
map <C-F12> :!ctags -R --c++-kinds=+p --fields=+iaS --extra=+q .<CR>

"
" OmniCppComplete
"
let OmniCpp_NamespaceSearch = 1
let OmniCpp_GlobalScopeSearch = 1
let OmniCpp_ShowAccess = 1
let OmniCpp_MayCompleteDot = 1
let OmniCpp_MayCompleteArrow = 1
let OmniCpp_MayCompleteScope = 1
let OmniCpp_DefaultNamespaces   = ["std", "_GLIBCXX_STD"]
" automatically open and close the popup menu / preview window
autocmd CursorMovedI * if pumvisible() == 0|pclose|endif
autocmd InsertLeave * if pumvisible() == 0|pclose|endif
set completeopt=menuone,menu,longest,preview

Additional information

It is nice to have the headers of the used libs really on your system so the preview window has something to show.