1ZSHCOMPWID(1) General Commands Manual ZSHCOMPWID(1)
2
6 zshcompwid - zsh completion widgets
7
9 The shell's programmable completion mechanism can be manipulated in two
10 ways; here the low-level features supporting the newer, function-based
11 mechanism are defined. A complete set of shell functions based on
12 these features is described in zshcompsys(1), and users with no inter‐
13 est in adding to that system (or, potentially, writing their own ---
14 see dictionary entry for `hubris') should skip this section. The older
15 system based on the compctl builtin command is described in zshcom‐
16 pctl(1).
17 Completion widgets are defined by the -C option to the zle builtin com‐
19 mand provided by the zsh/zle module (see zshzle(1)). For example,
20 zle -C complete expand-or-complete completer
22 defines a widget named `complete'. The second argument is the name of
24 any of the builtin widgets that handle completions: complete-word,
25 expand-or-complete, expand-or-complete-prefix, menu-complete,
26 menu-expand-or-complete, reverse-menu-complete, list-choices, or
27 delete-char-or-list. Note that this will still work even if the widget
28 in question has been re-bound.
29 When this newly defined widget is bound to a key using the bindkey
31 builtin command defined in the zsh/zle module (see zshzle(1)), typing
32 that key will call the shell function `completer'. This function is
33 responsible for generating the possible matches using the builtins
34 described below. As with other ZLE widgets, the function is called
35 with its standard input closed.
36 Once the function returns, the completion code takes over control again
38 and treats the matches in the same manner as the specified builtin wid‐
39 get, in this case expand-or-complete.
40
42 Inside completion widgets, and any functions called from them, some
43 parameters have special meaning; outside these functions they are not
44 special to the shell in any way. These parameters are used to pass
45 information between the completion code and the completion widget. Some
46 of the builtin commands and the condition codes use or change the cur‐
47 rent values of these parameters. Any existing values will be hidden
48 during execution of completion widgets; except for compstate, the
49 parameters are reset on each function exit (including nested function
50 calls from within the completion widget) to the values they had when
51 the function was entered.
52 CURRENT
54 This is the number of the current word, i.e. the word the cursor
55 is currently on in the words array. Note that this value is
56 only correct if the ksharrays option is not set.
57 IPREFIX
59 Initially this will be set to the empty string. This parameter
60 functions like PREFIX; it contains a string which precedes the
61 one in PREFIX and is not considered part of the list of matches.
62 Typically, a string is transferred from the beginning of PREFIX
63 to the end of IPREFIX, for example:
64 IPREFIX=${PREFIX%%\=*}=
66 PREFIX=${PREFIX#*=}
67 causes the part of the prefix up to and including the first
69 equal sign not to be treated as part of a matched string. This
70 can be done automatically by the compset builtin, see below.
71 ISUFFIX
73 As IPREFIX, but for a suffix that should not be considered part
74 of the matches; note that the ISUFFIX string follows the SUFFIX
75 string.
76 PREFIX Initially this will be set to the part of the current word from
78 the beginning of the word up to the position of the cursor; it
79 may be altered to give a common prefix for all matches.
80 QIPREFIX
82 This parameter is read-only and contains the quoted string up to
83 the word being completed. E.g. when completing `"foo', this
84 parameter contains the double quote. If the -q option of compset
85 is used (see below), and the original string was `"foo bar' with
86 the cursor on the `bar', this parameter contains `"foo '.
87 QISUFFIX
89 Like QIPREFIX, but containing the suffix.
90 SUFFIX Initially this will be set to the part of the current word from
92 the cursor position to the end; it may be altered to give a com‐
93 mon suffix for all matches. It is most useful when the option
94 COMPLETE_IN_WORD is set, as otherwise the whole word on the com‐
95 mand line is treated as a prefix.
96 compstate
98 This is an associative array with various keys and values that
99 the completion code uses to exchange information with the com‐
100 pletion widget. The keys are:
101 all_quotes
103 The -q option of the compset builtin command (see below)
104 allows a quoted string to be broken into separate words;
105 if the cursor is on one of those words, that word will be
106 completed, possibly invoking `compset -q' recursively.
107 With this key it is possible to test the types of quoted
108 strings which are currently broken into parts in this
109 fashion. Its value contains one character for each quot‐
110 ing level. The characters are a single quote or a double
111 quote for strings quoted with these characters and a
112 backslash for strings not starting with a quote charac‐
113 ter. The first character in the value always corresponds
114 to the innermost quoting level.
115 context
117 This will be set by the completion code to the overall
118 context in which completion is attempted. Possible values
119 are:
120 array_value
122 when completing inside the value of an array
123 parameter assignment; in this case the words array
124 contains the words inside the parentheses.
125 brace_parameter
127 when completing the name of a parameter in a
128 parameter expansion beginning with ${.
129 assign_parameter
131 when completing the name of a parameter in a
132 parameter assignment.
133 command
135 when completing for a normal command (either in
136 command position or for an argument of the com‐
137 mand).
138 condition
140 when completing inside a `[[...]]' conditional
141 expression; in this case the words array contains
142 only the words inside the conditional expression.
143 math when completing in a mathematical environment such
145 as a `((...))' construct.
146 parameter
148 when completing the name of a parameter in a
149 parameter expansion beginning with $ but not ${.
150 redirect
152 when completing after a redirection operator.
153 subscript
155 when completing inside a parameter subscript.
156 value when completing the value of a parameter assign‐
158 ment.
159 exact Controls the behaviour when the REC_EXACT option is set.
161 It will be set to accept if an exact match would be
162 accepted, and will be unset otherwise.
163 If it was set when at least one match equal to the string
165 on the line was generated, the match is accepted.
166 exact_string
168 The string of an exact match if one was found, otherwise
169 unset.
170 ignored
172 The number of words that were ignored because they
173 matched one of the patterns given with the -F option to
174 the compadd builtin command.
175 insert This controls the manner in which a match is inserted
177 into the command line. On entry to the widget function,
178 if it is unset the command line is not to be changed; if
179 set to unambiguous, any prefix common to all matches is
180 to be inserted; if set to automenu-unambiguous, the com‐
181 mon prefix is to be inserted and the next invocation of
182 the completion code may start menu completion (due to the
183 AUTO_MENU option being set); if set to menu or automenu
184 menu completion will be started for the matches currently
185 generated (in the latter case this will happen because
186 the AUTO_MENU is set). The value may also contain the
187 string `tab' when the completion code would normally not
188 really do completion, but only insert the TAB character.
189 On exit it may be set to any of the values above (where
191 setting it to the empty string is the same as unsetting
192 it), or to a number, in which case the match whose number
193 is given will be inserted into the command line. Nega‐
194 tive numbers count backward from the last match (with
195 `-1' selecting the last match) and out-of-range values
196 are wrapped around, so that a value of zero selects the
197 last match and a value one more than the maximum selects
198 the first. Unless the value of this key ends in a space,
199 the match is inserted as in a menu completion, i.e. with‐
200 out automatically appending a space.
201 Both menu and automenu may also specify the the number of
203 the match to insert, given after a colon. For example,
204 `menu:2' says to start menu completion, beginning with
205 the second match.
206 Note that a value containing the substring `tab' makes
208 the matches generated be ignored and only the TAB be
209 inserted.
210 Finally, it may also be set to all, which makes all
212 matches generated be inserted into the line.
213 insert_positions
215 When the completion system inserts an unambiguous string
216 into the line, there may be multiple places where charac‐
217 ters are missing or where the character inserted differs
218 from at least one match. The value of this key contains
219 a colon separated list of all these positions, as indexes
220 into the command line.
221 last_prompt
223 If this is set to a non-empty string for every match
224 added, the completion code will move the cursor back to
225 the previous prompt after the list of completions has
226 been displayed. Initially this is set or unset according
227 to the ALWAYS_LAST_PROMPT option.
228 list This controls whether or how the list of matches will be
230 displayed. If it is unset or empty they will never be
231 listed; if its value begins with list, they will always
232 be listed; if it begins with autolist or ambiguous, they
233 will be listed when the AUTO_LIST or LIST_AMBIGUOUS
234 options respectively would normally cause them to be.
235 If the substring force appears in the value, this makes
237 the list be shown even if there is only one match. Nor‐
238 mally, the list would be shown only if there are at least
239 two matches.
240 The value contains the substring packed if the
242 LIST_PACKED option is set. If this substring is given for
243 all matches added to a group, this group will show the
244 LIST_PACKED behavior. The same is done for the
245 LIST_ROWS_FIRST option with the substring rows.
246 Finally, if the value contains the string explanations,
248 only the explanation strings, if any, will be listed and
249 if it contains messages, only the messages (added with
250 the -x option of compadd) will be listed. If it contains
251 both explanations and messages both kinds of explanation
252 strings will be listed. It will be set appropriately on
253 entry to a completion widget and may be changed there.
254 list_lines
256 This gives the number of lines that are needed to display
257 the full list of completions. Note that to calculate the
258 total number of lines to display you need to add the num‐
259 ber of lines needed for the command line to this value,
260 this is available as the value of the BUFFERLINES special
261 parameter.
262 list_max
264 Initially this is set to the value of the LISTMAX parame‐
265 ter. It may be set to any other value; when the widget
266 exits this value will be used in the same way as the
267 value of LISTMAX.
268 nmatches
270 The number of matches generated and accepted by the com‐
271 pletion code so far.
272 old_insert
274 On entry to the widget this will be set to the number of
275 the match of an old list of completions that is currently
276 inserted into the command line. If no match has been
277 inserted, this is unset.
278 As with old_list, the value of this key will only be used
280 if it is the string keep. If it was set to this value by
281 the widget and there was an old match inserted into the
282 command line, this match will be kept and if the value of
283 the insert key specifies that another match should be
284 inserted, this will be inserted after the old one.
285 old_list
287 This is set to yes if there is still a valid list of com‐
288 pletions from a previous completion at the time the wid‐
289 get is invoked. This will usually be the case if and
290 only if the previous editing operation was a completion
291 widget or one of the builtin completion functions. If
292 there is a valid list and it is also currently shown on
293 the screen, the value of this key is shown.
294 After the widget has exited the value of this key is only
296 used if it was set to keep. In this case the completion
297 code will continue to use this old list. If the widget
298 generated new matches, they will not be used.
299 parameter
301 The name of the parameter when completing in a subscript
302 or in the value of a parameter assignment.
303 pattern_insert
305 Normally this is set to menu, which specifies that menu
306 completion will be used whenever a set of matches was
307 generated using pattern matching. If it is set to any
308 other non-empty string by the user and menu completion is
309 not selected by other option settings, the code will
310 instead insert any common prefix for the generated
311 matches as with normal completion.
312 pattern_match
314 Locally controls the behaviour given by the GLOB_COMPLETE
315 option. Initially it is set to `*' if and only if the
316 option is set. The completion widget may set it to this
317 value, to an empty string (which has the same effect as
318 unsetting it), or to any other non-empty string. If it
319 is non-empty, unquoted metacharacters on the command line
320 will be treated as patterns; if it is `*', then addition‐
321 ally a wildcard `*' is assumed at the cursor position; if
322 it is empty or unset, metacharacters will be treated lit‐
323 erally.
324 Note that the matcher specifications given to the compadd
326 builtin command are not used if this is set to a
327 non-empty string.
328 quote When completing inside quotes, this contains the quota‐
330 tion character (i.e. either a single quote, a double
331 quote, or a backtick). Otherwise it is unset.
332 quoting
334 When completing inside single quotes, this is set to the
335 string single; inside double quotes, the string double;
336 inside backticks, the string backtick. Otherwise it is
337 unset.
338 redirect
340 The redirection operator when completing in a redirection
341 position, i.e. one of <, >, etc.
342 restore
344 This is set to auto before a function is entered, which
345 forces the special parameters mentioned above (words,
346 CURRENT, PREFIX, IPREFIX, SUFFIX, and ISUFFIX) to be
347 restored to their previous values when the function
348 exits. If a function unsets it or sets it to any other
349 string, they will not be restored.
350 to_end Specifies the occasions on which the cursor is moved to
352 the end of a string when a match is inserted. On entry
353 to a widget function, it may be single if this will hap‐
354 pen when a single unambiguous match was inserted or match
355 if it will happen any time a match is inserted (for exam‐
356 ple, by menu completion; this is likely to be the effect
357 of the ALWAYS_TO_END option).
358 On exit, it may be set to single as above. It may also
360 be set to always, or to the empty string or unset; in
361 those cases the cursor will be moved to the end of the
362 string always or never respectively. Any other string is
363 treated as match.
364 unambiguous
366 This key is read-only and will always be set to the com‐
367 mon (unambiguous) prefix the completion code has gener‐
368 ated for all matches added so far.
369 unambiguous_cursor
371 This gives the position the cursor would be placed at if
372 the common prefix in the unambiguous key were inserted,
373 relative to the value of that key. The cursor would be
374 placed before the character whose index is given by this
375 key.
376 unambiguous_positions
378 This contains all positions where characters in the unam‐
379 biguous string are missing or where the character
380 inserted differs from at least one of the matches. The
381 positions are given as indexes into the string given by
382 the value of the unambiguous key.
383 vared If completion is called while editing a line using the
385 vared builtin, the value of this key is set to the name
386 of the parameter given as an argument to vared. This key
387 is only set while a vared command is active.
388 words This array contains the words present on the command line cur‐
390 rently being edited.
391
393 compadd [ -akqQfenUl12C ] [ -F array ]
394 [ -P prefix ] [ -S suffix ]
395 [ -p hidden-prefix ] [ -s hidden-suffix ]
396 [ -i ignored-prefix ] [ -I ignored-suffix ]
397 [ -W file-prefix ] [ -d array ]
398 [ -J name ] [ -V name ] [ -X explanation ] [ -x message ]
399 [ -r remove-chars ] [ -R remove-func ]
400 [ -D array ] [ -O array ] [ -A array ]
401 [ -E number ]
402 [ -M match-spec ] [ -- ] [ words ... ]
403 This builtin command can be used to add matches directly and
405 control all the information the completion code stores with each
406 possible match. The return value is zero if at least one match
407 was added and non-zero if no matches were added.
408 The completion code breaks the string to complete into seven
410 fields in the order:
411 <ipre><apre><hpre><word><hsuf><asuf><isuf>
413 The first field is an ignored prefix taken from the command
415 line, the contents of the IPREFIX parameter plus the string
416 given with the -i option. With the -U option, only the string
417 from the -i option is used. The field <apre> is an optional pre‐
418 fix string given with the -P option. The <hpre> field is a
419 string that is considered part of the match but that should not
420 be shown when listing completions, given with the -p option; for
421 example, functions that do filename generation might specify a
422 common path prefix this way. <word> is the part of the match
423 that should appear in the list of completions, i.e. one of the
424 words given at the end of the compadd command line. The suffixes
425 <hsuf>, <asuf> and <isuf> correspond to the prefixes <hpre>,
426 <apre> and <ipre> and are given by the options -s, -S and -I,
427 respectively.
428 The supported flags are:
430 -P prefix
432 This gives a string to be inserted before the given
433 words. The string given is not considered as part of the
434 match and any shell metacharacters in it will not be
435 quoted when the string is inserted.
436 -S suffix
438 Like -P, but gives a string to be inserted after the
439 match.
440 -p hidden-prefix
442 This gives a string that should be inserted into the com‐
443 mand line before the match but that should not appear in
444 the list of matches. Unless the -U option is given, this
445 string must be matched as part of the string on the com‐
446 mand line.
447 -s hidden-suffix
449 Like `-p', but gives a string to insert after the match.
450 -i ignored-prefix
452 This gives a string to insert into the command line just
453 before any string given with the `-P' option. Without
454 `-P' the string is inserted before the string given with
455 `-p' or directly before the match.
456 -I ignored-suffix
458 Like -i, but gives an ignored suffix.
459 -a With this flag the words are taken as names of arrays and
461 the possible matches are their values. If only some ele‐
462 ments of the arrays are needed, the words may also con‐
463 tain subscripts, as in `foo[2,-1]'.
464 -k With this flag the words are taken as names of associa‐
466 tive arrays and the possible matches are their keys. As
467 for -a, the words may also contain subscripts, as in
468 `foo[(R)*bar*]'.
469 -d array
471 This adds per-match display strings. The array should
472 contain one element per word given. The completion code
473 will then display the first element instead of the first
474 word, and so on. The array may be given as the name of an
475 array parameter or directly as a space-separated list of
476 words in parentheses.
477 If there are fewer display strings than words, the left‐
479 over words will be displayed unchanged and if there are
480 more display strings than words, the leftover display
481 strings will be silently ignored.
482 -l This option only has an effect if used together with the
484 -d option. If it is given, the display strings are listed
485 one per line, not arrayed in columns.
486 -J name
488 Gives the name of the group of matches the words should
489 be stored in.
490 -V name
492 Like -J but naming a unsorted group. These are in a dif‐
493 ferent name space than groups created with the -J flag.
494 -1 If given together with the -V option, makes only consecu‐
496 tive duplicates in the group be removed. If combined with
497 the -J option, this has no visible effect. Note that
498 groups with and without this flag are in different name
499 spaces.
500 -2 If given together with the -J or -V option, makes all
502 duplicates be kept. Again, groups with and without this
503 flag are in different name spaces.
504 -X explanation
506 The explanation string will be printed with the list of
507 matches, above the group currently selected.
508 -x message
510 Like -X, but the message will be printed even if there
511 are no matches in the group.
512 -q The suffix given with -S will be automatically removed if
514 the next character typed is a blank or does not insert
515 anything, or if the suffix consists of only one character
516 and the next character typed is the same character.
517 -r remove-chars
519 This is a more versatile form of the -q option. The suf‐
520 fix given with -S or the slash automatically added after
521 completing directories will be automatically removed if
522 the next character typed inserts one of the characters
523 given in the remove-chars. This string is parsed as a
524 characters class and understands the backslash sequences
525 used by the print command. For example, `-r "a-z\t"'
526 removes the suffix if the next character typed inserts a
527 lowercase character or a TAB, and `-r "^0-9"' removes the
528 suffix if the next character typed inserts anything but a
529 digit. One extra backslash sequence is understood in this
530 string: `\-' stands for all characters that insert noth‐
531 ing. Thus `-S "=" -q' is the same as `-S "=" -r "=
532 \t\n\-"'.
533 This option may also be used without the -S option; then
535 any automatically added space will be removed when one of
536 the characters in the list is typed.
537 -R remove-func
539 This is another form of the -r option. When a suffix has
540 been inserted and the completion accepted, the function
541 remove-func will be called after the next character
542 typed. It is passed the length of the suffix as an argu‐
543 ment and can use the special parameters available in
544 ordinary (non-completion) zle widgets (see zshzle(1)) to
545 analyse and modify the command line.
546 -f If this flag is given, all of the matches built from
548 words are marked as being the names of files. They are
549 not required to be actual filenames, but if they are, and
550 the option LIST_TYPES is set, the characters describing
551 the types of the files in the completion lists will be
552 shown. This also forces a slash to be added when the name
553 of a directory is completed.
554 -e This flag can be used to tell the completion code that
556 the matches added are parameter names for a parameter
557 expansion. This will make the AUTO_PARAM_SLASH and
558 AUTO_PARAM_KEYS options be used for the matches.
559 -W file-prefix
561 This string is a pathname that will be prepended to each
562 of the matches formed by the given words together with
563 any prefix specified by the -p option to form a complete
564 filename for testing. Hence it is only useful if com‐
565 bined with the -f flag, as the tests will not otherwise
566 be performed.
567 -F array
569 Specifies an array containing patterns. Words matching
570 one of these patterns are ignored, i.e. not considered to
571 be possible matches.
572 The array may be the name of an array parameter or a list
574 of literal patterns enclosed in parentheses and quoted,
575 as in `-F "(*?.o *?.h)"'. If the name of an array is
576 given, the elements of the array are taken as the pat‐
577 terns.
578 -Q This flag instructs the completion code not to quote any
580 metacharacters in the words when inserting them into the
581 command line.
582 -M match-spec
584 This gives local match specifications as described below
585 in the section `Matching Control'. This option may be
586 given more than once. In this case all match-specs given
587 are concatenated with spaces between them to form the
588 specification string to use. Note that they will only be
589 used if the -U option is not given.
590 -n Specifies that the words added are to be used as possible
592 matches, but are not to appear in the completion listing.
593 -U If this flag is given, all words given will be accepted
595 and no matching will be done by the completion code. Nor‐
596 mally this is used in functions that do the matching
597 themselves.
598 -O array
600 If this option is given, the words are not added to the
601 set of possible completions. Instead, matching is done
602 as usual and all of the words given as arguments that
603 match the string on the command line will be stored in
604 the array parameter whose name is given as array.
605 -A array
607 As the -O option, except that instead of those of the
608 words which match being stored in array, the strings gen‐
609 erated internally by the completion code are stored. For
610 example, with a matching specification of `-M "L:|no="',
611 the string `nof' on the command line and the string `foo'
612 as one of the words, this option stores the string
613 `nofoo' in the array, whereas the -O option stores the
614 `foo' originally given.
615 -D array
617 As with -O, the words are not added to the set of possi‐
618 ble completions. Instead, the completion code tests
619 whether each word in turn matches what is on the line.
620 If the n'th word does not match, the n'th element of the
621 array is removed. Elements for which the corresponding
622 word is matched are retained.
623 -C This option adds a special match which expands to all
625 other matches when inserted into the line, even those
626 that are added after this option is used. Together with
627 the -d option it is possible to specify a string that
628 should be displayed in the list for this special match.
629 If no string is given, it will be shown as a string con‐
630 taining the strings that would be inserted for the other
631 matches, truncated to the width of the screen.
632 -E This option adds number empty matches after the words
634 have been added. An empty match takes up space in com‐
635 pletion listings but will never be inserted in the line
636 and can't be selected with menu completion or menu selec‐
637 tion. This makes empty matches only useful to format
638 completion lists and to make explanatory string be shown
639 in completion lists (since empty matches can be given
640 display strings with the -d option). And because all but
641 one empty string would otherwise be removed, this option
642 implies the -V and -2 options (even if an explicit -J
643 option is given).
644 -
646 -- This flag ends the list of flags and options. All argu‐
647 ments after it will be taken as the words to use as
648 matches even if they begin with hyphens.
649 Except for the -M flag, if any of these flags is given more than
651 once, the first one (and its argument) will be used.
652 compset -p number
654 compset -P [ number ] pattern
655 compset -s number
656 compset -S [ number ] pattern
657 compset -n begin [ end ]
658 compset -N beg-pat [ end-pat ]
659 compset -q
660 This command simplifies modification of the special parameters,
661 while its return value allows tests on them to be carried out.
662 The options are:
664 -p number
666 If the contents of the PREFIX parameter is longer than
667 number characters, the first number characters are
668 removed from it and appended to the contents of the
669 IPREFIX parameter.
670 -P [ number ] pattern
672 If the value of the PREFIX parameter begins with anything
673 that matches the pattern, the matched portion is removed
674 from PREFIX and appended to IPREFIX.
675 Without the optional number, the longest match is taken,
677 but if number is given, anything up to the number'th
678 match is moved. If the number is negative, the number'th
679 longest match is moved. For example, if PREFIX contains
680 the string `a=b=c', then compset -P '*\=' will move the
681 string `a=b=' into the IPREFIX parameter, but compset -P
682 1 '*\=' will move only the string `a='.
683 -s number
685 As -p, but transfer the last number characters from the
686 value of SUFFIX to the front of the value of ISUFFIX.
687 -S [ number ] pattern
689 As -P, but match the last portion of SUFFIX and transfer
690 the matched portion to the front of the value of ISUFFIX.
691 -n begin [ end ]
693 If the current word position as specified by the parame‐
694 ter CURRENT is greater than or equal to begin, anything
695 up to the begin'th word is removed from the words array
696 and the value of the parameter CURRENT is decremented by
697 begin.
698 If the optional end is given, the modification is done
700 only if the current word position is also less than or
701 equal to end. In this case, the words from position end
702 onwards are also removed from the words array.
703 Both begin and end may be negative to count backwards
705 from the last element of the words array.
706 -N beg-pat [ end-pat ]
708 If one of the elements of the words array before the one
709 at the index given by the value of the parameter CURRENT
710 matches the pattern beg-pat, all elements up to and
711 including the matching one are removed from the words
712 array and the value of CURRENT is changed to point to the
713 same word in the changed array.
714 If the optional pattern end-pat is also given, and there
716 is an element in the words array matching this pattern,
717 the parameters are modified only if the index of this
718 word is higher than the one given by the CURRENT parame‐
719 ter (so that the matching word has to be after the cur‐
720 sor). In this case, the words starting with the one
721 matching end-pat are also removed from the words array.
722 If words contains no word matching end-pat, the testing
723 and modification is performed as if it were not given.
724 -q The word currently being completed is split on spaces
726 into separate words, respecting the usual shell quoting
727 conventions. The resulting words are stored in the words
728 array, and CURRENT, PREFIX, SUFFIX, QIPREFIX, and QISUF‐
729 FIX are modified to reflect the word part that is com‐
730 pleted.
731 In all the above cases the return value is zero if the test suc‐
733 ceeded and the parameters were modified and non-zero otherwise.
734 This allows one to use this builtin in tests such as:
735 if compset -P '*\='; then ...
737 This forces anything up to and including the last equal sign to
739 be ignored by the completion code.
740 compcall [ -TD ]
742 This allows the use of completions defined with the compctl
743 builtin from within completion widgets. The list of matches
744 will be generated as if one of the non-widget completion func‐
745 tion (complete-word, etc.) had been called, except that only
746 compctls given for specific commands are used. To force the code
747 to try completions defined with the -T option of compctl and/or
748 the default completion (whether defined by compctl -D or the
749 builtin default) in the appropriate places, the -T and/or -D
750 flags can be passed to compcall.
751 The return value can be used to test if a matching compctl defi‐
753 nition was found. It is non-zero if a compctl was found and zero
754 otherwise.
755 Note that this builtin is defined by the zsh/compctl module.
757
759 The following additional condition codes for use within the [[ ... ]]
760 construct are available in completion widgets. These work on the spe‐
761 cial parameters. All of these tests can also be performed by the
762 compset builtin, but in the case of the condition codes the contents of
763 the special parameters are not modified.
764 -prefix [ number ] pattern
766 true if the test for the -P option of compset would succeed.
767 -suffix [ number ] pattern
769 true if the test for the -S option of compset would succeed.
770 -after beg-pat
772 true if the test of the -N option with only the beg-pat given
773 would succeed.
774 -between beg-pat end-pat
776 true if the test for the -N option with both patterns would suc‐
777 ceed.
778
780 It is possible by use of the -M option of the compadd builtin command
781 to specify how the characters in the string to be completed (referred
782 to here as the command line) map onto the characters in the list of
783 matches produced by the completion code (referred to here as the trial
784 completions). Note that this is not used if the command line contains a
785 glob pattern and the GLOB_COMPLETE option is set or the pattern_match
786 of the compstate special association is set to a non-empty string.
787 The match-spec given as the argument to the -M option (see `Builtin
789 Commands' above) consists of one or more matching descriptions sepa‐
790 rated by whitespace. Each description consists of a letter followed by
791 a colon and then the patterns describing which character sequences on
792 the line match which character sequences in the trial completion. Any
793 sequence of characters not handled in this fashion must match exactly,
794 as usual.
795 The forms of match-spec understood are as follows. In each case, the
797 form with an uppercase initial character retains the string already
798 typed on the command line as the final result of completion, while with
799 a lowercase initial character the string on the command line is changed
800 into the corresponding part of the trial completion.
801 m:lpat=tpat
803 M:lpat=tpat
804 Here, lpat is a pattern that matches on the command line, corre‐
805 sponding to tpat which matches in the trial completion.
806 l:lanchor|lpat=tpat
808 L:lanchor|lpat=tpat
809 l:lanchor||ranchor=tpat
810 L:lanchor||ranchor=tpat
811 b:lpat=tpat
812 B:lpat=tpat
813 These letters are for patterns that are anchored by another pat‐
814 tern on the left side. Matching for lpat and tpat is as for m
815 and M, but the pattern lpat matched on the command line must be
816 preceded by the pattern lanchor. The lanchor can be blank to
817 anchor the match to the start of the command line string; other‐
818 wise the anchor can occur anywhere, but must match in both the
819 command line and trial completion strings.
820 If no lpat is given but a ranchor is, this matches the gap
822 between substrings matched by lanchor and ranchor. Unlike lan‐
823 chor, the ranchor only needs to match the trial completion
824 string.
825 The b and B forms are similar to l and L with an empty anchor,
827 but need to match only the beginning of the trial completion or
828 the word on the command line, respectively.
829 r:lpat|ranchor=tpat
831 R:lpat|ranchor=tpat
832 r:lanchor||ranchor=tpat
833 R:lanchor||ranchor=tpat
834 e:lpat=tpat
835 E:lpat=tpat
836 As l, L, b and B, with the difference that the command line and
837 trial completion patterns are anchored on the right side. Here
838 an empty ranchor and the e and E forms force the match to the
839 end of the trial completion or command line string.
840 Each lpat, tpat or anchor is either an empty string or consists of a
842 sequence of literal characters (which may be quoted with a backslash),
843 question marks, character classes, and correspondence classes; ordinary
844 shell patterns are not used. Literal characters match only themselves,
845 question marks match any character, and character classes are formed as
846 for globbing and match any character in the given set.
847 Correspondence classes are defined like character classes, but with two
849 differences: they are delimited by a pair of braces, and negated
850 classes are not allowed, so the characters ! and ^ have no special
851 meaning directly after the opening brace. They indicate that a range
852 of characters on the line match a range of characters in the trial com‐
853 pletion, but (unlike ordinary character classes) paired according to
854 the corresponding position in the sequence. For example, to make any
855 lowercase letter on the line match the corresponding uppercase letter
856 in the trial completion, you can use `m:{a-z}={A-Z}'. More than one
857 pair of classes can occur, in which case the first class before the =
858 corresponds to the first after it, and so on. If one side has more
859 such classes than the other side, the superfluous classes behave like
860 normal character classes. In anchor patterns correspondence classes
861 also behave like normal character classes.
862 The pattern tpat may also be one or two stars, `*' or `**'. This means
864 that the pattern on the command line can match any number of characters
865 in the trial completion. In this case the pattern must be anchored (on
866 either side); in the case of a single star, the anchor then determines
867 how much of the trial completion is to be included --- only the charac‐
868 ters up to the next appearance of the anchor will be matched. With two
869 stars, substrings matched by the anchor can be matched, too.
870 Examples:
872 The keys of the options association defined by the parameter module are
874 the option names in all-lowercase form, without underscores, and with‐
875 out the optional no at the beginning even though the builtins setopt
876 and unsetopt understand option names with uppercase letters, under‐
877 scores, and the optional no. The following alters the matching rules
878 so that the prefix no and any underscore are ignored when trying to
879 match the trial completions generated and uppercase letters on the line
880 match the corresponding lowercase letters in the words:
881 compadd -M 'L:|[nN][oO]= M:_= M:{A-Z}={a-z}' - \
883 ${(k)options}
884 The first part says that the pattern `[nN][oO]' at the beginning (the
886 empty anchor before the pipe symbol) of the string on the line matches
887 the empty string in the list of words generated by completion, so it
888 will be ignored if present. The second part does the same for an under‐
889 score anywhere in the command line string, and the third part uses cor‐
890 respondence classes so that any uppercase letter on the line matches
891 the corresponding lowercase letter in the word. The use of the upper‐
892 case forms of the specification characters (L and M) guarantees that
893 what has already been typed on the command line (in particular the pre‐
894 fix no) will not be deleted.
895 Note that the use of L in the first part means that it matches only
897 when at the beginning of both the command line string and the trial
898 completion. I.e., the string `_NO_f' would not be completed to
899 `_NO_foo', nor would `NONO_f' be completed to `NONO_foo' because of the
900 leading underscore or the second `NO' on the line which makes the pat‐
901 tern fail even though they are otherwise ignored. To fix this, one
902 would use `B:[nN][oO]=' instead of the first part. As described above,
903 this matches at the beginning of the trial completion, independent of
904 other characters or substrings at the beginning of the command line
905 word which are ignored by the same or other match-specs.
906 The second example makes completion case insensitive. This is just the
908 same as in the option example, except here we wish to retain the char‐
909 acters in the list of completions:
910 compadd -M 'm:{a-z}={A-Z}' ...
912 This makes lowercase letters match their uppercase counterparts. To
914 make uppercase letters match the lowercase forms as well:
915 compadd -M 'm:{a-zA-Z}={A-Za-z}' ...
917 A nice example for the use of * patterns is partial word completion.
919 Sometimes you would like to make strings like `c.s.u' complete to
920 strings like `comp.source.unix', i.e. the word on the command line con‐
921 sists of multiple parts, separated by a dot in this example, where each
922 part should be completed separately --- note, however, that the case
923 where each part of the word, i.e. `comp', `source' and `unix' in this
924 example, is to be completed from separate sets of matches is a differ‐
925 ent problem to be solved by the implementation of the completion wid‐
926 get. The example can be handled by:
927 compadd -M 'r:|.=* r:|=*' \
929 - comp.sources.unix comp.sources.misc ...
930 The first specification says that lpat is the empty string, while
932 anchor is a dot; tpat is *, so this can match anything except for the
933 `.' from the anchor in the trial completion word. So in `c.s.u', the
934 matcher sees `c', followed by the empty string, followed by the anchor
935 `.', and likewise for the second dot, and replaces the empty strings
936 before the anchors, giving `c[omp].s[ources].u[nix]', where the last
937 part of the completion is just as normal.
938 With the pattern shown above, the string `c.u' could not be completed
940 to `comp.sources.unix' because the single star means that no dot
941 (matched by the anchor) can be skipped. By using two stars as in
942 `r:|.=**', however, `c.u' could be completed to `comp.sources.unix'.
943 This also shows that in some cases, especially if the anchor is a real
944 pattern, like a character class, the form with two stars may result in
945 more matches than one would like.
946 The second specification is needed to make this work when the cursor is
948 in the middle of the string on the command line and the option COM‐
949 PLETE_IN_WORD is set. In this case the completion code would normally
950 try to match trial completions that end with the string as typed so
951 far, i.e. it will only insert new characters at the cursor position
952 rather then at the end. However in our example we would like the code
953 to recognise matches which contain extra characters after the string on
954 the line (the `nix' in the example). Hence we say that the empty
955 string at the end of the string on the line matches any characters at
956 the end of the trial completion.
957 More generally, the specification
959 compadd -M 'r:|[.,_-]=* r:|=*' ...
961 allows one to complete words with abbreviations before any of the char‐
963 acters in the square brackets. For example, to complete veryverylong‐
964 file.c rather than veryverylongheader.h with the above in effect, you
965 can just type very.c before attempting completion.
966 The specifications with both a left and a right anchor are useful to
968 complete partial words whose parts are not separated by some special
969 character. For example, in some places strings have to be completed
970 that are formed `LikeThis' (i.e. the separate parts are determined by a
971 leading uppercase letter) or maybe one has to complete strings with
972 trailing numbers. Here one could use the simple form with only one
973 anchor as in:
974 compadd -M 'r:|[A-Z0-9]=* r:|=*' LikeTHIS FooHoo 5foo123 5bar234
976 But with this, the string `H' would neither complete to `FooHoo' nor to
978 `LikeTHIS' because in each case there is an uppercase letter before the
979 `H' and that is matched by the anchor. Likewise, a `2' would not be
980 completed. In both cases this could be changed by using
981 `r:|[A-Z0-9]=**', but then `H' completes to both `LikeTHIS' and
982 `FooHoo' and a `2' matches the other strings because characters can be
983 inserted before every uppercase letter and digit. To avoid this one
984 would use:
985 compadd -M 'r:[^A-Z0-9]||[A-Z0-9]=** r:|=*' \
987 LikeTHIS FooHoo foo123 bar234
988 By using these two anchors, a `H' matches only uppercase `H's that are
990 immediately preceded by something matching the left anchor `[^A-Z0-9]'.
991 The effect is, of course, that `H' matches only the string `FooHoo', a
992 `2' matches only `bar234' and so on.
993 When using the completion system (see zshcompsys(1)), users can define
995 match specifications that are to be used for specific contexts by using
996 the matcher and matcher-list styles. The values for the latter will be
997 used everywhere.
998
1000 The first step is to define the widget:
1001 zle -C complete complete-word complete-files
1003 Then the widget can be bound to a key using the bindkey builtin com‐
1005 mand:
1006 bindkey '^X\t' complete
1008 After that the shell function complete-files will be invoked after typ‐
1010 ing control-X and TAB. The function should then generate the matches,
1011 e.g.:
1012 complete-files () { compadd - * }
1014 This function will complete files in the current directory matching the
1016 current word.
1017zsh 4.2.6 November 28, 2005 ZSHCOMPWID(1)