When I'm opening a new file in Vim and I use tab completion, it completes the whole file name instead of doing the partial match like Bash does. Is there an option to make this file name tab completion work more like Bash?
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13Technically speaking, I'm pretty sure "bash" doesn't do any tab completion. It's readline that does that.Maxy-B– Maxy-B2012-03-09 22:50:10 +00:00Commented Mar 9, 2012 at 22:50
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2We are talking about customize the behavior of the ^X^F feature?Bruno Medeiros– Bruno Medeiros2015-08-26 17:35:24 +00:00Commented Aug 26, 2015 at 17:35
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7 Answers
I personally use
set wildmode=longest,list,full
set wildmenu
When you type the first tab hit, it will complete as much as possible. The second tab hit will provide a list. The third and subsequent tabs will cycle through completion options so you can complete the file without further keys.
Bash-like would be just
set wildmode=longest,list
but the full is very handy.
7 Comments
Neha Karanjkar
I wish this were the default behavior in vim. I though there was no getting around to full tab completion until I saw this post.
michael
@NehaKaranjkar I recommend maintaining a dotfiles archive to make it easy to deploy in new environments
albfan
Is there a way to start full only when there are few results? something like
set wildmode=longest,5full,list. With lot results full is useless but very handy with few. It will be perfect with something like "show full only if completion fits on one line screen"
ramwin
After tolerating the origin tab completion for 2 month, I think there must be a way to simplify it. Thank you.
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The closest behavior to Bash's completion should be
set wildmode=longest:full,full
With a few character typed, pressing tab once will give all the matches available in wildmenu. This is different to the answer by Michael which opens a quickfix-like window beneath the command-line.
Then you can keep typing the rest of the characters or press tab again to auto-complete with first match and circle around it.
4 Comments
Eddy Ekofo
I think I prefer this way.
Subfuzion
Same! With this way, you can still press <C-d> if you want to see the full list.
r_31415
Thanks! This was the desired behavior. I clearly didn't understand the documentation, but after a second read, it is quite obvious: "Completion mode that is used for the character specified with 'wildchar'... Each part specifies what to do for each consecutive use of 'wildchar'. The first part specifies the behavior for the first use of 'wildchar', The second part for the second use, etc." :help wildmode
DryLabRebel
This is really useful, but to nitpick: @michael is correct
wildmode=longest,list is the closest to default bash/readline behaviour.Apart from the suggested wildmode/wildmenu, Vim also offers the option to show all possible completions by using Ctrl + D. This might be helpful for some users that stumble across this question when searching for different autocompletion options in Vim like I did.
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If you don't want to set the wildmenu, you can always press Ctrl + L when you want to open a file. Ctrl + L will complete the filename like Bash completion.
2 Comments
raine
Ctrl-L does not act like bash autocomplete. It does not cycle through all possible options.
glts
My bash does act like that.
<Tab> completes the current string as far as is unambiguously possible (like CTRL-L in Vim) and <Tab><Tab> shows a list of possible matches (like CTRL-D in Vim).Run these:
:set nocompatible
:set wildmenu
:set wildmode=longest:full
longest:full gives you a Bash-like completion with:
- suggestions in a single line
- Tab completing only what is certain
- Right/Ctrl-n | Left/Ctrl-p to select suggestions.
From the help:
If you prefer the <Left> and <Right> keys to move the cursor instead
of selecting a different match, use this:
:cnoremap <Left> <Space><BS><Left>
:cnoremap <Right> <Space><BS><Right>
3 Comments
awvalenti
Yeah, I pressed Tab after w i l. It added the d and showed the options. Did you run
set wildmode=longest:full before and it still didn't work?awvalenti
@Flimm It should now work! Added
nocompatible and wildmenu to the answer. I think I got the wildmenu information from this video, it shows lots of tips using native Vim features: youtu.be/XA2WjJbmmoM.
Flimm
Tip: run
vim --clean on the command-line to run Vim with a clean configuration, so you can test options out without any plugins interferingI'm assuming that you are using autocomplete in Vim via Ctrl + N to search through the current buffer. When you use this command, you get a list of solutions; simply repeat the command to go to the next item in the list. The same is true for all autocomplete commands. While they fill in the entire word, you can continue to move through the list until you arrive at the one you wish to use.
This may be a more useful command: Ctrl + P. The only difference is that Ctrl + P searches backwards in the buffer while Ctrl + N searches forwards... Realistically, they will both provide a list with the same elements, and they may just appear in a different order.
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Try using :set wildmenu. Apart from that, I'm not sure what exactly you're trying.
Oh, yeah, and maybe try this link: link
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