Code Completion in Emacs

Question

I am trying to use Emacs, because it seems a little bit nicer than Notepad++.

I am trying to use the code completion feature (a.k.a intellisense), but don't know how to do it.

First, I type in M-x, then eval-expression, then in the minibuffer, I want to type in

(print (font-family-list))

So I type in (print (font-f and then press TAB, I get a window with the content:

Click <mouse-2> on a completion to select it.
In this buffer, type RET to select the completion near point.

Possible completions are:
font-face-attributes
font-family-list

I can use my mouse to click on the second option (font-family-list). But how do I select the option using only my keyboard? What are the shortcut keys?

Just enter the character that differentiates the possibilities, i.e. `m` in this case. — choroba, Apr 20 '15 at 16:04

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 21 '15 at 03:43

2

In these situations, completion is done via TAB. Completion will add any unique characters until there is a collision (in your case, it added the letter "a"). At this point you need to type the next character that differentiates it. If you type mTAB Emacs will select font-family-list.

edited Apr 21 '15 at 03:43

phils

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answered Apr 21 '15 at 02:57

dmg

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Ehvince · Answer 2 · 2015-04-21T11:50:53.657

2

You can have a better completion system, but not in the mini-buffer that you call with eval-expression or M-:.

I suggest you call the interactive inferior elisp shell with M-x ielm. Now you can enable the completion of company-mode which brings something like this:

company-mode completion in shell-mode

Install company, which is in melpa:

package-install RET company RET

and call it when you want:

M-x company-mode

You'll notice it works in a shell and in other languages :)

edited Apr 21 '15 at 11:50

answered Apr 21 '15 at 10:01

Ehvince

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Hello thanks for the suggestion. But a minibuffer drop down list would be good for org-mode. Still searching for a solution. Will change my answer if I find something. – Tahir Hassan Feb 11 '16 at 16:25

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:28

I was really asking the same question as:

In Emacs, how do I select the completion list with the keyboard?

From the Completion Commands doc and the above answer, I realised that I need to be executing switch-to-completions function. Because M-v wasn't working for me, I ended up binding Shift-Tab to switch to the completions window while in the minibuffer:

(define-key minibuffer-local-map  (kbd "<S-tab>") 'switch-to-completions)

EDIT: M-v (or Alt-v) is working for me on a fresh install - however since using cua-mode, it stopped working.

I was about to install minibuffer-complete-cycle but then when I was reading the description, it says that if completion-cycle-threshold variable is set to a an integer, say 3, then if there are 3 or fewer completion options, then TAB will cycle through them. We can still use M-v with it.

Though reading its description, minibuffer-complete-cycle seems a bit more polished.

Code Completion in Emacs

3 Answers3