Auto-completion for variables

Ideas for new features & functions

Moderators: Dorian (MJT support), JRL

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durexlw
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Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Mar 17, 2008 1:19 pm

Auto-completion for variables

Post by durexlw » Tue Apr 01, 2008 2:07 pm

There's auto-completion for functions and there's the Variable Explorer, it would be nice to have them combined, so we have the same auto-completion for variables as well as functions

What concerns the auto-completion (currently only for functions):
It would be nice to have it triggered by a key combination.

For example, now if I want to have the 'OnEvent', I have to type 3 letters before auto-completion hits off
Or: when I do a complex expression, I have to type the complete function-name without auto-completion, or look it up in the functions tree, which is pretty slow.

If the auto-completion for functions was triggered by "Ctrl+Space" or something, and variables from the Variable Explorer would show up in there also, writing complex expressions would be far easier and errors with variables would be reduced.
If I know only the first letter of a function, I could type 's' hit Ctrl+Space and have a list of all functions starting with an 's'... currently I have to be lucky to remember 3 before I get to see some hints.
I'm guessing the auto-completion dialog shows up only after 3 letters cause it shows up always and automatically. 3 Letters reduce time to look in the list and thus speeds up the IDE. Having the auto-completion hit of with a key-combination would take care of the speed-issue.
Also: having the auto-completion with a key combination would have the extra benefit that since there is only one command with an 'o', this means that if I type 'o' and hit Ctrl+Space, it would complete it to 'OnEvent' without showing me a list (unless I'd have a variable starting with an 'o', off course).

Also, concerning the auto-completion:
I know this one is a personal preference, but maybe it's worth considering: The actual completing from the list has to happen with 'Enter'. In many IDE's that's done with the TAB-key and personally i'd like to see it that way, I find it faster: scroll with the right hand trough the list and hit TAB with the other hand to confirm.
Maybe it can become a preference in the options panel or something 'complete with TAB', 'complete with ENTER' or something, just throwing some ideas. It's the first part of this topic I'm really concerned about.

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