Helm: implement intelligent tab completion

[steckerhalter]

I'm using helm now for quite a while and I really like it. but one thing bugs me. when I narrow down a list and there are multiple results that can't be much slimmed down by "fuzzy" matching I always need to scroll through the list to get to the right entry.

now the only thing TAB does is to bring up a list with possible commands. I think any other key could do this too. TAB instead should trigger an intelligent completion mechanism.

for example if I know how something starts I would like to be able to type some letters of the first word. helm shows me the usual fuzzy matched results. but when I press TAB Helm narrows down the list to the things that start with the letters I entered. or if there is only one occurence, give me the chance to press enter immedately. I think this would make many operations much faster as you could pick the completion that fits the operation.

or maybe there are even better ways to do it?

[thierryvolpiatto]

steckerhalter [email protected] writes:

or maybe there are even better ways to do it?

• Prefix your search with "^" (best)

Or

• M-x customize-group => helm-match-plugin => Helm Mp Matching Method:
  Set it to "Multiple regexp 3p matching with prefix match".

Thierry
Get my Gnupg key:
gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys 59F29997

[steckerhalter]

M-x customize-group => helm-match-plugin => Helm Mp Matching Method: Set it to "Multiple regexp 3p matching with prefix match".

I like that one. Might probably be enough. But I still think TAB could trigger something that helps to do some further narrowing...

[katspaugh]

Sorry for necro-posting, but I still don't get how to complete a common prefix. Supposing, I want packa to be completed into package-:

Is it possible in Helm? "Multiple regexp 3p matching with prefix match" doesn't seem to help.

[tuhdo]

You should not rely on common prefix as in other packages like Ido or vanilla Emacs. We should not press TAB to refresh a new candidate list; we get new list every time we modify the input. Instead, use the every part of your desired candidate. For example, in your example, if you want to get "package-install", just type "pac stal" and "package-install" will be the first candidate. If you want "list-packages", just type "pac ^l" and you get "list-packages" (notice I do not follow the order of "list-packages").

Use every thing in your candidate string, not just prefix.

[katspaugh]

@tuhdo I see, thanks!

[mkeen]

I don't accept this. Tab completion is the norm in every application I use daily. If I start typing /dire, I expect for that to complete to /directory when I hit tab. Why wouldn't it? Currently to achieve this behavior in helm I can press the right arrow key. It's very inconvenient.

[thierryvolpiatto]

Mike Keen [email protected] writes:

I don't accept this. Tab completion is the norm in every application I
use daily. If I start typing /dire, I expect for that to complete to
/directory when I hit tab. Why wouldn't it? Currently to achieve this
behavior in helm I can press the right arrow key. It's very
inconvenient.

Please read the helm wiki and the @tudho tutorial (link in README) to
learn what helm is for, what it is doing, and how to use it.

Thanks.

Thierry