How to Configure and Use Auto-Complete with Vim

When you are using a text editor for work, your biggest concern may be having to type every single word on your own, especially when you have a lot of pending tasks. If you are always trying to find workarounds for making tedious tasks easier, auto-complete is one of those features that can make your work process more efficient. The auto-complete feature of Vim gives you suggestions based on the context, and you can choose the most suitable word out of the suggestions without needing to type it on your own. This article will explain how to configure and use the Vim auto-complete feature in Ubuntu 20.04.

Configuring and Using Auto-Complete with Vim

First, create a dummy file to use for practicing the five methods mentioned below. To do so, perform the following steps:

• Type the following command in your terminal and then press the Enter key:
  vim DummyFile.txt
  Replace the term “DummyFile” with the name of the file that you want to create. You can also modify its extension according to your requirements, though this file alone will be sufficient for all the methods discussed in this article. This command is also shown in the following image:
• After this command has been executed, an empty text file will appear on your screen.

How to Configure and Use Auto-Complete in Text Files with Vim

The auto-complete feature is configured by default for Vim text files. Therefore, you only need to learn how to use this feature. To configure and use auto-complete with Vim, perform the following steps:

• Press Esc+ i to enter Insert Type any random text in the dummy file that you created in the previous step. In this case, I have written two lines, as well as the letter c, as highlighted in the image below: 
• To activate the auto-complete feature for this word, press Ctrl+ n. A list of words will appear on your screen, from which you may choose the most suitable word. If there is only a single match, however, then VIM will automatically complete this word, as shown in the following image:

How to Configure and Use Auto-Complete in JavaScript Syntax with Vim

To configure and use auto-complete in JavaScript syntax with Vim, perform the following steps:

1. Switch to Cmdline mode of Vim by pressing Esc, followed by a colon.

2. Type the following command and press the Enter key:

:set omnifunc=javascriptcomplete#CompleteJS

This command is also shown in the image below:

3. Switch to Insert mode and start typing any JavaScript syntax.

In this example, I just wrote document, then I pressed Ctrl+ x, followed by Ctrl+ o. Vim showed me a list of suggestions, as shown in the following image:

How to Configure and Use Auto-Complete in Html Code with Vim

To configure and use auto-complete in Html code with Vim, perform the following steps:

1. Switch to Cmdline mode by pressing Esc, followed by a colon (;).

2. Type the following command and press the Enter key:

:set omnifunc=htmlcomplete#CompleteTags

This command is also shown in the image below:

3. Switch to Insert mode and start typing any Html code.

In this example, I wrote <!DOCTYPE and I pressed Ctrl+ x, followed by pressing Ctrl+ o. Vim showed me a list of suggestions, as shown in the following image:

How to Configure and Use Auto-Complete in CSS Syntax with Vim

To configure and use auto-complete in CSS syntax with Vim, perform the following steps:

1. Switch to Cmdline mode by pressing Esc, followed by a colon (;).

2. Type the following command and press the Enter key:

:set omnifunc=csscomplete#CompleteCSS

This command is also shown in the image below:

3. Switch to Insert mode and start typing any CSS syntax.

In this example, I wrote font: and pressed Ctrl+ x, followed by pressing Ctrl+ o. Vim showed me a list of suggestions, as shown in the following image:

How to Configure and Use Auto-Complete in PHP Code with VIM?

To configure and use auto-complete in PHP Code with Vim, perform the following steps:

1. Switch to Cmdline mode by pressing Esc followed by a colon.

2. Type the following command and press the Enter key:

:set omnifunc=phpcomplete#CompletePHP

This command is also shown in the image below:

3. Switch to Insert mode and start typing any PHP code. In this example, I wrote date( and I pressed Ctrl+ x, followed by pressing Ctrl+ o. Vim showed me a list of suggestions, as shown in the following image:

Conclusion

By following the methods discussed in this article, you can easily configure and use the auto-complete feature in VIM with simple text files, as well as with various scripting languages.

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