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NAME

Vim::Complete - Generate auto completion information for vim

VERSION

version 1.100880

SYNOPSIS

    my (@dirs, $verbose, $min_length);
    my $filename = '...';
    Vim::Complete->new(
        dirs       => \@dirs,
        verbose    => $verbose,
        min_length => $min_length,
    )->parse->report_to_file($filename);

DESCRIPTION

Vim has a good auto completion mechanism. In insert mode, you can type Control-n to complete on the current string; you can cycle through the possible completions by repeatedly typing Control-n. See :help complete in vim for more information.

By default, vim completes on identifiers it finds in the current buffer, buffers in other windows, other loaded buffers, unloaded buffers, tags and included files. That means you still have to type the identifier once so vim knows about it.

However, you can extend the way vim completes. It can take additional identifiers from a file. So Vim::Complete takes a list of directories - usually @INC -, looks at the modules contained therein, parses package names, variable names and subroutine names and writes them to a file.

Now you need to tell vim where to find the file with the Perl identifiers. Put this line into your .vimrc:

    set complete+=k~/.vimcomplete

The +=k tells vim to also look into the specified file.

For this to work well, you need to tell vim that colons are part of identifiers in Perl (for example, Foo::Bar is an identifier. Put this line in your .vimrc:

    set iskeyword+=:

Included in this distribution is the program mk_vim_complete, which is a command-line frontend to Vim::Complete.

You can tell Vim::Complete to only use identifiers that are of a certain minimum length. An identifier that is only one character long (such as $x) doesn't need to be completed. If you would include two-character identifiers, you might throw off the auto completion by having to cycle through too many identifiers. So the default minimum length is 3.

METHODS

parse

Assumes that dir(), and optionally verbose() and min_length(), have been set and starts to look in the directories for files ending in .pm. For each file it gathers information using gather().

Returns the Vim::Complete object so method calls can be chained as seen in the "SYNOPSIS".

report

Takes all the gathered findings and returns the list of identifiers. Returns an array in list context, or a reference to the array in scalar context.

report_to_file

Takes as argument a filename. Writes the report generated by report() to the file.

gather

Takes a filename of a module, parses the source code and makes a note of the package names, subroutine names and variable names it sees.

This method is called by parse(); it is unlikely that you want to call it yourself.

min_length

The minimum length a package name, variable name or subroutine has to have for a tag to be made. Defaults to 3.

A basic getter/setter method. If called without an argument, it returns the value. If called with a single argument, it sets the value.

Examples:

  my $value = $obj->min_length;

  $obj->min_length($value);

There are also the following helper methods for this accessor:

clear_min_length
min_length_clear

Clears the value.

Example:

  $obj->clear_min_length;

dirs

A list of directories to be searched.

Get or set the array values. If called without arguments, it returns the array in list context, or a reference to the array in scalar context. If called with arguments, it expands array references found therein and sets the values.

Examples:

  my @values    = $obj->dirs;

  my $array_ref = $obj->dirs;

  $obj->dirs(@values);

  $obj->dirs($array_ref);

There are also the following helper methods for this accessor:

push_dirs
dirs_push

Pushes elements onto the end of the array.

Example:

  $obj->push_dirs(@values);
pop_dirs
dirs_pop

Pops the last element off the array, returning it.

Example:

  my $value = $obj->pop_dirs;
unshift_dirs
dirs_unshift

Unshifts elements onto the beginning of the array.

Example:

  $obj->unshift_dirs(@values);
shift_dirs
dirs_shift

Shifts the first element off the array, returning it.

Example:

  my $value = $obj->shift_dirs;
clear_dirs
dirs_clear

Deletes all elements from the array.

Example:

  $obj->clear_dirs;
count_dirs
dirs_count

Returns the number of elements in the array.

Example:

  my $count = $obj->count_dirs;
splice_dirs
dirs_splice

Takes three arguments: An offset, a length and a list.

Removes the elements designated by the offset and the length from the array, and replaces them with the elements of the list, if any. In list context, returns the elements removed from the array. In scalar context, returns the last element removed, or undef if no elements are removed. The array grows or shrinks as necessary. If the offset is negative then it starts that far from the end of the array. If the length is omitted, removes everything from the offset onward. If the length is negative, removes the elements from the offset onward except for -length elements at the end of the array. If both the offset and the length are omitted, removes everything. If the offset is past the end of the array, it issues a warning, and splices at the end of the array.

Examples:

  $obj->splice_dirs(2, 1, $x, $y);

  $obj->splice_dirs(-1);

  $obj->splice_dirs(0, -1);
index_dirs
dirs_index

Takes a list of indices and returns the elements indicated by those indices. If only one index is given, the corresponding array element is returned. If several indices are given, the result is returned as an array in list context or as an array reference in scalar context.

Examples:

  my $element   = $obj->index_dirs(3);

  my @elements  = $obj->index_dirs(@indices);

  my $array_ref = $obj->index_dirs(@indices);
set_dirs
dirs_set

Takes a list of index/value pairs and for each pair it sets the array element at the indicated index to the indicated value. Returns the number of elements that have been set.

Example:

  $obj->set_dirs(1 => $x, 5 => $y);

verbose

A flag that indicates whether verbose diagnostics should be sent to STDERR.

If called without an argument, returns the boolean value (0 or 1). If called with an argument, it normalizes it to the boolean value. That is, the values 0, undef and the empty string become 0; everything else becomes 1.

Examples:

  $obj->verbose($value);

  my $value = $obj->verbose;

There are also the following helper methods for this accessor:

set_verbose
verbose_set

Sets the boolean value to 1.

Example:

  $obj->set_verbose;
clear_verbose
verbose_clear

Clears the boolean value by setting it to 0.

Example:

  $obj->clear_verbose;

INSTALLATION

See perlmodinstall for information and options on installing Perl modules.

BUGS AND LIMITATIONS

No bugs have been reported.

Please report any bugs or feature requests through the web interface at http://rt.cpan.org/Public/Dist/Display.html?Name=Vim-Complete.

AVAILABILITY

The latest version of this module is available from the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN). Visit http://www.perl.com/CPAN/ to find a CPAN site near you, or see http://search.cpan.org/dist/Vim-Complete/.

The development version lives at http://github.com/hanekomu/Vim-Complete/. Instead of sending patches, please fork this project using the standard git and github infrastructure.

AUTHOR

  Marcel Gruenauer <marcel@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

This software is copyright (c) 2007 by Marcel Gruenauer.

This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.