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ZSHCOMPWID(1)               General Commands Manual              ZSHCOMPWID(1)

NAME
       zshcompwid - zsh completion widgets

DESCRIPTION
       The shell's programmable completion mechanism can be manipulated in two
       ways; here the low-level features supporting the newer,  function-based
       mechanism  are  defined.   A  complete  set of shell functions based on
       these features is described in zshcompsys(1), and users with no  inter-
       est in adding to that system (or, potentially, writing their own -- see
       dictionary entry for `hubris') should skip the  current  section.   The
       older  system based on the compctl builtin command is described in zsh-
       compctl(1).

       Completion widgets are defined by the -C option to the zle builtin com-
       mand provided by the zsh/zle module (see zshzle(1)). For example,

              zle -C complete expand-or-complete completer

       defines  a widget named `complete'.  The second argument is the name of
       any of the builtin widgets that handle completions: complete-word,  ex-
       pand-or-complete,  expand-or-complete-prefix,  menu-complete,  menu-ex-
       pand-or-complete,     reverse-menu-complete,      list-choices,      or
       delete-char-or-list.  Note that this will still work even if the widget
       in question has been re-bound.

       When this newly defined widget is bound to  a  key  using  the  bindkey
       builtin  command  defined in the zsh/zle module (see zshzle(1)), typing
       that key will call the shell function `completer'. This function is re-
       sponsible  for  generating  completion  matches  using the builtins de-
       scribed below.  As with other ZLE widgets, the function is called  with
       its standard input closed.

       Once the function returns, the completion code takes over control again
       and treats the matches in the same manner as the specified builtin wid-
       get, in this case expand-or-complete.

COMPLETION SPECIAL PARAMETERS
       The  parameters  ZLE_REMOVE_SUFFIX_CHARS and ZLE_SPACE_SUFFIX_CHARS are
       used by the completion mechanism, but are not special.  See  Parameters
       Used By The Shell in zshparam(1).

       Inside completion widgets, and any functions called from them, some pa-
       rameters have special meaning; outside these  functions  they  are  not
       special to the shell in any way.  These parameters are used to pass in-
       formation between the completion code and the completion  widget.  Some
       of  the builtin commands and the condition codes use or change the cur-
       rent values of these parameters.  Any existing values  will  be  hidden
       during  execution  of completion widgets; except for compstate, the pa-
       rameters are reset on each function  exit  (including  nested  function
       calls  from  within  the completion widget) to the values they had when
       the function was entered.

       CURRENT
              This is the number of the current word, i.e. the word the cursor
              is  currently  on  in  the words array.  Note that this value is
              only correct if the ksharrays option is not set.

       IPREFIX
              Initially this will be set to the empty string.  This  parameter
              functions  like  PREFIX; it contains a string which precedes the
              one in PREFIX and is not considered part of the list of matches.
              Typically,  a string is transferred from the beginning of PREFIX
              to the end of IPREFIX, for example:

                     IPREFIX=${PREFIX%%\=*}=
                     PREFIX=${PREFIX#*=}

              causes the part of the prefix up  to  and  including  the  first
              equal  sign not to be treated as part of a matched string.  This
              can be done automatically by the compset builtin, see below.

       ISUFFIX
              As IPREFIX, but for a suffix that should not be considered  part
              of  the matches; note that the ISUFFIX string follows the SUFFIX
              string.

       PREFIX Initially this will be set to the part of the current word  from
              the  beginning  of the word up to the position of the cursor; it
              may be altered to give a common prefix for all matches.

       QIPREFIX
              This parameter is read-only and contains the quoted string up to
              the  word being completed. E.g. when completing `"foo', this pa-
              rameter contains the double quote. If the -q option  of  compset
              is used (see below), and the original string was `"foo bar' with
              the cursor on the `bar', this parameter contains `"foo '.

       QISUFFIX
              Like QIPREFIX, but containing the suffix.

       SUFFIX Initially this will be set to the part of the current word  from
              the cursor position to the end; it may be altered to give a com-
              mon suffix for all matches.  It is most useful when  the  option
              COMPLETE_IN_WORD is set, as otherwise the whole word on the com-
              mand line is treated as a prefix.

       compstate
              This is an associative array with various keys and  values  that
              the  completion  code uses to exchange information with the com-
              pletion widget.  The keys are:

              all_quotes
                     The -q option of the compset builtin command (see  below)
                     allows  a quoted string to be broken into separate words;
                     if the cursor is on one of those words, that word will be
                     completed,  possibly  invoking  `compset -q' recursively.
                     With this key it is possible to test the types of  quoted
                     strings  which  are  currently  broken into parts in this
                     fashion.  Its value contains one character for each quot-
                     ing level.  The characters are a single quote or a double
                     quote for strings quoted with these characters, a dollars
                     sign  for  strings quoted with $'...' and a backslash for
                     strings not starting with a quote character.   The  first
                     character  in  the value always corresponds to the inner-
                     most quoting level.

              context
                     This will be set by the completion code  to  the  overall
                     context in which completion is attempted. Possible values
                     are:

                     array_value
                            when completing inside the value of an  array  pa-
                            rameter  assignment;  in this case the words array
                            contains the words inside the parentheses.

                     brace_parameter
                            when completing the name of a parameter in  a  pa-
                            rameter expansion beginning with ${.  This context
                            will also be set when completing  parameter  flags
                            following  ${(;  the full command line argument is
                            presented and the handler must test the  value  to
                            be completed to ascertain that this is the case.

                     assign_parameter
                            when  completing  the name of a parameter in a pa-
                            rameter assignment.

                     command
                            when completing for a normal  command  (either  in
                            command  position  or  for an argument of the com-
                            mand).

                     condition
                            when completing inside a `[[...]]' conditional ex-
                            pression;  in  this  case the words array contains
                            only the words inside the conditional expression.

                     math   when completing in a mathematical environment such
                            as a `((...))' construct.

                     parameter
                            when  completing  the name of a parameter in a pa-
                            rameter expansion beginning with $ but not ${.

                     redirect
                            when completing after a redirection operator.

                     subscript
                            when completing inside a parameter subscript.

                     value  when completing the value of a  parameter  assign-
                            ment.

              exact  Controls  the behaviour when the REC_EXACT option is set.
                     It will be set to accept if an exact match would  be  ac-
                     cepted, and will be unset otherwise.

                     If it was set when at least one match equal to the string
                     on the line was generated, the match is accepted.

              exact_string
                     The string of an exact match if one was found,  otherwise
                     unset.

              ignored
                     The  number of completions that were ignored because they
                     matched one of the patterns given with the -F  option  to
                     the compadd builtin command.

              insert This  controls  the  manner  in which a match is inserted
                     into the command line.  On entry to the widget  function,
                     if  it is unset the command line is not to be changed; if
                     set to unambiguous, any prefix common to all  matches  is
                     to  be inserted; if set to automenu-unambiguous, the com-
                     mon prefix is to be inserted and the next  invocation  of
                     the completion code may start menu completion (due to the
                     AUTO_MENU option being set); if set to menu  or  automenu
                     menu completion will be started for the matches currently
                     generated (in the latter case this  will  happen  because
                     the  AUTO_MENU  is  set).  The value may also contain the
                     string `tab' when the completion code would normally  not
                     really do completion, but only insert the TAB character.

                     On  exit  it may be set to any of the values above (where
                     setting it to the empty string is the same  as  unsetting
                     it), or to a number, in which case the match whose number
                     is given will be inserted into the command  line.   Nega-
                     tive  numbers  count  backward  from the last match (with
                     `-1' selecting the last match)  and  out-of-range  values
                     are  wrapped  around, so that a value of zero selects the
                     last match and a value one more than the maximum  selects
                     the  first. Unless the value of this key ends in a space,
                     the match is inserted as in a menu completion, i.e. with-
                     out automatically appending a space.

                     Both menu and automenu may also specify the number of the
                     match to insert,  given  after  a  colon.   For  example,
                     `menu:2'  says  to  start menu completion, beginning with
                     the second match.

                     Note that a value containing the  substring  `tab'  makes
                     the  matches generated be ignored and only the TAB be in-
                     serted.

                     Finally, it may also be  set  to  all,  which  makes  all
                     matches generated be inserted into the line.

              insert_positions
                     When  the completion system inserts an unambiguous string
                     into the line, there may be multiple places where charac-
                     ters  are missing or where the character inserted differs
                     from at least one match.  The value of this key  contains
                     a colon separated list of all these positions, as indexes
                     into the command line.

              last_prompt
                     If this is set to a  non-empty  string  for  every  match
                     added,  the  completion code will move the cursor back to
                     the previous prompt after the  list  of  completions  has
                     been displayed.  Initially this is set or unset according
                     to the ALWAYS_LAST_PROMPT option.

              list   This controls whether or how the list of matches will  be
                     displayed.   If  it  is unset or empty they will never be
                     listed; if its value begins with list, they  will  always
                     be  listed; if it begins with autolist or ambiguous, they
                     will be listed when the AUTO_LIST or  LIST_AMBIGUOUS  op-
                     tions respectively would normally cause them to be.

                     If  the  substring force appears in the value, this makes
                     the list be shown even if there is only one  match.  Nor-
                     mally, the list would be shown only if there are at least
                     two matches.

                     The  value  contains  the   substring   packed   if   the
                     LIST_PACKED option is set. If this substring is given for
                     all matches added to a group, this group  will  show  the
                     LIST_PACKED   behavior.   The   same   is  done  for  the
                     LIST_ROWS_FIRST option with the substring rows.

                     Finally, if the value contains the  string  explanations,
                     only  the explanation strings, if any, will be listed and
                     if it contains messages, only the  messages  (added  with
                     the -x option of compadd) will be listed.  If it contains
                     both explanations and messages both kinds of  explanation
                     strings  will be listed.  It will be set appropriately on
                     entry to a completion widget and may be changed there.

              list_lines
                     This gives the number of lines that are needed to display
                     the full list of completions.  Note that to calculate the
                     total number of lines to display you need to add the num-
                     ber  of  lines needed for the command line to this value,
                     this is available as the value of the BUFFERLINES special
                     parameter.

              list_max
                     Initially this is set to the value of the LISTMAX parame-
                     ter.  It may be set to any other value; when  the  widget
                     exits  this  value  will  be  used in the same way as the
                     value of LISTMAX.

              nmatches
                     The number of matches added by  the  completion  code  so
                     far.

              old_insert
                     On  entry to the widget this will be set to the number of
                     the match of an old list of completions that is currently
                     inserted  into the command line. If no match has been in-
                     serted, this is unset.

                     As with old_list, the value of this key will only be used
                     if  it is the string keep. If it was set to this value by
                     the widget and there was an old match inserted  into  the
                     command line, this match will be kept and if the value of
                     the insert key specifies that another match should be in-
                     serted, this will be inserted after the old one.

              old_list
                     This is set to yes if there is still a valid list of com-
                     pletions from a previous completion at the time the  wid-
                     get  is  invoked.   This  will usually be the case if and
                     only if the previous editing operation was  a  completion
                     widget  or  one  of the builtin completion functions.  If
                     there is a valid list and it is also currently  shown  on
                     the screen, the value of this key is shown.

                     After the widget has exited the value of this key is only
                     used if it was set to keep.  In this case the  completion
                     code  will  continue to use this old list.  If the widget
                     generated new matches, they will not be used.

              parameter
                     The name of the parameter when completing in a  subscript
                     or in the value of a parameter assignment.

              pattern_insert
                     Normally  this  is set to menu, which specifies that menu
                     completion will be used whenever a  set  of  matches  was
                     generated  using pattern_match (see below).  If it is set
                     to any other non-empty string by the user and  menu  com-
                     pletion  is  not  selected  by other option settings, the
                     code will instead insert any common prefix for the gener-
                     ated matches as with normal completion.

              pattern_match
                     Locally controls the behaviour given by the GLOB_COMPLETE
                     option.  Initially it is set to `*' if and  only  if  the
                     option  is set.  The completion widget may set it to this
                     value, to an empty string (which has the same  effect  as
                     unsetting  it),  or to any other non-empty string.  If it
                     is non-empty, unquoted metacharacters on the command line
                     will be treated as patterns; if it is `*', then addition-
                     ally a wildcard `*' is assumed at the cursor position; if
                     it is empty or unset, metacharacters will be treated lit-
                     erally.

                     Note that the match specifications given to  the  compadd
                     builtin  command  are  not  used  if  this  is  set  to a
                     non-empty string.

              quote  When completing inside quotes, this contains  the  quota-
                     tion  character  (i.e.  either  a  single quote, a double
                     quote, or a backtick).  Otherwise it is unset.

              quoting
                     When completing inside single quotes, this is set to  the
                     string  single;  inside double quotes, the string double;
                     inside backticks, the string backtick.  Otherwise  it  is
                     unset.

              redirect
                     The redirection operator when completing in a redirection
                     position, i.e. one of <, >, etc.

              restore
                     This is set to auto before a function is  entered,  which
                     forces  the  special  parameters  mentioned above (words,
                     CURRENT, PREFIX, IPREFIX, SUFFIX, and ISUFFIX) to be  re-
                     stored  to their previous values when the function exits.
                     If a function unsets it or sets it to any  other  string,
                     they will not be restored.

              to_end Specifies  the  occasions on which the cursor is moved to
                     the end of a string when a match is inserted.   On  entry
                     to  a widget function, it may be single if this will hap-
                     pen when a single unambiguous match was inserted or match
                     if it will happen any time a match is inserted (for exam-
                     ple, by menu completion; this is likely to be the  effect
                     of the ALWAYS_TO_END option).

                     On  exit,  it may be set to single as above.  It may also
                     be set to always, or to the empty  string  or  unset;  in
                     those  cases  the  cursor will be moved to the end of the
                     string always or never respectively.  Any other string is
                     treated as match.

              unambiguous
                     This  key is read-only and will always be set to the com-
                     mon (unambiguous) prefix the completion code  has  gener-
                     ated for all matches added so far.

              unambiguous_cursor
                     This  gives the position the cursor would be placed at if
                     the common prefix in the unambiguous key  were  inserted,
                     relative  to  the  value of that key. The cursor would be
                     placed before the character whose index is given by  this
                     key.

              unambiguous_positions
                     This contains all positions where characters in the unam-
                     biguous string are missing or  where  the  character  in-
                     serted differs from at least one of the matches.  The po-
                     sitions are given as indexes into the string given by the
                     value of the unambiguous key.

              vared  If  completion  is  called while editing a line using the
                     vared builtin, the value of this key is set to  the  name
                     of the parameter given as an argument to vared.  This key
                     is only set while a vared command is active.

       words  This array contains the words present on the command  line  cur-
              rently being edited.

COMPLETION BUILTIN COMMANDS
       compadd [ -akqQfenUl12C ] [ -F array ]
               [-P prefix ] [ -S suffix ]
               [-p hidden-prefix ] [ -s hidden-suffix ]
               [-i ignored-prefix ] [ -I ignored-suffix ]
               [-W file-prefix ] [ -d array ]
               [-J group-name ] [ -X explanation ] [ -x message ]
               [-V group-name ] [ -o [ order ] ]
               [-r remove-chars ] [ -R remove-func ]
               [-D array ] [ -O array ] [ -A array ]
               [-E number ]
               [-M match-spec ] [ -- ] [ completions ... ]

              This  builtin  command  can  be used to add matches directly and
              control all the information the completion code stores with each
              possible  completion.  The return status is zero if at least one
              match was added and non-zero if no matches were added.

              The completion code breaks each match into seven fields  in  the
              order:

                     <ipre><apre><hpre><body><hsuf><asuf><isuf>

              The  first  field  is  an  ignored prefix taken from the command
              line, the contents of the  IPREFIX  parameter  plus  the  string
              given  with  the  -i option. With the -U option, only the string
              from the -i option is used. The field <apre> is an optional pre-
              fix  string  given  with  the  -P option.  The <hpre> field is a
              string that is considered part of the match but that should  not
              be shown when listing completions, given with the -p option; for
              example, functions that do filename generation might  specify  a
              common  path  prefix  this way.  <body> is the part of the match
              that should appear in the list of matches  shown  to  the  user.
              The  suffixes  <hsuf>,  <asuf> and <isuf> correspond to the pre-
              fixes <hpre>, <apre> and <ipre> and are given by the options -s,
              -S and -I, respectively.

              The supported flags are:

              -P prefix
                     This  gives  a  string  to be inserted before each match.
                     The string given is not considered as part of  the  match
                     and  any  shell  metacharacters  in it will not be quoted
                     when the string is inserted.

              -S suffix
                     Like -P, but gives a string to  be  inserted  after  each
                     match.

              -p hidden-prefix
                     This  gives  a string that should be inserted before each
                     match but that should not appear in the list of  matches.
                     Unless  the  -U  option  is  given,  this  string must be
                     matched as part of the string on the command line.

              -s hidden-suffix
                     Like `-p', but gives a string to insert after each match.

              -i ignored-prefix
                     This gives a string to  insert  just  before  any  string
                     given  with  the `-P' option.  Without `-P' the string is
                     inserted before the string given with  `-p'  or  directly
                     before each match.

              -I ignored-suffix
                     Like -i, but gives an ignored suffix.

              -a     With  this flag the completions are taken as names of ar-
                     rays and the actual completions  are  their  values.   If
                     only  some elements of the arrays are needed, the comple-
                     tions may also contain subscripts, as in `foo[2,-1]'.

              -k     With this flag the completions are taken as names of  as-
                     sociative  arrays  and  the  actual completions are their
                     keys.  As for -a, the words may also contain  subscripts,
                     as in `foo[(R)*bar*]'.

              -d array
                     This  adds  per-completion  display  strings.  The  array
                     should contain one element per completion given. The com-
                     pletion  code will then display the first element instead
                     of the first completion, and so  on.  The  array  may  be
                     given  as the name of an array parameter or directly as a
                     space-separated list of words in parentheses.

                     If there are fewer display strings than completions,  the
                     leftover  completions  will be displayed unchanged and if
                     there are more  display  strings  than  completions,  the
                     leftover display strings will be silently ignored.

              -l     This  option only has an effect if used together with the
                     -d option. If it is given, the display strings are listed
                     one per line, not arrayed in columns.

              -o [ order ]
                     This  controls the order in which matches are sorted. or-
                     der is a comma-separated list  comprising  the  following
                     possible  values.   These  values  can  be abbreviated to
                     their initial two or three characters.  Note that the or-
                     der  forms  part  of the group name space so matches with
                     different orderings will not be in the same group.

                     match  If given, the order of the output is determined by
                            the  match  strings; otherwise it is determined by
                            the display strings (i.e. the strings given by the
                            -d  option). This is the default if `-o' is speci-
                            fied but the order argument is omitted.

                     nosort This specifies that the completions are pre-sorted
                            and  their  order should be preserved.  This value
                            only makes sense alone and cannot be combined with
                            any others.

                     numeric
                            If  the matches include numbers, sort them numeri-
                            cally rather than lexicographically.

                     reverse
                            Arrange the matches  backwards  by  reversing  the
                            sort ordering.

              -J group-name
                     Gives  the  name  of the group that the matches should be
                     stored in.

              -V group-name
                     Like -J but naming an  unsorted  group.  This  option  is
                     identical to the combination of -J and -o nosort.

              -1     If given together with the -V option, makes only consecu-
                     tive duplicates in the group be removed. If combined with
                     the  -J  option,  this  has  no visible effect. Note that
                     groups with and without this flag are in  different  name
                     spaces.

              -2     If given together with the -J or -V option, makes all du-
                     plicates be kept. Again, groups  with  and  without  this
                     flag are in different name spaces.

              -X explanation
                     The  explanation  string will be printed with the list of
                     matches, above the group currently selected.

                     Within the explanation, the following  sequences  may  be
                     used  to  specify  output  attributes as described in the
                     section EXPANSION  OF  PROMPT  SEQUENCES  in  zshmisc(1):
                     `%B',  `%S',  `%U', `%F', `%K' and their lower case coun-
                     terparts, as well as `%{...%}'.  `%F', `%K' and `%{...%}'
                     take  arguments  in  the  same  form as prompt expansion.
                     (Note that the sequence `%G' is not available;  an  argu-
                     ment  to `%{' should be used instead.)  The sequence `%%'
                     produces a literal `%'.

                     These sequences are most often  employed  by  users  when
                     customising  the  format  style  (see zshcompsys(1)), but
                     they must also be taken into account when writing comple-
                     tion  functions,  as  passing descriptions with unescaped
                     `%' characters to utility functions  such  as  _arguments
                     and _message may produce unexpected results. If arbitrary
                     text is to be passed in a description, it can be  escaped
                     using e.g. ${my_str//\%/%%}.

              -x message
                     Like  -X,  but  the message will be printed even if there
                     are no matches in the group.

              -q     The suffix given with -S will be automatically removed if
                     the  next  character  typed is a blank or does not insert
                     anything, or if the suffix consists of only one character
                     and the next character typed is the same character.

              -r remove-chars
                     This is a more versatile form of the -q option.  The suf-
                     fix given with -S or the slash automatically added  after
                     completing  directories  will be automatically removed if
                     the next character typed inserts one  of  the  characters
                     given  in  the  remove-chars.  This string is parsed as a
                     characters class and understands the backslash  sequences
                     used by the print command.  For example, `-r "a-z\t"' re-
                     moves the suffix if the next character  typed  inserts  a
                     lower  case  character  or a TAB, and `-r "^0-9"' removes
                     the suffix if the next character typed  inserts  anything
                     but  a  digit. One extra backslash sequence is understood
                     in this string: `\-' stands for all characters  that  in-
                     sert  nothing. Thus `-S "=" -q' is the same as `-S "=" -r
                     "= \t\n\-"'.

                     This option may also be used without the -S option;  then
                     any automatically added space will be removed when one of
                     the characters in the list is typed.

              -R remove-func
                     This is another form of the -r option. When a  match  has
                     been  accepted  and a suffix has been inserted, the func-
                     tion remove-func will be called after the next  character
                     typed.  It is passed the length of the suffix as an argu-
                     ment and can use the special parameters available in  or-
                     dinary  (non-completion)  zle  widgets (see zshzle(1)) to
                     analyse and modify the command line.

              -f     If this flag is given, all of the matches built from  the
                     completions are marked as being the names of files.  They
                     are not required to be actual filenames, but if they are,
                     and the option LIST_TYPES is set, the characters describ-
                     ing the types of the files in the completion  lists  will
                     be  shown.  This also forces a slash to be added when the
                     name of a directory is completed.

              -e     This flag can be used to tell the  completion  code  that
                     the matches added are parameter names for a parameter ex-
                     pansion.  This  will  make   the   AUTO_PARAM_SLASH   and
                     AUTO_PARAM_KEYS options be used for the matches.

              -W file-prefix
                     This  string is a pathname that will be prepended to each
                     match together with any prefix specified by the -p option
                     to  form  a  complete  filename for testing.  Hence it is
                     only useful if combined with the -f flag,  as  the  tests
                     will not otherwise be performed.

              -F array
                     Specifies an array containing patterns.  completions that
                     match one of these patterns are  ignored,  that  is,  not
                     considered to be matches.

                     The array may be the name of an array parameter or a list
                     of literal patterns enclosed in parentheses  and  quoted,
                     as  in  `-F  "(*?.o  *?.h)"'.  If the name of an array is
                     given, the elements of the array are taken  as  the  pat-
                     terns.

              -Q     This  flag instructs the completion code not to quote any
                     metacharacters in the matches when  inserting  them  into
                     the command line.

              -M match-spec
                     This  gives local match specifications as described below
                     in the section `Completion Matching Control'. This option
                     may   be   given  more  than  once.   In  this  case  all
                     match-specs given are concatenated  with  spaces  between
                     them  to form the specification string to use.  Note that
                     they will only be used if the -U option is not given.

              -n     Specifies that matching completions are to  be  added  to
                     the set of matches, but are not to be listed to the user.

              -U     If  this  flag is given, all completions are added to the
                     set of matches and no matching will be done by  the  com-
                     pletion  code. Normally this is used in functions that do
                     the matching themselves.

              -O array
                     If this option is given, the completions are not added to
                     the  set  of matches.  Instead, matching is done as usual
                     and all of the completions that match will be  stored  in
                     the array parameter whose name is given as array.

              -A array
                     As  the  -O  option,  except that instead of those of the
                     completions  which  match  being  stored  in  array,  the
                     strings  generated  internally by the completion code are
                     stored.  For example, with a match specification  of  `-M
                     "L:|no="',  a  current  word  of `nof' and completions of
                     `foo', this option stores the string `nofoo' in  the  ar-
                     ray,  whereas  the  -O option stores the `foo' originally
                     given.

              -D array
                     As with -O, the completions are not added to the  set  of
                     matches.   Instead,  whenever the nth completion does not
                     match, the nth element of the array is removed.  Elements
                     for  which  the  corresponding completion matches are re-
                     tained.  This option can be used more than once to remove
                     elements from multiple arrays.

              -C     This  option  adds  a  special match which expands to all
                     other matches when inserted into  the  line,  even  those
                     that  are added after this option is used.  Together with
                     the -d option it is possible to  specify  a  string  that
                     should  be  displayed in the list for this special match.
                     If no string is given, it will be shown as a string  con-
                     taining  the strings that would be inserted for the other
                     matches, truncated to the width of the screen.

              -E number
                     This option adds number empty matches after matching com-
                     pletions  have been added.  An empty match takes up space
                     in completion listings but will never be inserted in  the
                     line  and  can't be selected with menu completion or menu
                     selection.  This makes empty matches only useful to  for-
                     mat  completion  lists  and to make explanatory string be
                     shown in completion lists (since  empty  matches  can  be
                     given  display  strings with the -d option).  And because
                     all but one empty string would otherwise be removed, this
                     option implies the -V and -2 options (even if an explicit
                     -J option is given).  This can be important to note as it
                     affects the name space into which matches are added.

              -
              --     This  flag  ends the list of flags and options. All argu-
                     ments after it will be taken as the completions  even  if
                     they begin with hyphens.

              Except for the -M flag, if any of these flags is given more than
              once, the first one (and its argument) will be used.

       compset -p number
       compset -P [ number ] pattern
       compset -s number
       compset -S [ number ] pattern
       compset -n begin [ end ]
       compset -N beg-pat [ end-pat ]
       compset -q
              This command simplifies modification of the special  parameters,
              while its return status allows tests on them to be carried out.

              The options are:

              -p number
                     If  the  value of the PREFIX parameter is at least number
                     characters long, the first number characters are  removed
                     from  it  and appended to the contents of the IPREFIX pa-
                     rameter.

              -P [ number ] pattern
                     If the value of the PREFIX parameter begins with anything
                     that  matches the pattern, the matched portion is removed
                     from PREFIX and appended to IPREFIX.

                     Without the optional number, the longest match is  taken,
                     but if number is given, anything up to the numberth match
                     is moved.  If the number is negative, the numberth  long-
                     est  match  is moved. For example, if PREFIX contains the
                     string `a=b=c', then  compset  -P  '*\='  will  move  the
                     string  `a=b=' into the IPREFIX parameter, but compset -P
                     1 '*\=' will move only the string `a='.

              -s number
                     As -p, but transfer the last number characters  from  the
                     value of SUFFIX to the front of the value of ISUFFIX.

              -S [ number ] pattern
                     As  -P, but match the last portion of SUFFIX and transfer
                     the matched portion to the front of the value of ISUFFIX.

              -n begin [ end ]
                     If the current word position as specified by the  parame-
                     ter  CURRENT  is greater than or equal to begin, anything
                     up to the beginth word is removed from  the  words  array
                     and  the value of the parameter CURRENT is decremented by
                     begin.

                     If the optional end is given, the  modification  is  done
                     only  if  the  current word position is also less than or
                     equal to end. In this case, the words from  position  end
                     onwards are also removed from the words array.

                     Both  begin  and  end  may be negative to count backwards
                     from the last element of the words array.

              -N beg-pat [ end-pat ]
                     If one of the elements of the words array before the  one
                     at  the index given by the value of the parameter CURRENT
                     matches the pattern beg-pat, all elements up to  and  in-
                     cluding the matching one are removed from the words array
                     and the value of CURRENT is changed to point to the  same
                     word in the changed array.

                     If  the optional pattern end-pat is also given, and there
                     is an element in the words array matching  this  pattern,
                     the  parameters  are  modified  only if the index of this
                     word is higher than the one given by the CURRENT  parame-
                     ter  (so  that the matching word has to be after the cur-
                     sor). In this case,  the  words  starting  with  the  one
                     matching  end-pat  are also removed from the words array.
                     If words contains no word matching end-pat,  the  testing
                     and modification is performed as if it were not given.

              -q     The  word  currently  being  completed is split on spaces
                     into separate words, respecting the usual  shell  quoting
                     conventions.  The resulting words are stored in the words
                     array, and CURRENT, PREFIX, SUFFIX, QIPREFIX, and  QISUF-
                     FIX  are  modified  to reflect the word part that is com-
                     pleted.

              In all the above cases the return status is  zero  if  the  test
              succeeded  and  the parameters were modified and non-zero other-
              wise. This allows one to use this builtin in tests such as:

                     if compset -P '*\='; then ...

              This forces anything up to and including the last equal sign  to
              be ignored by the completion code.

       compcall [ -TD ]
              This  allows  the  use  of  completions defined with the compctl
              builtin from within completion widgets.   The  list  of  matches
              will  be  generated as if one of the non-widget completion func-
              tions (complete-word, etc.)  had been called, except  that  only
              compctls given for specific commands are used. To force the code
              to try completions defined with the -T option of compctl  and/or
              the  default  completion  (whether  defined by compctl -D or the
              builtin default) in the appropriate places,  the  -T  and/or  -D
              flags can be passed to compcall.

              The return status can be used to test if a matching compctl def-
              inition was found. It is non-zero if a  compctl  was  found  and
              zero otherwise.

              Note that this builtin is defined by the zsh/compctl module.

COMPLETION CONDITION CODES
       The  following  additional condition codes for use within the [[ ... ]]
       construct are available in completion widgets.  These work on the  spe-
       cial  parameters.   All  of  these  tests  can also be performed by the
       compset builtin, but in the case of the condition codes the contents of
       the special parameters are not modified.

       -prefix [ number ] pattern
              true if the test for the -P option of compset would succeed.

       -suffix [ number ] pattern
              true if the test for the -S option of compset would succeed.

       -after beg-pat
              true  if  the  test of the -N option with only the beg-pat given
              would succeed.

       -between beg-pat end-pat
              true if the test for the -N option with both patterns would suc-
              ceed.

COMPLETION MATCHING CONTROL
       When  the user invokes completion, the current word on the command line
       (that is, the word the cursor is currently on) is used  to  generate  a
       match  pattern.   Only those completions that match the pattern are of-
       fered to the user as matches.

       The default match pattern is generated from the current word by either

       •      appending a `*' (matching any number of characters in a  comple-
              tion) or,

       •      if  the shell option COMPLETE_IN_WORD is set, inserting a `*' at
              the cursor position.

       This narrow pattern can be broadened selectively  by  passing  a  match
       specification to the compadd builtin command through its -M option (see
       `Completion Builtin Commands' above).  A match  specification  consists
       of  one  or more matchers separated by whitespace.  Matchers in a match
       specification are applied one at a time, from left to right.  Once  all
       matchers have been applied, completions are compared to the final match
       pattern and non-matching ones are discarded.

       •      Note that the -M option is ignored if the current word  contains
              a  glob  pattern and the shell option GLOB_COMPLETE is set or if
              the pattern_match key of the special associative array compstate
              is set to a non-empty value (see `Completion Special Parameters'
              above).

       •      Users of the completion system (see zshcompsys(1))  should  gen-
              erally  not  use  the  -M  option  directly,  but rather use the
              matcher-list and matcher styles  (see  the  subsection  Standard
              Styles  in the documentation for COMPLETION SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
              in zshcompsys(1)).

       Each matcher consists of

       •      a case-sensitive letter

       •      a `:',

       •      one or more patterns separated by pipes (`|'),

       •      an equals sign (`='), and

       •      another pattern.

       The patterns before the `=' are used to match substrings of the current
       word.   For each matched substring, the corresponding part of the match
       pattern is broadened with the pattern after the `=', by means of a log-
       ical OR.

       Each pattern in a matcher cosists of either

       •      the empty string or

       •      a sequence of

              •      literal characters (which may be quoted with a `\'),

              •      question marks (`?'),

              •      bracket expressions (`[...]'; see the subsection Glob Op-
                     erators in the documentation for GLOB OPERATORS  in  zsh-
                     expn(1)), and/or

              •      brace expressions (see below).

       Other shell patterns are not allowed.

       A brace expression, like a bracket expression, consists of a list of

       •      literal characters,

       •      ranges (`0-9'), and/or

       •      character classes (`[:name:]').

       However, they differ from each other as follows:

       •      A brace expression is delimited by a pair of braces (`{...}').

       •      Brace expressions do not support negations.  That is, an initial
              `!' or `^' has no special meaning and will be interpreted  as  a
              literal character.

       •      When  a character in the current word matches the nth pattern in
              a brace expression, the corresponding part of the match  pattern
              is  broadened  only with the nth pattern of the brace expression
              on the other side of the `=', if there is one; if  there  is  no
              brace  expression  on  the  other side, then this pattern is the
              empty string.  However, if either brace expression has more ele-
              ments  than  the  other,  then the excess entries are simply ig-
              nored.  When comparing indexes, each literal character or  char-
              acter class counts as one element, but each range is instead ex-
              panded to the full list of  literal  characters  it  represents.
              Additionally,  if  on  both sides of the `=', the nth pattern is
              `[:upper:]' or `[:lower:]', then these are expanded  as  ranges,
              too.

       Note  that,  although the matching system does not yet handle multibyte
       characters, this is likely to be  a  future  extension.   Hence,  using
       `[:upper:]' and `[:lower:]' is recommended over `A-Z' and `a-z'.

       Below  are  the  different forms of matchers supported.  Each uppercase
       form behaves exactly like its lowercase counterpart, but adds an  addi-
       tional  step after the match pattern has filtered out non-matching com-
       pletions:  Each of a match's substrings that was matched by  a  subpat-
       tern  from an uppercase matcher is replaced with the corresponding sub-
       string of the current word.  However, patterns from lowercase  matchers
       have  higher weight:  If a substring of the current word was matched by
       patterns from both a lowercase and an uppercase matcher, then the  low-
       ercase  matcher's  pattern wins and the corresponding part of the match
       is not modified.

       Unless  indicated  otherwise,  each   example   listed   assumes   COM-
       PLETE_IN_WORD to be unset (as it is by default).

       m:word-pat=match-pat
       M:word-pat=match-pat

              For  each  substring  of the current word that matches word-pat,
              broaden the corresponding part of the match pattern to addition-
              ally match match-pat.

              Examples:

                     m:{[:lower:]}={[:upper:]}  lets  any lower case character
                     in the current word be completed to itself or its  upper-
                     case  counterpart.   So, the completions `foo', `FOO' and
                     `Foo' will are be considered matches for the word `fo'.

                     M:_= inserts every underscore from the current word  into
                     each  match, in the same relative position, determined by
                     matching the substrings around it.  So, given  a  comple-
                     tion `foo', the word `f_o' will be completed to the match
                     `f_oo', even though the latter was not present as a  com-
                     pletion.

       b:word-pat=match-pat
       B:word-pat=match-pat
       e:word-pat=match-pat
       E:word-pat=match-pat

              For  each consecutive substring at the b:eginning or e:nd of the
              current word that matches word-pat,  broaden  the  corresponding
              part of the match pattern to additionally match match-pat.

              Examples:

                     `b:-=+'  lets  any  number of minuses at the start of the
                     current word be completed to a minus or a plus.

                     `B:0=' adds all zeroes at the beginning  of  the  current
                     word to the beginning of each match.

       l:|word-pat=match-pat
       L:|word-pat=match-pat
       R:word-pat|=match-pat
       r:word-pat|=match-pat

              If  there is a substring at the l:eft or r:ight edge of the cur-
              rent word that matches word-pat, then broaden the  corresponding
              part of the match pattern to additionally match match-pat.

              For  each  l:, L:, r: and R: matcher (including the ones below),
              the pattern match-pat may also be a `*'.  This matches any  num-
              ber of characters in a completion.

              Examples:

                     `r:|=*'  appends  a  `*'  to the match pattern, even when
                     COMPLETE_IN_WORD is set and the cursor is not at the  end
                     of the current word.

                     If  the  current  word  starts with a minus, then `L:|-='
                     will prepend it to each match.

       l:anchor|word-pat=match-pat
       L:anchor|word-pat=match-pat
       r:word-pat|anchor=match-pat
       R:word-pat|anchor=match-pat

              For each substring of the current word that matches word-pat and
              has  on  its  l:eft or r:ight another substring matching anchor,
              broaden the corresponding part of the match pattern to addition-
              ally match match-pat.

              Note  that  these matchers (and the ones below) modify only what
              is matched by word-pat; they do not change the matching behavior
              of  what is matched by anchor (or coanchor; see the matchers be-
              low).  Thus, unless its corresponding part of the match  pattern
              has  been  modified, the anchor in the current word has to match
              literally in each completion, just like any other  substring  of
              the current word.

              If  a  matcher  includes at least one anchor (which includes the
              matchers with two anchors, below), then match-pat  may  also  be
              `*'  or  `**'.  `*' can match any part of a completion that does
              not contain any substrings matching anchor, whereas a  `**'  can
              match any part of a completion, period.  (Note that this is dif-
              ferent from the behavior of `*' in the anchorless forms of  `l:'
              and  `r:'  and  and also different from `*' and `**' in glob ex-
              pressions.)

              Examples:

                     `r:|.=*' makes the completion `comp.sources.unix' a match
                     for the word `..u' -- but not for the word `.u'.

                     Given  a completion `--foo', the matcher `L:--|no-=' will
                     complete the word `--no-' to the match `--no-foo'.

       l:anchor||coanchor=match-pat
       L:anchor||coanchor=match-pat
       r:coanchor||anchor=match-pat
       R:coanchor||anchor=match-pat

              For any two consecutive substrings  of  the  current  word  that
              match  anchor  and coanchor, in the order given, insert the pat-
              tern match-pat between their corresponding parts  in  the  match
              pattern.

              Note  that,  unlike anchor, the pattern coanchor does not change
              what `*' can match.

              Examples:

                     `r:?||[[:upper:]]=*' will complete the current word  `fB'
                     to  `fooBar',  but it will not complete it to `fooHooBar'
                     (because `*' here cannot match anything that  includes  a
                     match  for  `[[:upper:]]),  nor  will  it complete `B' to
                     `fooBar' (because there is no character  in  the  current
                     word to match coanchor).

                     Given   the   current  word  `pass.n'  and  a  completion
                     `pass.byname',  the  matcher  `L:.||[[:alpha:]]=by'  will
                     produce the match `pass.name'.

       x:

              Ignore this matcher and all matchers to its right.

              This  matcher  is used to mark the end of a match specification.
              In a single standalone list of matchers, this has  no  use,  but
              where  match  specifications  are  concatenated, as is often the
              case when using the completion system  (see  zshcompsys(1)),  it
              can allow one match specification to override another.

COMPLETION WIDGET EXAMPLE
       The first step is to define the widget:

              zle -C complete complete-word complete-files

       Then  the  widget  can be bound to a key using the bindkey builtin com-
       mand:

              bindkey '^X\t' complete

       After that the shell function complete-files will be invoked after typ-
       ing  control-X  and TAB. The function should then generate the matches,
       e.g.:

              complete-files () { compadd - * }

       This function will complete files in the current directory matching the
       current word.

zsh 5.9                          May 14, 2022                    ZSHCOMPWID(1)

Generated by dwww version 1.15 on Sun Jun 16 16:20:00 CEST 2024.