Auto-completion
Wing provides context-appropriate code completion in the editor, Python Shell and Debug Console. Using the auto-completer decreases the amount of typing needed to write code, and reduces the incidence of typos in symbol names. In Wing 101, this feature is disabled by default.
When enabled with the Editor > Auto-completion > Auto-show Completer preference, the auto-completer appears and disappears automatically as you type. Items can be selected by typing until the correct symbol is highlighted, or by using the up and down arrow keys.
To cancel out of the auto-completer, press Esc or Ctrl-G. The auto-completer also disappears when you exit the source symbol by typing or clicking elsewhere, or if you press key bindings to invoke other commands.
Completion Keys
By default, Tab enters the completion it into the editor. Other completion keys can be added with the Editor > Auto-completion > Completion Keys preference. For printable keys such as '.', '(', '[', and ':' the completion character will be added to the editor after the completed symbol, and any appropriate auto-editing operations will be applied. If '.' is used as a completion key, the auto-completer will reappear immediately with the attributes of the completed symbol.
In Wing Pro, it is also possible to configure the auto-completer in Python code to treat any non-symbol key as a completion key. See Turbo Completion Mode for Python for details.
Configuration
In Wing Pro and Wing Personal, the auto-completer offers a wide range of configuration options. These are available in the Editor > Auto-completion preferences group. The more commonly used options include:
- Auto-show completer controls whether the completer is shown immediately, only after a specified number of characters, or entirely disabled.
- Only Show Matching Symbols is used to control whether the completer shows all available symbols in the current context, or only those that match the fragment you have typed into the editor.
- Symbol Types controls whether to show also snippets, builtins, keywords, or __names__ in the auto-completer.
- Auto-completer Height controls how lines of completions are shown at once in the auto-completer.
Other options are available for delaying display of the completer, auto-hiding the completer after a timeout, controlling whether existing symbols are replaced by completions, whether symbol matching is case insensitive, and how the completer works in non-Python files.
Auto-Imports
In Wing Pro, the auto-completer can be configured to include the names of modules that could be but have not yet been imported. When these choices are completed, Wing places the name at the current position in the editor and also automatically adds the necessary import statement at the top of your source file.
A single Undo will remove the completion and the import, if it was entered in error. The import may also be removed using the Import Tool if the code that used it is deleted after other edits are made to the file.
When and how auto-import items are added to the auto-completer is controlled by the following preferences:
- Editor > Auto-Completion > Python Auto-Imports selects whether to include auto-import items in the auto-completer, either always, never, on request for the current completion only (the default), or on request until disabled.
- Editor > Auto-Completion > Only Show Matching Auto-Imports controls whether to include all possible auto-imports or only those that match the currently typed fragment for which the completer is being snow.
See also the Import Tool.
Code Snippets
In Wing Pro, the auto-completer also contains the names of snippets defined in the Snippets tool. Completing a snippet enters it into the editor and collects any snippet arguments inline in the editor, in fields that can be traversed with the Tab key. For details, see Snippets.
To prevent Wing from including snippets in the auto-completer, uncheck Snippets in the Editor > Auto-completion > Symbol Types preference.
Section Contents
5.11.1. Auto-completion Icons
5.11.2. How Auto-completion Works
