2 :mod:`rlcompleter` --- Completion function for GNU readline
3 ===========================================================
5 .. module:: rlcompleter
6 :synopsis: Python identifier completion, suitable for the GNU readline library.
7 .. sectionauthor:: Moshe Zadka <moshez@zadka.site.co.il>
10 The :mod:`rlcompleter` module defines a completion function suitable for the
11 :mod:`readline` module by completing valid Python identifiers and keywords.
13 When this module is imported on a Unix platform with the :mod:`readline` module
14 available, an instance of the :class:`Completer` class is automatically created
15 and its :meth:`complete` method is set as the :mod:`readline` completer.
19 >>> import rlcompleter
21 >>> readline.parse_and_bind("tab: complete")
22 >>> readline. <TAB PRESSED>
23 readline.__doc__ readline.get_line_buffer( readline.read_init_file(
24 readline.__file__ readline.insert_text( readline.set_completer(
25 readline.__name__ readline.parse_and_bind(
28 The :mod:`rlcompleter` module is designed for use with Python's interactive
29 mode. A user can add the following lines to his or her initialization file
30 (identified by the :envvar:`PYTHONSTARTUP` environment variable) to get
31 automatic :kbd:`Tab` completion::
36 print "Module readline not available."
39 readline.parse_and_bind("tab: complete")
41 On platforms without :mod:`readline`, the :class:`Completer` class defined by
42 this module can still be used for custom purposes.
45 .. _completer-objects:
50 Completer objects have the following method:
53 .. method:: Completer.complete(text, state)
55 Return the *state*\ th completion for *text*.
57 If called for *text* that doesn't include a period character (``'.'``), it will
58 complete from names currently defined in :mod:`__main__`, :mod:`__builtin__` and
59 keywords (as defined by the :mod:`keyword` module).
61 If called for a dotted name, it will try to evaluate anything without obvious
62 side-effects (functions will not be evaluated, but it can generate calls to
63 :meth:`__getattr__`) up to the last part, and find matches for the rest via the
64 :func:`dir` function. Any exception raised during the evaluation of the
65 expression is caught, silenced and :const:`None` is returned.