:mod:rlcompleter --- Completion function for GNU readline

.. module:: rlcompleter :synopsis: Python identifier completion, suitable for the GNU readline library.

.. sectionauthor:: Moshe Zadka [email protected]

Source code: :source:Lib/rlcompleter.py

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The :mod:rlcompleter module defines a completion function suitable for the :mod:readline module by completing valid Python identifiers and keywords.

When this module is imported on a Unix platform with the :mod:readline module available, an instance of the :class:Completer class is automatically created and its :meth:complete method is set as the :mod:readline completer.

Example::

import rlcompleter import readline readline.parse_and_bind("tab: complete") readline. <TAB PRESSED> readline.doc readline.get_line_buffer( readline.read_init_file( readline.file readline.insert_text( readline.set_completer( readline.name readline.parse_and_bind( readline.

The :mod:rlcompleter module is designed for use with Python's :ref:interactive mode <tut-interactive>. Unless Python is run with the :option:-S option, the module is automatically imported and configured (see :ref:rlcompleter-config).

On platforms without :mod:readline, the :class:Completer class defined by this module can still be used for custom purposes.

.. _completer-objects:

Completer Objects

Completer objects have the following method:

.. method:: Completer.complete(text, state)

Return the state\ th completion for text.

If called for text that doesn't include a period character ('.'), it will complete from names currently defined in :mod:__main__, :mod:builtins and keywords (as defined by the :mod:keyword module).

If called for a dotted name, it will try to evaluate anything without obvious side-effects (functions will not be evaluated, but it can generate calls to :meth:__getattr__) up to the last part, and find matches for the rest via the :func:dir function. Any exception raised during the evaluation of the expression is caught, silenced and :const:None is returned.