Bash CLI completion script?

[flipperbw]

Unless I'm missing something obvious, is there any autocomplete script for bash? I see one for fish, but couldn't find anything for bash.

I can take a pass at converting that one or writing my own, but wanted to check in first.

[sharkdp]

We used to have automatically created shell completion files for Bash, Zsh, Fish and PowerShell. They were causing some problems though:

bat/build.rs

Lines 1 to 2 in 7e84477

	// TODO: Re-enable generation of shell completion files (below) when clap 3 is out.
	// For more details, see https://github.com/sharkdp/bat/issues/372

We have since included manually created Fish completion files (#372)

Apart from the reasons given in #524 (comment) I am open to including manually created shell completion files.

As a starting point, you could either take the Fish completion file (which is probably already out of date) or re-enable the automatic generation of completion files and manually fix the autogenerated Bash completion file.

[flipperbw]

Hmm gotcha. I will take a look.

[flipperbw]

What I wound up doing, in lieu of making a whole script, was just to add the line complete -F _longopt bat to my profile. It's not perfect but it's a quick and easy fix for some completion without the need for an entire file.

[ernstki]

@flipperbw That's a great idea, and not a thing I even knew existed. Now I can stop re-inventing the wheel of parsing the output of a command's --help into a word list for complete -W. :)

Worth noting, though, that that's part of bash-completion, which is often a separate package for people to install / set up.

[flipperbw]

True, though I suppose it could be tested for in an install script here, and if not, include that function definition.

[sharkdp]

We now have custom Zsh and Fish completion files. It would be great if someone could write a Bash completion file as well.

[ds2606]

Just an FYI, filename completion no longer works for me using zsh with the re-added scripts. For example, with directory ~/Misc, bat ~/mi<tab> doesn't expand to the full directory, whereas it does with any other completion executable (e.g. ls ~/mi<tab> expands to ls ~/Misc) - I'll be re-removing the completion scripts for the time being

[scop]

Is this a case sensitivity thing (~/mi vs ~/Misc), or do you see the problem also when completing ~/Mi<tab>? I can't check right now but the bash completion implemented in #1678 certainly didn't break the usual case sensitive completions for me. No idea about zsh.

[ds2606]

It's case-specific: filename completions for e.g. ~/Mi<tab> work fine (I'm accustomed by muscle memory to tab through paths case-insensitively though so even if it's minor it's a bit if a dealbreaker usage-wise for me)

[scop]

I've just verified that the bash completion from #1678 does not break case sensitive nor case insensitive path completions (case insensitive ones are enabled with set completion-ignore-case on in e.g. ~/.inputrc for bash (well readline)).

[rashil2000]

Hey @sharkdp!

I'm looking for the missing PowerShell completion file. What exactly was the problem there, could you elaborate? Can we auto-generate it, fix it, and then include it along with bash, zsh and fish completions?

[sharkdp]

@rashil2000 I'm not a PowerShell user, so I don't really know/remember if the PowerShell completions worked as expected. If someone wants to try, that would be a viable option (either directly autogenerate or check in a modified version of the autogen output).

[rashil2000]

I can test it.

How do I build it? Do you have the old file lying around somewhere?

Or I can directly download the release zip when it was still being shipped. At which version did it stop being included?

[rashil2000]

I modified build.rs and generated the completion script. It seems to work fine, both with filenames and arguments. Can you include it in the assets?
Here is the script:

using namespace System.Management.Automation
using namespace System.Management.Automation.Language

Register-ArgumentCompleter -Native -CommandName 'bat' -ScriptBlock {
    param($wordToComplete, $commandAst, $cursorPosition)

    $commandElements = $commandAst.CommandElements
    $command = @(
        'bat'
        for ($i = 1; $i -lt $commandElements.Count; $i++) {
            $element = $commandElements[$i]
            if ($element -isnot [StringConstantExpressionAst] -or
                $element.StringConstantType -ne [StringConstantType]::BareWord -or
                $element.Value.StartsWith('-')) {
                break
        }
        $element.Value
    }) -join ';'

    $completions = @(switch ($command) {
        'bat' {
            [CompletionResult]::new('-l', 'l', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Set the language for syntax highlighting.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--language', 'language', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Set the language for syntax highlighting.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('-H', 'H', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Highlight lines N through M.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--highlight-line', 'highlight-line', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Highlight lines N through M.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--file-name', 'file-name', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Specify the name to display for a file.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--diff-context', 'diff-context', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'diff-context')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--tabs', 'tabs', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Set the tab width to T spaces.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--wrap', 'wrap', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Specify the text-wrapping mode (*auto*, never, character).')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--terminal-width', 'terminal-width', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Explicitly set the width of the terminal instead of determining it automatically. If prefixed with ''+'' or ''-'', the value will be treated as an offset to the actual terminal width. See also: ''--wrap''.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--color', 'color', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'When to use colors (*auto*, never, always).')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--italic-text', 'italic-text', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Use italics in output (always, *never*)')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--decorations', 'decorations', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'When to show the decorations (*auto*, never, always).')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--paging', 'paging', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Specify when to use the pager, or use `-P` to disable (*auto*, never, always).')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--pager', 'pager', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Determine which pager to use.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('-m', 'm', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Use the specified syntax for files matching the glob pattern (''*.cpp:C++'').')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--map-syntax', 'map-syntax', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Use the specified syntax for files matching the glob pattern (''*.cpp:C++'').')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--theme', 'theme', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Set the color theme for syntax highlighting.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--style', 'style', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Comma-separated list of style elements to display (*auto*, full, plain, changes, header, grid, rule, numbers, snip).')
            [CompletionResult]::new('-r', 'r', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Only print the lines from N to M.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--line-range', 'line-range', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Only print the lines from N to M.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('-A', 'A', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Show non-printable characters (space, tab, newline, ..).')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--show-all', 'show-all', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Show non-printable characters (space, tab, newline, ..).')
            [CompletionResult]::new('-p', 'p', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Show plain style (alias for ''--style=plain'').')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--plain', 'plain', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Show plain style (alias for ''--style=plain'').')
            [CompletionResult]::new('-d', 'd', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Only show lines that have been added/removed/modified.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--diff', 'diff', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Only show lines that have been added/removed/modified.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('-n', 'n', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Show line numbers (alias for ''--style=numbers'').')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--number', 'number', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Show line numbers (alias for ''--style=numbers'').')
            [CompletionResult]::new('-f', 'f', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'f')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--force-colorization', 'force-colorization', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'force-colorization')
            [CompletionResult]::new('-P', 'P', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Alias for ''--paging=never''')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--no-paging', 'no-paging', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Alias for ''--paging=never''')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--list-themes', 'list-themes', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Display all supported highlighting themes.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('-L', 'L', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Display all supported languages.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--list-languages', 'list-languages', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Display all supported languages.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('-u', 'u', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'u')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--unbuffered', 'unbuffered', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'unbuffered')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--no-config', 'no-config', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Do not use the configuration file')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--no-custom-assets', 'no-custom-assets', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Do not load custom assets')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--config-file', 'config-file', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Show path to the configuration file.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--generate-config-file', 'generate-config-file', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Generates a default configuration file.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--config-dir', 'config-dir', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Show bat''s configuration directory.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--cache-dir', 'cache-dir', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Show bat''s cache directory.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--diagnostic', 'diagnostic', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Show diagnostic information for bug reports.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('-h', 'h', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Print this help message.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--help', 'help', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Print this help message.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('-V', 'V', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Show version information.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--version', 'version', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Show version information.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('cache', 'cache', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterValue, 'Modify the syntax-definition and theme cache')
            break
        }
        'bat;cache' {
            [CompletionResult]::new('--source', 'source', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Use a different directory to load syntaxes and themes from.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--target', 'target', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Use a different directory to store the cached syntax and theme set.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('-b', 'b', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Initialize (or update) the syntax/theme cache.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--build', 'build', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Initialize (or update) the syntax/theme cache.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('-c', 'c', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Remove the cached syntax definitions and themes.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--clear', 'clear', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Remove the cached syntax definitions and themes.')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--blank', 'blank', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Create completely new syntax and theme sets (instead of appending to the default sets).')
            [CompletionResult]::new('-h', 'h', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Prints help information')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--help', 'help', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Prints help information')
            [CompletionResult]::new('-V', 'V', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Prints version information')
            [CompletionResult]::new('--version', 'version', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'Prints version information')
            break
        }
    })

    $completions.Where{ $_.CompletionText -like "$wordToComplete*" } |
        Sort-Object -Property ListItemText
}

[Enselic]

@rashil2000 Thank you!

Can you open a Pull Request that adds that file please?

[rashil2000]

@Enselic #1826