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2023.2
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  4. Code completion

Code completion

Last modified: 13 November 2023

Configure: Settings | Editor | General | Code Completion

For automatic completion, enable the Show suggestions as you type option

Basic completion: CtrlSpace

Smart type-matching completion: CtrlShiftSpace

To reject all suggestions, press Esc.

This section covers various techniques of context-aware code completion that allow you to speed up your coding process.

Basic completion

Basic code completion helps you complete statements, database object names, parameters, and keywords within the visibility scope.

When you invoke code completion, DataGrip analyses the context and suggests the choices that are reachable from the current caret position (suggestions also include Live templates).

tip

Code completion is available for custom file types. However, DataGrip does not recognize the structure of such files, and suggests options regardless of whether they are appropriate in the current context.

tip

Basic completion is also available for a non-English keyboard layout.

Invoke basic completion

  1. Start typing a name.

  2. Press CtrlSpace or choose Code | Code Completion | Basic from the main menu.

    Basic completion

note

When you have ambiguous names in a query, DataGrip displays the context.

Consider the following list of actions that you can perform with basic code completion:

Type-matching completion

Smart type-matching code completion filters the suggestion list and shows only the types applicable to the current context.

Invoke type-matching completion

  1. Start typing a query. By default, DataGrip displays the code completion popup automatically as you type. If automatic completion is disabled, press CtrlShiftSpace or choose Code | Code Completion | Type-Matching from the main menu.

  2. Press CtrlShiftSpace or choose Code | Code Completion | Type-Matching from the main menu.

    The most suitable suggestion for the current context is highlighted.

The following example shows different suggestion lists for basic (CtrlSpace) and smart type-matching completion CtrlShiftSpace.

Type-matching completion CtrlShiftSpace

Basic code completion CtrlSpace

Smart and basic completion
Smart and basic completion

Statement completion

You can create syntactically correct code constructs by using statement completion CtrlShiftEnter. It inserts the necessary syntax elements (parentheses, braces, and semicolons) and gets you in a position where you can start typing the next statement.

https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2023.2/db_completing_code_construct.png
Gif

Hippie completion

Hippie completion is a completion engine that analyses your text in the visible scope and generates suggestions from the current context. It helps you complete any word from any of the currently opened files.

Expand a string at caret to an existing word

  1. Type the initial string and do one of the following:

    • Press Alt0/ or choose Code | Code Completion | Cyclic Expand Word to search for matching words before the caret.

    • Press AltShift0/ or choose Code | Code Completion | Cyclic Expand Word (Backward) to search for matching words after the caret and in other open files.

    The first suggested value appears, and the prototype is highlighted in the source code.

  2. Accept the suggestion, or hold the Alt key and keep pressing / until the desired word is found.

The following example shows hippie completion for the value in the INSERT statement:

https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2023.2/db_hippie_completion.png
Gif

Postfix code completion

Postfix code completion helps you reduce backward caret jumps as you write code. You can transform an already-typed expression to a different one based on a postfix you type after the dot, the type of expression, and its context.

Enable and configure postfix completion

  • In the Settings dialog (CtrlAlt0S), open Editor | General | Postfix Completion and select the Enable postfix completion checkbox.

  • Select Tab, Space, or Enter to be used for expanding postfix templates.

  • Enable/disable a particular postfix template for the selected language.

Transform a statement with a postfix

  1. Type an expression and then type a postfix after a dot.

  2. Press Tab.

    https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2023.2/db_postfix_completion.png
    Gif

You can disable certain postfix completion templates in the Editor | General | Postfix Completion page of the IDE settings CtrlAlt0S. DataGrip includes the following predefined templates:

Template

Before

After

.from

SELECT actor.from
SELECT ...
FROM actor

.cfrom

SELECT actor.cfrom
SELECT actor_id,
first_name,
last_name,
last_update
FROM actor

.afrom

SELECT actor.afrom
SELECT
actor_id AS ai,
first_name AS fn,
last_name AS ln,
last_update AS lu
FROM actor

.cast

SELECT actor.cast
SELECT cast(actor AS ...)

.join

SELECT actor.join
SELECT * FROM actor
                        JOIN film_actor fa
                        ON actor.actor_id = fa.actor_id

tip

You can select how you want to expand postfix templates by pressing: Tab,Space, orEnter.

tip

Postfix completion options are shown as part of the basic completion suggestion list. To see a full list of postfix completions applicable in the current context, press Ctrl0J.

Create custom postfix templates

  1. Press CtrlAlt0S to open the IDE settings and then select Editor | General | Postfix Completion.

  2. Click the Add button (the Add button) on the toolbar.

  3. Specify Key, a combination of symbols that will invoke the template.

  4. Select which dialects the new template will be applicable to, and type the target expression in the following format: $EXPR$ <target_expression>, for example, * FROM $EXPR$;.

    Create a postfix template

Completion of tags and attributes

DataGrip automatically completes names and values of tags and attributes in HTML/XHTML, XML/XSL, and JSON.

Completion of tags and attribute names is based on the DTD or Schema the file is associated with. If there is no schema association, DataGrip will use the file content (tag and attribute names and their values) to complete your input.

Complete tag names

  1. Press < and start typing the tag name. DataGrip displays the list of tag names appropriate in the current context.

    Use the Up and Down buttons to scroll through the list.

  2. Press Enter to accept a selection from the list. If your file is associated with a schema or a DTD, DataGrip automatically inserts the mandatory attributes according to it.

    Tags completion

Configure code completion settings

Configure completion options

  1. Press CtrlAlt0S to open the IDE settings and then select Editor | General | Code Completion.

    • To automatically display the suggestion list, select the Show suggestions as you type checkbox. If the checkbox is cleared, you have to call code completion explicitly by pressing CtrlSpace for basic completion or CtrlShiftSpace for type-matching completion.

    • To sort suggestions in the alphabetical order, instead of sorting them by relevance, select the Sort suggestions alphabetically checkbox.

      You can also toggle these modes by clicking the Sort Alphabetically button or the Sort by Relevance button respectively in the lower-right corner of the suggestion list.

    • If you want the word case to be taken into account when suggesting completion options, select Match case and choose whether you want to match case for first letters only, or for all letters.

    • If you want the documentation popup to be displayed automatically for each item in the suggestion list as you scroll it, select the Show documentation popup in option. In the field to the right, specify the delay (in milliseconds), after which the popup should appear.

Completion tips and tricks

Open completion settings from the completion popup

You can quickly access code completion settings right from the completion popup.

  • Click the App actions more icon in the completion popup and select Code Completion Settings.

    Opening completion settings

After that, the Editor | General | Code Completion page of the IDE settings CtrlAlt0S opens.

Narrow down the suggestion list

  • You can narrow down the suggestion list by typing any part of a word (even characters from somewhere in the middle) or invoking code completion after a dot separator . DataGrip will show suggestions that include the characters you have entered in any positions.

    This makes the use of wildcards unnecessary:

    In case of CamelCase or snake_case names, type the initial letters only. DataGrip automatically recognizes and matches the initial letters.

    codeCompletionWildcard.png

Accept a suggestion

You can accept a suggestion from the list in one of the following ways:

  • Press Enter or double-click a list item to insert it to the left of the caret.

  • Press Tab to replace the characters to the right from the caret.

  • Use CtrlShiftEnter to make the current code construct syntactically correct (balance parentheses, add missing braces and semicolons, and so on).

You can also use specific keys to insert the selected completion suggestion: go to the Editor | General | Code Completion page of the IDE settings CtrlAlt0S and select the Insert the selected suggestion by pressing space, dot, or other context-dependent keys option. These keys depend on the language, your context, and so on.

note

While this setting helps you save time, turning it on may result in items being inserted accidentally.

View reference

  • You can use the Quick Information view by pressing Ctrl0Q when you select an entry in the suggestion list:

    Quick documentation

Troubleshooting

If code completion doesn't work, this may be due to one of the following reasons:

  • The Power Save Mode is on (File | Power Save Mode). Turning it on minimizes power consumption of your laptop by eliminating the background operations, including error highlighting, on-the-fly inspections, and code completion.

  • Code completion popup might not appear automatically if it takes too long to gather the completion options. For example, if the computer is busy with another task. In this case, you may still activate the completion popup manually via Ctrl+Space hotkey.