Live template variables

When you expand a live template abbreviation, its variables either appear as input fields where you can type values or are replaced with values. These may be default values that you can modify or values calculated using functions.

To declare variables within templates, use the following format: $VAR$ .

In expressions, use variable names without opening and closing dollar characters $, for example, lowercaseAndDash(ComponentName).

Define each variable using an expression and provide a default value for cases when the expression fails to evaluate.

This expression may contain the following constructs:

String constants in double quotes
Names of other variables defined in a live template
Predefined functions with possible arguments

Configure template variables

In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), go to Editor | Live Templates.
Select a template where you want to configure variables.
Specify variables in the template text and click Edit variables.
In the Edit Template Variables dialog, you can do the following for each variable:
- Change the variable name
- Define an expression using predefined functions
- Specify the default value for cases when the expression fails to evaluate
- Specify whether you want to skip the variable when prompting the user for input if the expression evaluated successfully

Predefined template variables

IntelliJ IDEA supports the following predefined live template variables that cannot be modified:

$END$ indicates the position of the cursor when the code snippet is complete, and you can no longer press Tab to jump to the next variable.
$SELECTION$ is used in surround templates and denotes the code fragment to be wrapped. After the template expands, it wraps the selected text as specified in the template. For example, if you select EXAMPLE in your code and invoke the "$SELECTION$" template via the assigned abbreviation or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T and selecting the desired template from the list, IntelliJ IDEA will wrap the selection in double quotes as follows: "EXAMPLE".

Functions used in live template variables

The following functions can be used to define live template variables:

Function	Description
`annotated(<annotation>)`	Returns a class, method, or field annotated with the specified qualified name. If there is more than one program element with the specified annotation in your project, it shows a list from which you can choose. For example, `annotated("java.lang.Deprecated")` returns all program elements annotated with `@Deprecated`. Some predefined live templates in the RESTful Web Services and Web Services groups use the `annotated()` function.
`arrayVariable()`	Returns the most recently declared array in the current scope (as a method variable or class field). If there is more than one array declared in the current scope, it also shows a list from which you can choose. For example, if you have the following method and expand a template with a variable that uses the `arrayVariable()` function after both array declarations, it will return the `b` array by default and also suggest to choose `a`, along with other arrays defined as class fields: public String getCode() { int a[] = new int[5]; int b[] = new int[10]; return code; } Some predefined live templates in the iterations group (`itar` and `ritar`) use the `arrayVariable()` function.
`blockCommentEnd()`	Returns the characters that indicate the end of a block comment in the current language context. For example, in Java files it returns `*/`.
`blockCommentStart()`	Returns the characters that indicate the start of a block comment in the current language context. For example, in Java files it returns `/*`.
`camelCase(<String>)`	Converts a string into camelCase. For example, `camelCase("my-text-file")`, `camelCase("my text file")`, and `camelCase("my_text_file")` all return `myTextFile`.
`capitalize(<String>)`	Capitalizes the first letter of a string. For example, `capitalize("name")` returns `Name`. Or you can combine it into `capitalize(camelCase("my awesome class"))` to get `MyAwesomeClass`.
`capitalizeAndUnderscore(<String>)`	Capitalizes all the letters of a string, and inserts an underscore between the parts. For example, `capitalizeAndUnderscore("FooBar")`, `capitalizeAndUnderscore("foo bar")`, and `capitalizeAndUnderscore("foo-bar")` all return `FOO_BAR`.
`castToLeftSideType()`	Casts the right-side expression to the left-side expression type if necessary. Some predefined templates in the iterations group use the `castToLeftSideType()` function to have a single template for both raw types and generic types. Compare to rightSideType().
`className()`	Returns the name of the current class (where you expand the template). Can be useful for constructor templates.
`clipboard()`	Returns the contents of the system clipboard.
`commentEnd()`	Returns the characters that indicate the end of a comment in the current language context. For languages with line comments, the return value is empty.
`commentStart()`	Returns the characters that indicate the start of a comment in the current language context. For languages with line comments, the return value is the start of a line comment, same as lineCommentStart().
`complete()`	Invokes code completion at the position of the variable.
`completeSmart()`	Invokes smart type completion at the position of the variable.
`componentTypeOf(<array>)`	Returns the component type of an array. For example, you can pass the return value of arrayVariable() to the `componentTypeOf()` function. The `itar` template uses this logic to properly specify the iterated elements of an array.
`concat(<String>, ...)`	Returns a concatenation of all the strings passed to the function as parameters. For example, `concat(date()," ",user())` returns the current system date and username separated with a space.
`currentPackage()`	Returns the name of the current package (with the class where you expanded the template).
`date([format])`	Returns the current system date. By default, without a parameter, it returns the date in the current system format. To use a different format, provide a parameter according to the SimpleDateFormat specification. For example, the `date("Y-MM-d, E, H:m")` returns the date formatted as `2020-02-27, Thu, 16:11`.
`dbColumns()`	Returns a list of columns for a table or a view. The `dbColumns()` is used in context live templates (for example, `ins`). You can access context live templates by right-clicking an object and selecting SQL Scripts.
`dbObjectName()`	Returns a name of a table or a view. The `dbObjectName()` is used in context live templates (for example, `top`). You can access context live templates by right-clicking an object and selecting SQL Scripts.
`decapitalize(<String>)`	Replaces the first letter of a string with the corresponding lowercase letter. For example, `decapitalize("Name")` returns `name`.
`descendantClassEnum(<String>)`	Returns the children of the specified class. If there is more than one child, it shows a list of subclasses from which you can choose. For example, `descendantClassEnum("java.lang.Number")` returns all the number type classes, such as, `java.lang.Float`, `java.math.BigDecimal`, and so on.
`enum(<String>, ...)`	Returns a list of strings suggested for completion when the template expands. For example, `enum("Foo","Bar","Baz")` shows a list from which you can choose one of the specified strings.
`escapeString(<String>)`	Escapes special characters so that the result can be used in a Java string. For example, it replaces the tab character with `\t`, the newline character with `\n`, escapes the backslash as `\\`, quotes as `\"`, and so on.
`expectedType()`	Returns the expected type of the expression where the template expands (in the right part of an assignment, after `return`, as a method parameter, and so on).
`fileName()`	Returns the name of the current file with its extension.
`fileNameWithoutExtension()`	Returns the name of the current file without its extension.
`filePath()`	Returns the absolute path to the current file.
`fileRelativePath()`	Returns the current file path relative to the current project. To check what the relative path is for a given file, right-click it and select Copy Reference, or press `Ctrl+Alt+Shift+C`.
`firstWord(<String>)`	Returns the first word of the string passed as the parameter. For example, `firstWord("one two three")` returns `one`.
`groovyScript(<String>, [arg, ...])`	Executes the Groovy script passed as a string. The first argument is a string with either the text of the script or the path to the file that contains the script. The function passes other optional arguments to the script as values for `_1`, `_2`, `_3`, ..., `_n` variables. Also, you can access the current editor from inside the script using the `_editor` variable. The following example shows a `groovyScript()` function that splits the selected text into words and displays them as a numbered list: groovyScript("def result = ''; _1.split().eachWithIndex { item, index -> result = result + index.next() + '. ' + item + System.lineSeparator() }; return result;", SELECTION);
`guessElementType(<Collection>)`	Returns the likely type of elements stored in a `java.util.Collection`. IntelliJ IDEA looks for code that adds or extracts elements from a collection to define their type.
`iterableComponentType(<Iterable>)`	Returns the type of an iterable object, such as an array or a collection.
`iterableVariable()`	Returns the most recently declared iterable object in the current scope (like an array or a collection). If there is more than one iterable object in the current scope, it also shows a list from which you can choose. The predefined live template `iter` uses the `iterableVariable()` function.
`lineCommentStart()`	Returns the characters that indicate the start of a line comment in the current language context.
`lineNumber()`	Returns the current line number.
`lowercaseAndDash(<String>)`	Converts a string into lower case and inserts n-dashes as separators. For example, `lowercaseAndDash("MyExampleName")` and `lowercaseAndDash("my example name")` both return `my-example-name`.
`methodName()`	Returns the name of the method in which the template expands.
`methodParameterTypes()`	Returns the list of parameter types of the method in which the template expands.
`methodParameters()`	Returns the list of parameter names of the method in which the template expands.
`methodReturnType()`	Returns the type of the value returned by the current method in which the template expands.
`qualifiedClassName()`	Returns the fully qualified name of the current class in which the template expands.
`regularExpression(<String>, <Pattern>, <Replacement>)`	Finds all occurrences of `Pattern` in a `String` and replaces them with `Replacement`. You can specify the pattern as a regular expression to find everything that matches it in the string.
`rightSideType()`	Declares the left-side variable with a type of the right-side expression. Some predefined templates in the iterations group use the `rightSideType()` function to have a single template for both raw types and generic types. Compare to castToLeftSideType().
`snakeCase(<String>)`	Converts a string into snake_case. For example, `snakeCase("fooBar")` and `snakeCase("foo bar")` both return `foo_bar`.
`spaceSeparated(<String>)`	Returns the specified string with spaces as separators. For example, `spaceSeparated("fooBar")` returns `foo Bar` and `spaceSeparated("Foo_BAR")` returns `Foo BAR`.
`spacesToUnderscores(<String>)`	Replaces spaces with underscores in the string passed as the parameter. For example, `spacesToUnderscores("foo bar BAZ")` returns `foo_bar_BAZ`.
`substringBefore(<String>, <Delimeter>)`	Returns the substring up to the specified delimiter. This is helpful for removing the extensions in test file names. For example, `substringBefore(fileName(),".")` returns `component-test` if used in a file named component-test.js.
`subtypes(<String>)`	Returns the subtypes of the type passed as a string in the current scope. The predefined `lazy` live template uses the `subtypes(typeOfVariable(VAR))` function to perform lazy initialization of a variable with one of its subtypes.
`suggestFirstVariableName(<String>)`	Returns all variables that may be assigned to the type passed as the parameter in the given context. This is similar to variableOfType() but it does not suggest `true`, `false`, `this`, and `super`.
`suggestIndexName()`	Returns a suggested name for the index variable in an iteration from most commonly used ones: `i`, `j`, `k`, and so on (the first one that is not used in the current scope). Some of the predefined templates in the iterations group (`fori`, `itar`, `ritar`) use the `suggestIndexName()` function to suggest a suitable index variable name.
`suggestVariableName()`	Suggests the name for a variable based on the variable type and its initializer expression, according to your code style settings that refer to the variable naming rules. For example, if it is a variable that holds an element within an iteration, IntelliJ IDEA makes a guess on the most reasonable name taking into account the name of the iterated container. Some of the predefined templates in the iterations group (`itar`, `itco`, `iten`) use the `suggestVariableName()` function to suggest a suitable variable name for iterated elements.
`time([format])`	Returns the current system time. By default, without a parameter, it returns the time in the current system format. To use a different format, provide a parameter according to the SimpleDateFormat specification. For example, the `time("H:m z")` returns the time formatted as `13:10 UTC`.
`typeOfVariable(<String>)`	Returns the type of the variable passed as the parameter.
`underscoresToCamelCase(<String>)`	Transforms a string with underscores (like snake_case) into camelCase. For example, `underscoresToCamelCase(foo_bar_baz)` and `underscoresToCamelCase(FOO_BaR_baZ)` both return `fooBarBaz`.
`underscoresToSpaces(<String>)`	Transforms underscores in a string to spaces. For example, `underscoresToSpaces(foo_bar_baz)` returns `foo bar baz` and `underscoresToSpaces(FOO_BaR_baZ)` returns `FOO BaR baZ`.
`user()`	Returns the name of the current user.
`variableOfType(<String>)`	Returns all variables that may be assigned to the type passed as the parameter. For example, `variableOfType("double")`, `variableOfType("java.util.Vector")`, or `variableOfType(methodReturnType())`. If you pass an empty string `""` as the parameter, the function suggests all variables regardless of their types. Unlike suggestFirstVariableName(), this function also returns standard expressions, such as `true`, `false`, `this`, and `Outer.this`.

Example

Let's make a simple live template using variables and functions. It will create a Java class with a predefined attribute and a method. The template will contain three variables:

$ClassName$ : a name for a new class
$Food$ : a list of three possible values: "meat", "grass", and "honey"
$AnimalName$ : the class name starting with a lowercase letter so that it can be used in a sentence

Create a template with variables

Press Ctrl+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and select Editor | Live Templates.
Select the Java group, click , and select Live Template.
In the Abbreviation field, specify the characters that will be used to expand the template. For example, animal.
In the Template text field, paste the following template:
class $ClassName$ extends Animal { String food = "$Food$"; public void animalFood() { System.out.println("The $AnimalName$ eats " + food); } }
Click Edit variables and, in the Edit Template Variables dialog, configure the variables:
- $ClassName$ remains untouched meaning we expect users to type a value when they apply this template.
- $Food$ : in the Expression field, enter enum("meat","grass","honey"). This function allows selecting one of the predefined values when users apply this template.
- $AnimalName$ : in the Expression field, enter decapitalize(ClassName). This function takes the value of the ClassName variable and converts its first letter to the lower case. Select Skip if defined because we don't need to prompt a user for input.

Use live template

Start typing the name of a live template (animal in our example).
Type a value of the variable (a class name in our example) and press Tab to jump to the next variable.
Using the keyboard arrows, select one of the values for the food string.

Last modified: 10 August 2022