micro-editor / micro-editor/micro
'Open' command auto-completion with TAB doesn't adhere to the usual Linux standard and is inconvenient to use
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Description
Description of the problem or steps to reproduce
I'm using micro for editing code in my project which has a few scripts, most of their names start with the same prefix but have different suffixes (a.k.a geoblocker-bash-install, geoblocker-bash-apply, geoblocker-bash-manage etc).
I frequently need to open one or the other script from inside micro. I press Ctrl-O to open a file, type in a couple first letters (as you normally do in Linux), press TAB and then I want the application to autocomplete the filename to the point where there are multiple further options.
So expected behavior: I type in "geo", press TAB and micro auto-completes to geoblocker-bash-. Next I can type in the next couple of letters, press TAB again and have it auto-complete the suffix. Which is the standard behavior in every Linux terminal I've seen (and in Nano as well).
Actual behavior: after typing in 'geo' and pressing TAB, micro auto-completes to the full name of the first file it finds that starts with this sequence. So in my example, it always auto-completes to 'geoblocker-bash-apply', Now to open a different script with this prefix, I have to either do a bunch of tabbing, or manually backspace the suffix (i.e. remove 'apply') and type in a few more letters then press TAB again.
Both options are inconvenient, and when you have to do that over and over again, it becomes a pretty big annoyance (although not world-ending).
Specifications
Commit hash: c2cebaa
OS: Debian
Terminal: xterm
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First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by reproducing the Ctrl-O file-opening workflow in micro on the reported Debian/xterm setup, then locate the open-command completion entry point and its TAB handling. Compare the current completion with the requested shared-prefix behavior; done means TAB stops at the longest common prefix and still allows selecting each matching filename.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- go
- Domain
- cli
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 45/100