[PyKDE] Trivial improvement in the autocompletion of Eric3

[Maurizio Colucci]

On Saturday 26 June 2004 03:30, Phil Thompson wrote:
> On Saturday 26 June 2004 8:02 pm, Maurizio Colucci wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > IMHO, with a small change, eric3 would become much more usable.
> >
> > I noticed there is a good autocompletion feature, with a listbox that
> > pops up; then you move with the arrows. The overall result is similar to
> > emacs' (M-/) autocompletion feature. The only problem is that the list is
> > not sorted by distance. So it takes many presses on the down arrow to
> > reach the correct completion (on average).
> >
> > Example:
> > imagine the contents of the file is as follows:
> >
> > hbbbbbbb
> > hddddddd
> > h                       <<< we press "h" here
> > hccccccccc
> > haaaaaaaaa
> >
> > and suppose we press h in the middle of the file. Then, the list of
> > completions should be sorted as follows:
> > [ hdddddd, hcccccccc, hbbbbbbb, haaaaaa]
> >
> > that is, not by name, but by distance (and if two words have the same
> > distance, you prefer the one above).
> >
> > I think if eric3 could have such a feature, I would prefer it over emacs
> > for editing my code.
> >
> > Thanks for any comment :-)
>
> I don't understand why a "near" word is more likely to be the one you want
> to type than a "distant" word.
>
> I would think people use auto-completion for two reasons...

Thanks Phil. :-)

However, I must disagree with your reasoning:

> 1. To save typing, ie. you know the spelling. 

Exactly, to save typing.

> In this case you don't use 
> the arrow keys to move through the list. Instead you keep typing the word

But this contradicts the very hypothesis, that I want to save typing! :-)
The reasoning is unsound...

> until it becomes the current one in the list, then you select it. In this
> case the order is irrelevant.

>
> 2. When you can't remember the spelling, so you type as much as you can
> remember, then use the list to pick the right (probably only) one. In this
> case you want a predictable order, not one that is context sensitive. You
> wouldn't know if you needed to scroll the list upwards or downwards to find
> what you want.

Personally I don't use it for purpose (2), so I can't reply here.

Mauri