carbidecpp22devenv/configuration/org.eclipse.osgi/bundles/309/1/.cp/concepts/cdt_c_content_assist.htm
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN">
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<title>Content Assist</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../help.css">
</head>
<body>
<h1>Content Assist</h1>
<p>Content Assist is a set of tools built into the CDT that can reduce the number of keystrokes you must
type to create your code. The Content Assist plug-in consists of several components that forecast what
a developer will type, based on the current context, scope, and prefix.</p>
<h2>Code completion</h2>
<p>Content assist provides code completion anywhere in the document. For the current project a list is
displayed of the elements that begin with the letter combination you entered, and
the relevance of each proposal is determined in the following order:</p>
<ul>
<li>Fields</li>
<li>Variables</li>
<li>Methods</li>
<li>Functions</li>
<li>Classes</li>
<li>Structs</li>
<li>Unions</li>
<li>Namespaces</li>
<li>Enumerations</li>
</ul>
You trigger the Code completion feature when you call Content Assist (such as when you type <tt>Ctrl+Space</tt>), but it is auto-activated when you type
"<b>.</b>", "<b>-></b>" or "<b>::</b>".</p>
<p><img src="../images/contentAssist_example.png" alt="C++ example showing Code Assist popup"></p>
<p>You can view the signature of each item on the list in a pop-up by pointing to it. You can then select an item in the list to insert it directly into your code. </p>
<h2>Templates</h2>
<p>You can create and save templates for frequently used sections of code, which will be inserted according to scope. The Content Assist feature also provides quick access to code
templates.</p>
<p>When you enter a letter combination in the C/C++ editor, and type <tt>CTRL+SPACE</tt> (or right-click and click <b>Content Assist</b>), a
list of code elements and templates that start with the letter combination that you typed is displayed.</p>
<p>You can then select a template from the list and it is inserted directly into your code.</p>
<img src="../images/editor_c_codetemplates_use.png" alt="C++ example showing Code Assist popup"></p>
<p>For example, the template <samp>do while statement</samp> contains the following code:</p>
<p><img src="../images/codetemplates_example.png" alt="Code Template showing do-while example"></p>
<p> When you select the <samp>do</samp> template from the list, you insert the following code:</p>
<p><pre>do {
} while (condition);</pre></p>
<p>If the completion engine finds only one proposal in your templates, that proposal is inserted at the current cursor position.
For example if you create a new .cpp file and type <tt>mai+CTRL+SPACE</tt> the following code is inserted at the cursor location:</p>
<p><pre>int
main(int argc, char **argv) {
}</pre></p>
<h2>No Completions</h2>
<p>If you invoke Content Assist, but no completions are found a message will be displayed on the status to inform you that the Content Assist parser has timed out.</p>
<p><img src="../images/cdt_ca_no_completions.png" alt="Content Assist No completions available message"></p>
<p><img border="0" src="../images/ngconcepts.gif" ALT="Related concepts" width="143" height="21">
<br>
<a href="cdt_o_code_entry.htm">Code entry</a></p>
<p><img border="0" src="../images/ngtasks.gif" ALT="Related tasks" width="143" height="21">
<br>
<a href="../tasks/cdt_t_contentassist.htm">Using Content Assist</a><br>
<a href="../tasks/cdt_t_add_codetemp.htm">Creating and editing templates</a><br>
<a href="../tasks/cdt_t_imp_code_temp.htm">Importing and exporting templates</a></p>
<p><img border="0" src="../images/ngref.gif" ALT="Related reference" width="143" height="21">
<br>
<a href="../reference/cdt_u_icons.htm">C/C++ perspective icons</a></p>
<p>
<img src="../images/ng00_04a.gif" ALT="IBM Copyright Statement" ></p>
</body>
</html>