From 7b6fa9e4093c9b7a923859781e2d5ac201359c0d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Strahinja Val Markovic Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2013 21:36:17 -0800 Subject: [PATCH] First real version of the README; still WIP --- README.md | 394 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++- 1 file changed, 393 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 24f99a00..0f1bce0f 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -1 +1,393 @@ -Work in progress, NOT yet ready for primetime! +YouCompleteMe: a code-completion engine for Vim +=============================================== + +YouCompleteMe is a fast, as-you-type, fuzzy-search code completion engine for +[Vim][]. It has two completion engines: an identifier-based engine that works +with every programing language and a semantic, [Clang][]-based engine that +provides semantic code completion for C/C++/Objective-C/Objective-C++ (from now +on referred to as "the C-family languages"). + + +Mac OS X super-quick installation +--------------------------------- + +Please refer to the full Installation Guide below; the following commands are +provided on a best-effort basis and may not work for you. + +Install the latest version of [MacVim][]. Yes, MacVim. And yes, the _latest_. + +Install YouCompleteMe with [Vundle][]. + +Install CMake. Preferably with [Homebrew][brew], but here's the [stand-alone +CMake installer][cmake-download]. + +_If_ you care about semantic completion for C-family languages, type in the +following commands in the console. If you don't, **skip this step**. + + cd ~ + mkdir ycm_temp + cd ycm_temp + curl -O http://llvm.org/releases/3.2/clang+llvm-3.2-x86_64-apple-darwin11.tar.gz + tar -zxvf clang+llvm-3.2-x86_64-apple-darwin11.tar.gz + cp clang+llvm-3.2-x86_64-apple-darwin11/lib/libclang.dylib ~/.vim/bundle/YouCompleteMe/python + +Compiling YCM **with** semantic support for C-family languages (previous step +required): + + cd ~ + makedir ycm_build + cd ycm_build + cmake -G "Unix Makefiles" -DPATH_TO_LLVM_ROOT=~/ycm_temp/clang+llvm-3.2-x86_64-apple-darwin11 . ~/.vim/bundle/YouCompleteMe/cpp + make + +Compiling YCM **without** semantic support for C-family languages: + + cd ~ + makedir ycm_build + cd ycm_build + cmake -G "Unix Makefiles" . ~/.vim/bundle/YouCompleteMe/cpp + make + +That's it. You're done. Refer to the User Guide section on how to use YCM. Don't +forget that if you want the C-family semantic completion engine to work, you +will need to provide the compilation flags for your project to YCM. It's all in +the User Guide. + +YCM comes with sane defaults for its options, but you still may want to take a +look at what's available for configuration. There are a few interesting options +that are conservatively turned off by default that you may want to turn on. + +Ubuntu Linux x64 super-quick installation +----------------------------------------- + +Please refer to the full Installation Guide below; the following commands are +provided on a best-effort basis and may not work for you. + +Make sure you have Vim 7.3.584 with python2 support. At the time of writing, the +version of Vim shipping with Ubuntu is too old. You may need to compile Vim from +source. + +Install YouCompleteMe with [Vundle][]. + +Install CMake. `sudo apt-get instal cmake` + +_If_ you care about semantic completion for C-family languages, type in the +following commands in the console. If you don't, **skip this step**. + + cd ~ + mkdir ycm_temp + cd ycm_temp + curl -O http://llvm.org/releases/3.2/clang+llvm-3.2-x86_64-linux-ubuntu-12.04.tar.gz + tar -zxvf clang+llvm-3.2-x86_64-linux-ubuntu-12.04.tar.gz + cp clang+llvm-3.2-x86_64-linux-ubuntu-12.04/lib/libclang.so ~/.vim/bundle/YouCompleteMe/python + +Compiling YCM **with** semantic support for C-family languages (previous step +required): + + cd ~ + mkdir ycm_build + cd ycm_build + cmake -G "Unix Makefiles" -DPATH_TO_LLVM_ROOT=~/ycm_temp/clang+llvm-3.2-x86_64-linux-ubuntu-12.04 . ~/.vim/bundle/YouCompleteMe/cpp + make + +Compiling YCM **without** semantic support for C-family languages: + + cd ~ + mkdir ycm_build + cd ycm_build + cmake -G "Unix Makefiles" . ~/.vim/bundle/YouCompleteMe/cpp + make + +That's it. You're done. Refer to the User Guide section on how to use YCM. Don't +forget that if you want the C-family semantic completion engine to work, you +will need to provide the compilation flags for your project to YCM. It's all in +the User Guide. + +YCM comes with sane defaults for its options, but you still may want to take a +look at what's available for configuration. There are a few interesting options +that are conservatively turned off by default that you may want to turn on. + + +Full Installation Guide +----------------------- + +These are the steps necessary to get YCM working on a Unix OS like Linux or +Mac OS X. My apologies to Windows users, but I don't have a guide for them. The +code is platform agnostic, so if everything is configured correctly, YCM +_should_ work on Windows without issues (but as of writing, it's untested on +that platform). + +Please follow the instructions carefully: + +1. **Ensure that your version of Vim is _at least_ 7.3.584 _and_ that it has + support for python2 scripting**. + + Inside Vim, type `:version`. Look at the first two to three lines of output; + it should say `Vi IMproved 7.3` and then below that, `Included patches: + 1-X`, where X will be some number. That number needs to be 584 or higher. + + After you have made sure that you have Vim 7.3.584+, type the following in + Vim: `:has('python')`. The output should be 1. If it's 0, then get a version + of Vim with Python support. + +2. **Install YCM** with [Vundle][] (or [Pathogen][], but Vundle is a better + idea). With Vundle, this would mean adding a `Bundle + 'Valloric/YouCompleteMe'` line to your [vimrc][]. + +3. [Complete this step ONLY if you care about semantic completion support for + C-family languages. Otherwise it's not neccessary.] + + **Download the latest version of `libclang`**. Clang is an open-source + compiler that can compile C/C++/Objective-C/Objective-C++. The `libclang` + library it provides is used to power the YCM semantic completion engine for + those languages. YCM needs libclang version 3.2 or higher. + + You can use the system libclang _only if you are sure it is version 3.2 or + higher_, otherwise don't. Even if it is, I recommend using the [official + binaries from llvm.org][clang-download] if at all possible. Make sure you + download the correct archive file for your OS. + +4. **Compile the `ycm_core` plugin plugin** (ha!) that YCM needs. This is C++ + engine that YCM uses to get fast completions. + + You will need to have `cmake` installed in order to generate the required + makefiles. Linux users can install cmake with their package manager (`sudo + apt-get install cmake` for Ubuntu) whereas other users can [download and + install][cmake-download] cmake from its project site. Mac users can also get + it through [Homebrew][brew] with `brew install cmake`. + + Here we'll assume you installed YCM with Vundle. That means that the + top-level YCM directory is in `~/.vim/bundle/YouCompleteMe`. + + We'll create a new folder where build files will be placed. Run the + following: + + cd ~ + mkdir ycm_build + cd ycm_build + + Now we need to generate the makefiles. If you DON'T care about semantic + support for C-family languages, run the following command in the `ycm_build` + directory: `cmake -G "Unix Makefiles" . ~/.vim/bundle/YouCompleteMe/cpp` + + If you DO care about semantic support for C-family languages, then your + `cmake` call will be a bit more complicated. We'll assume you downloaded a + binary distribution of LLVM+Clang from llvm.org in step 3 and that you + extracted the archive file to folder `~/ycm_temp/llvm_root_dir` (with `bin`, + `lib`, `include` etc. folders right inside that folder). With that in mind, + run the following command in the `ycm_build` directory: `cmake -G "Unix Makefiles" -DPATH_TO_LLVM_ROOT=~/ycm_temp/llvm_root_dir . ~/.vim/bundle/YouCompleteMe/cpp` + + Now that makefiles have been generated, simply run `make`. + + For those who want to use the system version of libclang, you would pass + `-DUSE_SYSTEM_LIBCLANG=ON` to cmake _instead of_ the + `-DPATH_TO_LLVM_ROOT=...` flag. + + You could also force the use of a custom libclang library with + `-DEXTERNAL_LIBCLANG_PATH=/path/to/libclang.so` flag (the library would end + with `.dylib` on a Mac). Again, this flag would be used _instead of_ the + other flags. + +5. [Complete this step ONLY if you care about semantic completion support for + C-family languages. Otherwise it's not neccessary.] + + **Copy the libclang library file into the `YouCompleteMe/python` folder.** + The library file is `libclang.so` on Linux and `libclang.dylib` on Mac. + + We'll assume you downloaded a binary distribution of LLVM+Clang from + llvm.org in step 3 and that you extracted the archive file to folder + `~/ycm_temp/llvm_root_dir` (with `bin`, `lib`, `include` etc. folders right + inside that folder). + + We'll also assume you installed YCM with Vundle. That means that the + top-level YCM directory is in `~/.vim/bundle/YouCompleteMe`. + + On Linux, run: `cp ~/ycm_temp/llvm_root_dir/lib/libclang.so ~/.vim/bundle/YouCompleteMe/python` + + On Mac, run: `cp ~/ycm_temp/llvm_root_dir/lib/libclang.dylib ~/.vim/bundle/YouCompleteMe/python` + +That's it. You're done. Refer to the User Guide section on how to use YCM. Don't +forget that if you want the C-family semantic completion engine to work, you +will need to provide the compilation flags for your project to YCM. It's all in +the User Guide. + +YCM comes with sane defaults for its options, but you still may want to take a +look at what's available for configuration. There are a few interesting options +that are conservatively turned off by default that you may want to turn on. + +User Guide +---------- + +TODO, STILL WIP + +- If the offered completions are too broad, keep typing characters; YCM will + continue refining the offered completions based on your input. +- Use the TAB key to accept a completion and continue pressing TAB to cycle + through the completions. Use Ctrl+TAB to cycle backwards. +- If you are using the semantic completion engine, you can use Ctrl+Space to + trigger the completion suggestions anywhere, even without a string prefix. + This is useful to see which top-level functions are available for use. +- If you are using the semantic completion engine, you _really_ also want to + install the latest version of the [Syntastic][] Vim plugin. It has support for + YCM and together they will provide you with compile errors/warnings + practically instantly and without saving the file. + +TODO: compile flags, include paths, ycm_clang_options, CompilationDatabase +support, how the search system works (subsequence match), extending the semantic +engine for other langs + +Options +------- + +All options have reasonable defaults so if the plug-in works after installation +you don't need to change any options. These options can be configured in your +[vimrc script][vimrc] by including a line like this: + + let g:ycm_min_num_of_chars_for_completion = 1 + +Note that after changing an option in your [vimrc script] [vimrc] you have to +restart Vim for the changes to take effect. + +### The `g:ycm_min_num_of_chars_for_completion` option + +This option controls the number of characters the user needs to type before +completion suggestions are triggered. For example, if the option is set to `2`, +then when the user types a second alphanumeric character after a whitespace +character, completion suggestions will be triggered. + +Default: `2` + + let g:ycm_min_num_of_chars_for_completion = 2 + +### The `g:ycm_filetypes_to_completely_ignore` option + +This option controls for which Vim filetypes (see `:h filetype`) should YCM be +turned off. The option value should be a Vim dictionary with keys being filetype +strings (like `python`, `cpp` etc) and values being unimportant (the dictionary +is used like a hash set, meaning that only the keys matter). The listed +filetypes will be completely ignored by YCM, meaning that neither the +identifier-based completion engine nor the semantic engine will operate in files +of those filetypes. + +You can get the filetype of the current file in Vim with `:set ft?`. + +Default: `{notes: 1, markdown: 1, text: 1}` + + let g:ycm_filetypes_to_completely_ignore = { + \ 'notes' : 1, + \ 'markdown' : 1, + \ 'text' : 1, + \} + +### The `g:ycm_filetype_specific_completion_to_disable` option + +This option controls for which Vim filetypes (see `:h filetype`) should the YCM +semantic completion engine be turned off. The option value should be a Vim +dictionary with keys being filetype strings (like `python`, `cpp` etc) and +values being unimportant (the dictionary is used like a hash set, meaning that +only the keys matter). The listed filetypes will be ignored by the YCM semantic +completion engine, but the identifier-based completion engine will still trigger +in files of those filetypes. + +Note that even if semantic completion is not turned off for a specific filetype, +you will not get semantic completion if the semantic engine does not support +that filetype. Currently, the semantic engine only supports the `c`, `cpp`, +`objc` and `objcpp` filetypes. + +You can get the filetype of the current file in Vim with `:set ft?`. + +Default: `{}` + + let g:ycm_filetype_specific_completion_to_disable = {} + +### The `g:ycm_allow_changing_updatetime` option + +When this option is set to `1`, YCM will change the `updatetime` Vim option to +`2000` (see `:h updatetime`). This may conflict with some other plugins you have +(but it's unlikely). The `updatetime` option is the number of milliseconds that +have to pass before Vim's `CursorHold` (see `:h CursorHold`) event fires. YCM +runs the completion engines' "file comprehension" systems in the background on +every such event; the identifier-based engine collects the identifiers whereas +the semantic engine compiles the file to build an AST. + +The Vim default of `4000` for `updatetime` is a bit long, so YCM reduces +this. Set this option to `0` to force YCM to leave your `updatetime` setting +alone. + +Default: `1` + + let g:ycm_allow_changing_updatetime = 1 + +### The `g:ycm_add_preview_to_completeopt` option + +When this option is set to `1`, YCM will add the `preview` string to Vim's +`completeopt` option (see `:h completeopt`). If your `completeopt` option +already has `preview` set, there will be no effect. You can see the current +state of your `completeopt` setting with `:set completeopt?` (yes, the question +mark is important). + +When `preview` is present in `completeopt`, YCM will use the `preview` window at +the top of the file to store detailed information about the current completion +candidate (but only if the candidate came from the semantic engine). For +instance, it would show the full function prototype and all the function +overloads in the window if the current completion is a function name. + +Default: `0` + + let g:ycm_add_preview_to_completeopt = 0 + +### The `g:ycm_autoclose_preview_window_after_completion` option + +When this option is set to `1`, YCM will auto-close the `preview` window after +the user accepts the offered completion string. If there is no `preview` window +triggered because there is no `preview` string in `completeopt`, this option is +irrelevant. See the `g:ycm_add_preview_to_completeopt` option for more details. + +Default: `0` + + let g:ycm_autoclose_preview_window_after_completion = 0 + +### The `g:ycm_max_diagnostics_to_display` option + +This option controls the maximum number of diagnostics shown to the user when +errors or warnings are detected in the file. This option is only relevant if you +are using the semantic completion engine and have installed the version of the +Syntastic plugin that supports YCM. + +Default: `30` + + let g:ycm_max_diagnostics_to_display = 30 + + +FAQ +--- + +TODO + +Contact +------- + +If you have questions, bug reports, suggestions, etc. please use the [issue +tracker][tracker]. The latest version is available at +. + +The author's homepage is . + +License +------- + +This software is licensed under the [GPL v3 license][gpl]. +© 2012 Strahinja Val Markovic <>. + + +[Clang]: http://clang.llvm.org/ +[vundle]: https://github.com/gmarik/vundle#about +[pathogen]: https://github.com/tpope/vim-pathogen#pathogenvim +[clang-download]: http://llvm.org/releases/download.html#3.2 +[brew]: http://mxcl.github.com/homebrew/ +[cmake-download]: http://www.cmake.org/cmake/resources/software.html +[macvim]: http://code.google.com/p/macvim/#Download +[vimrc]: http://vimhelp.appspot.com/starting.txt.html#vimrc +[gpl]: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html +[vim]: http://www.vim.org/ +[syntastic]: https://github.com/scrooloose/syntastic