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<h2 class="chapter">6 Completion</h2>
<p><a name="index-completion-123"></a>Completing function names, identifiers and keywords in PHP
is possible in PHP mode. In PHP mode, it is possible to
complete identifiers defined by PHP programming language,
and functions defined by you.
<p><a name="index-customization_002c-PHP-manual-path-124"></a><a name="index-PHP-manual-path-125"></a><a name="index-php_002dmanual_002dpath-126"></a><a name="index-g_t_002eemacs_002c-php_002dmanual_002dpath-127"></a><a name="index-customize_002dvariable-128"></a>For PHP mode to know the functions of keywords of PHP, it
must have access to the PHP manual. Download the HTML
archive of the manual made of separate files for each
function.<a rel="footnote" href="#fn-1" name="fnd-1"><sup>1</sup></a>
Unpack the files to a directory, and define the variable
<var>php-manual-path</var> to the location of these files.
Configure this setting with either <kbd>M-x
customize-variable RET php-manual-path RET</kbd>, or by setting
the value in your Emacs initialization file
(<samp><span class="file">~/.emacs</span></samp>). The PHP function names
<p><a name="index-etags-129"></a><a name="index-tag-file-130"></a><a name="index-Makefile-131"></a>For functions and classes you define, you'll need to provide
them to Emacs as a <dfn>tag file</dfn>.<a rel="footnote" href="#fn-2" name="fnd-2"><sup>2</sup></a> Creating a
tag file (<samp><span class="file">TAGS</span></samp>) from a PHP source code file is done
by running the <samp><span class="command">etags</span></samp> command on the
file.<a rel="footnote" href="#fn-3" name="fnd-3"><sup>3</sup></a> The
<samp><span class="command">etags</span></samp> command can even generate tag files for
providing completion across multiple files. For larger
projects and PHP coded libraries, use a system like a
Makefile to generate and maintain the tag tables.
<p><a name="index-etags_002c-running-132"></a>Run,
<pre class="example"> etags <var>file</var>
</pre>
<p>to create a tags file for <var>file</var>.
<p>To generate a tag file for all the PHP files in the current
directory, run
<pre class="example"> etags *.php
</pre>
<p>To enable a tags file you need to use the following command.
<a name="index-tag-133"></a>
<a name="index-visit_002dtags_002dtable-134"></a>
<dl><dt><kbd>C-u M-x visit-tags-table</kbd><dd>Specify the <samp><span class="file">TAGS</span></samp> file that PHP mode should use to
find completion candidates for the current buffer.
<br><dt><kbd>M-x visit-tags-table</kbd><dd>Specify the <samp><span class="file">TAGS</span></samp> file that PHP mode should use to
find completion candidates for all buffers, and even other
modes other than PHP mode.
</dl>
<p><a name="index-customization_002c-PHP-completion-file-135"></a><a name="index-PHP-completion-file-136"></a><a name="index-php_002dcompletion_002dfile-137"></a><a name="index-g_t_002eemacs_002c-php_002dcompletion_002dfile-138"></a><a name="index-customize_002dvariable-139"></a>To avoid either
<ol type=1 start=1>
<li>avoid regenerating the completion table from the PHP manual
every Emacs session,
<li>to generate a completion file from a facility external to
Emacs tags,
<li>or to provide more granular control over the completion
rules for files;
</ol>
<p>consider using the variable <code>php-completion-file</code>.
<p>Configure this setting with either <kbd>M-x
customize-variable RET php-completion-file RET</kbd>, or by
setting the value in your Emacs initialization file
(<samp><span class="file">~/.emacs</span></samp>).
<p>For larger projects or because of other specific needs,
conventional ways of setting these and other variables may
be inadequate. As of 2008, third-party packages do exist
for Emacs to configure Emacs settings on groups of files or
for directory trees, including <samp><span class="file">dirvars.el</span></samp>.
<a name="index-complete-function-140"></a>
<a name="index-function_002c-complete-141"></a>
<a name="index-php_002dcomplete_002dfunction-142"></a>
<a name="index-M_002dTAB-143"></a>
<a name="index-ESC-TAB-144"></a>
<a name="index-C_002d_005b-TAB-145"></a>
<dl><dt><kbd>M-TAB</kbd><br><dt><kbd>ESC TAB</kbd><br><dt><kbd>C-[ TAB</kbd><dd>Complete function name at point (<code>php-complete-function</code>).
<a name="index-argument-list_002c-function-146"></a><a name="index-function-argument-list-147"></a><a name="index-minibuffer-148"></a><a name="index-php_002dshow_002darglist-149"></a><a name="index-C_002d_002e-150"></a><br><dt><kbd>C-.</kbd><dd>Show in the minibuffer the argument list for the current
function at point (<code>php-show-arglist</code>). The argument
list is generated by finding and jumping to the respective
function's location specified in the tag file (see above).
The argument list is then read and printed to the
minibuffer.
</dl>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<h4>Footnotes</h4><p class="footnote"><small>[<a name="fn-1" href="#fnd-1">1</a>]</small> <a href="http://www.php.net/download-docs.php">http://www.php.net/download-docs.php</a></p>
<p class="footnote"><small>[<a name="fn-2" href="#fnd-2">2</a>]</small> See <a href="../emacs/Tags.html#Tags">Tags Tables</a>.</p>
<p class="footnote"><small>[<a name="fn-3" href="#fnd-3">3</a>]</small> See <a href="../emacs/Create-Tags-Table.html#Create-Tags-Table">Creating Tags Tables</a>.</p>
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