patch 9.1.1308: completion: cannot order matches by distance to cursor
Problem: During insert-mode completion, the most relevant match is often
the one closest to the cursor—frequently just above the current line.
However, both `<C-N>` and `<C-P>` tend to rank candidates from the
current buffer that appear above the cursor near the bottom of the
completion menu, rather than near the top. This ordering can feel
unintuitive, especially when `noselect` is active, as it doesn't
prioritize the most contextually relevant suggestions.
Solution: This change introduces a new sub-option value "nearest" for the
'completeopt' setting. When enabled, matches from the current buffer
are prioritized based on their proximity to the cursor position,
improving the relevance of suggestions during completion
(Girish Palya).
Key Details:
- Option: "nearest" added to 'completeopt'
- Applies to: Matches from the current buffer only
- Effect: Sorts completion candidates by their distance from the cursor
- Interaction with other options:
- Has no effect if the `fuzzy` option is also present
This feature is helpful especially when working within large buffers where
multiple similar matches may exist at different locations.
You can test this feature with auto-completion using the snippet below. Try it
in a large file like `vim/src/insexpand.c`, where you'll encounter many
potential matches. You'll notice that the popup menu now typically surfaces the
most relevant matches—those closest to the cursor—at the top. Sorting by
spatial proximity (i.e., contextual relevance) often produces more useful
matches than sorting purely by lexical distance ("fuzzy").
Another way to sort matches is by recency, using an LRU (Least Recently Used)
cache—essentially ranking candidates based on how recently they were used.
However, this is often overkill in practice, as spatial proximity (as provided
by the "nearest" option) is usually sufficient to surface the most relevant
matches.
```vim
set cot=menuone,popup,noselect,nearest inf
def SkipTextChangedIEvent(): string
# Suppress next event caused by <c-e> (or <c-n> when no matches found)
set eventignore+=TextChangedI
timer_start(1, (_) => {
set eventignore-=TextChangedI
})
return ''
enddef
autocmd TextChangedI * InsComplete()
def InsComplete()
if getcharstr(1) == '' && getline('.')->strpart(0, col('.') - 1) =~ '\k$'
SkipTextChangedIEvent()
feedkeys("\<c-n>", "n")
endif
enddef
inoremap <silent> <c-e> <c-r>=<SID>SkipTextChangedIEvent()<cr><c-e>
inoremap <silent><expr> <tab> pumvisible() ? "\<c-n>" : "\<tab>"
inoremap <silent><expr> <s-tab> pumvisible() ? "\<c-p>" : "\<s-tab>"
```
closes: #17076
Signed-off-by: Girish Palya <girishji@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Christian Brabandt <cb@256bit.org>
diff --git a/runtime/doc/options.txt b/runtime/doc/options.txt
index 99e6d54..b3b29d0 100644
--- a/runtime/doc/options.txt
+++ b/runtime/doc/options.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-*options.txt* For Vim version 9.1. Last change: 2025 Apr 14
+*options.txt* For Vim version 9.1. Last change: 2025 Apr 15
VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
@@ -2201,6 +2201,10 @@
Useful when there is additional information about the
match, e.g., what file it comes from.
+ nearest Matches are presented in order of proximity to the cursor
+ position. This applies only to matches from the current
+ buffer. No effect if "fuzzy" is present.
+
noinsert Do not insert any text for a match until the user selects
a match from the menu. Only works in combination with
"menu" or "menuone". No effect if "longest" is present.