Code Connector Vim Plugin Documentation

Overview

The Code Connector plugin is designed to enhance the Vim editing experience by providing advanced features such as function parameter completion, code snippets, and more. It leverages LLVM Clang for code completion and is optimised for seamless integration with C/C++ projects.

Installation

1. Using vim-plug: Add the following line to your .vimrc file:

   Plug 'https://github.com/Pinaki82/code_connector.git'

   Then run :PlugInstall in Vim to install the plugin.

2. Manual Installation: Place the code_connector folder in your Vim plugin directory (e.g., ~/.vim/plugin) and the help file in the ~/.vim/doc directory.

3. Project Configuration: Create two files in the project root directory: .ccls and compile_flags.txt. For detailed instructions on generating these files, refer to the CCLS_GEN directory of the Tulu-C-IDE repository.

   NOTE: The .ccls and compile_flags.txt files should be placed at least one directory level up from the source files, not alongside the source. A blank project, blankTuluCIDEproj.zip, is provided for reference to the correct directory structure.

Usage

• Function Parameter Completion: Press <C-CR> (Ctrl+Enter) to complete function parameters with placeholders once the function name completion is obtained from a LLVM Clang-based completion plugin.

  • Add the first bracket, i.e., ( after the function name in Insert Mode, such as double result = remainderf(, and hit Enter. Placeholders can be selected by pressing Ctrl+Enter. For convenience, remove the portion after the first bracket previously generated by autocompletion. Delete by pressing and continuing to type x. The cursor should come after the first bracket. You can enter Insert Mode by pressing I (lower-case). Press the 'CTRL + Enter' key to fill up the function with placeholders.
  • NOTE: Always press the Enter key after the first opening bracket of a function to trigger completion.

• Code Snippets: Press <C-x> followed by <C-CR> ('CTRL + x' and then 'CTRL + Enter') to get a list of available code snippets. Select a snippet using the Up/Down Arrow keys. Snippet names are abbreviated.

  • NOTE: After typing a snippet abbreviation, do not include a bracket. Expanding it doesn't require a bracket, and doing so will result in unintended outcomes.

  • TIP: vim-jsnippets and this Vim plugin is an ideal combination.

• Reloading the Buffer: If an undesirable output gets in the way, reload the buffer using the Reload-Button plugin or press u in the Normal Mode.

Configuration

• g:disable_codeconnector: Disable the Code Connector plugin (default: enabled).
• g:completekey: The key used to complete function parameters and keywords (default: <C-CR>).
• g:rs and g:re: Region start and stop markers (can be changed as needed).
• g:user_defined_snippets: File name of user-defined snippets.
• g:CodeComplete_Ignorecase: Use ignore case for keywords (default: disabled).

Repository

For more information, visit the Tulu-C-IDE repository.

Building and Running

Linux:

mkdir -p build
cd build
cmake ..
make config=Debug platform=Linux
# Or,
make config=Release platform=Linux

Windows:

mkdir build
cd build
cmake -G "MinGW Makefiles" ..
mingw32-make config=Debug
# Or,
mingw32-make config=Release

Post-Build Steps:

Enter code_connector/build/plugin.

Copy the following files to the code_connector/plugin directory:

• code_connector_executable
• libcode_connector_shared.so (on Linux systems)
• code_connector_executable.exe
• ccls_index_gen_windows.exe
• code_connector_shared.dll

Binary files for Intel 64-bit Linux and Microsoft Windows architectures are provided.

Receiving Automatic Updates:

After receiving an update via a plugin manager, please copy the binary files to the plugin directory (code_connector/plugin).

Example Commands

Linux:

./code_connector_executable file.c 12 24
./code_connector_executable file1.c 10 13
./code_connector_executable file2.c 9 13

Windows:

code_connector_executable.exe file.c 12 24
code_connector_executable.exe file1.c 10 13
code_connector_executable.exe file2.c 9 13

CMakeLists.txt

The CMakeLists.txt file is used to configure the build process for the plugin. It supports both Linux and Windows platforms and includes settings for different build types (Debug and Release).

Source Files

• code_connector_executable.c: Main executable for code completion.
• code_connector_executable_windows.c: Windows-specific implementation for code completion.
• ccls_index_gen_windows.c: Windows-specific implementation for generating CCLS index.
• code_connector_shared.c: Shared library for common functionality.
• code_connector_shared_windows.c: Windows-specific implementation for shared library.

Header Files

• code_connector_shared.h: Header file for shared library.

Snippets and Templates

The plugin includes a variety of code snippets and templates for C and C++ languages. These can be customised and extended to fit specific needs.

Logging

The plugin includes a logging mechanism to help with debugging and monitoring its unexpected behaviour. Logs are written to /tmp/vim_parser_log.txt on Linux and C:\Temp\vim_parser_log.txt on Windows.

Vim Help

Ensure this file is placed in the doc/ directory of Vim or the doc/ directory of your plugin (e.g., $HOME/.vim/plugged/code_connector/doc/). To access the plugin's help documentation within Vim, use the following commands:

:helptags $HOME/.vim/doc
:h code_connector

Screencast:

code_connector_screencast.webm

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please follow the guidelines in the repository for submitting pull requests and reporting issues.

Maintenance

Maintainers are encouraged to look at this document: working-principles.md