Small, Sharp Software Tools

Using Autocompletion

If you need to reference a filename or directory in a command, you can type part of the name, followed by the Tab key, and the CLI will attempt to autocomplete the word for you. Try this out. Switch to the Documents directory in your home directory like this:

$ cd ~/Doc<Tab>

As soon as you press Tab, the word Documents will expand. This technique serves two purposes. First, it saves you from typing the whole name, which means you’ll make less typos. But second, the CLI only completes filenames and directory names it can find. If it can’t complete it, there’s a good chance it doesn’t have enough information, or the file doesn’t actually exist. Try this out. Navigate to your home directory:

$ cd

Then type:

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