Unix in a Nutshell, 4th Edition

Name

complete

Synopsis

    complete [string [word/pattern/list[:select]/[suffix]]]

List all completions, or, if specified, all completions for string (which may be a pattern). Further options can be specified.

Options for word

c	Complete current word only, without referring to pattern.
C	Complete current word only, referring to pattern.
n	Complete previous word.
N	Complete word before previous word.
p	Expect pattern to be a range of numbers. Perform completion within that range.

Options for list

Various lists of strings can be searched for possible completions. Some list options include:

( string )	Members of the list string.
$ variable	Words from variable.
' command '	Output from command.
a	Aliases.
b	Bindings.
c	Commands.
C	External (not built-in) commands.
d	Directories.
D	Directories whose names begin with string.
e	Environment variables.
f	Filenames.
F	Filenames that begin with string.
g	Groups.
j	Jobs.
l	Limits.
n	Nothing.
s	Shell variables.
S	Signals.
t	Text files.
T	Text files whose names begin with string.
u	Users.
v	Any variables.
x	Like n, but prints select as an explanation with the editor command list-choices.
X	Completions.

select

select should be a glob pattern. Completions are limited to words that match this pattern. suffix is appended to all completions.