Bash – How to programmatically query bash completion for given string

bash

I want to ask bash how it would complete a string as if I had typed it in a shell and hit tab. For example, if I type

ls /[TAB][TAB]

I see the list of files and dirs in / that could possibly complete the ls command. How do I ask bash how it would complete 'ls /' without typing it and hitting tab? I want something like:

query_complete 'partial command line string'

I read the man page for complete and compgen, but couldn't figure out how to do it with them.

Note: 'ls /' is not the actual command I'm interested in, just an example. I am looking for a general solution for any arbitrary string representing a partial command line.

Best Answer

You could try:

compgen -o default /

Related Solutions

Bash – How to determine if a bash variable is empty

This will return true if a variable is unset or set to the empty string ("").

if [ -z "${VAR}" ];

Ubuntu – Bash Scripting Automatic logging as root or sudo with password

You should not hardcode your password. If you want use sudo without password, you must edit sudoers file. To edit sudoers, type command

$ sudo visudo

Visudo uses vi as editor. If you are not familiar in vi, you could set environment variable VISUAL or EDITOR to you favourite editor, eg.VISUAL=nano. The following environment variables are used only if visudo was configured with the --with-env-editor

In sudoers file, you should place line

your_username ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

%some_groupname ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

or (be careful, this enable sudo without password for all users)

ALL ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

For more information use man sudoers

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Bash – How to determine if a bash variable is empty

Ubuntu – Bash Scripting Automatic logging as root or sudo with password

Related Topic