Can I use Eval annex for completions?

[anihm136]

I just came across the eval annex, and am able to use it for slow initialization commands as described in the documentation. I also have a few commands which generate a completion file, which needs to be placed in fpath. Can I use the eval annex to generate these completions and add them to fpath on update? Or is there a better way to do this (as compared to manually generating the completion and pointing to it as a snippet)? Thanks

[ss-o]

Hi @anihm136 👋

Can I use the eval annex to generate these completions...

Technically, you can, but I don't think this is what you want, as the idea of the eval annex is to speed up shell startup time because of the slow commands initialization by providing a workaround, however, in your case, it seems that your "few commands which generate a completion" is not and should not be executed at startup, because the completions can be prepared at any point (before/after startup).

Correct me if I misunderstood something 👍

which needs to be placed in fpath.

This is done automatically (zsh_plugin_standard#functions-directory) or manually passing the completion control for Zi (1.overview#the-completion-management, 2.commands#completions-management). 🚀

Can I use the eval annex to generate these completions and add them to fpath on update.

There are many ways to run command execution after cloning, updating, or loading, so eval usage would be redundant 🛑 ✋

Or is there a better way to do this (as compared to manually generating the completion and pointing to it as a snippet)?

To be able to make a suggestion I need to know the exact steps you are trying to accomplish. If could provide step-by-step instructions, then I would be able to help sort this out 🪄 💡

[ss-o]

It doesn't make much sense or I am missing out on something 💁‍♂️

I can provide the steps to execute the command with output added to the $fpath and repeated on the update.

However, what you are trying to do is to generate your own completions, so it would make more sense to do the following:

• create a repository that uses scheduled GitHub actions to fetch/generate/update all required completions.
• setup the repository as a zsh plugin.
• issue command: zi light anihm136/zsh-comps

This will allow managing personal completions which can be extended at any time, are automated, and are easy to set up 🎯

Let me know which method is the preferred one.

[anihm136]

create a repository that uses scheduled GitHub actions to fetch/generate/update all required completions.

That option had not occurred to me, thanks for suggesting it! I will try this out and see if it is suitable - I should be able to work it out. In the meantime, could you also share an example of the first approach?

[ss-o]

It can be done in multiple ways using appropriate ice modifiers. Based on your description:

_gen_cmd_comp() {
  # Your function which generates completion, e.g.
  echo zsh > _cmd
}

zi ice id-as'comp/name' as'completion' nocompile \
  atclone'_gen_cmd_comp' atpull'%atclone' run-atpull
zi light z-shell/0

Interacting with completion:

zi clist | grep 'comp/name'

zi report comp/name

zi cdisable _cmd

zi cenable _cmd

Completion multiplier?

_gen_cmd_comp() {
  # Your function which generates multiple completions, e.g.
  echo zsh1 > _cmd1
  echo zsh2 > _cmd2
  echo zsh3 > _cmd3
  echo zsh4 > _cmd4
  echo zsh5 > _cmd5
  echo zsh6 > _cmd6
  echo zsh7 > _cmd7
  echo zsh8 > _cmd8
  echo zsh9 > _cmd9
  echo zsh10 > _cmd10
}

zi ice id-as'comp/name' as'completion' nocompile \
  atclone'_gen_cmd_comp' atpull'%atclone' run-atpull
zi light z-shell/0

zi report comp/name

Generate completions on the go?

# Set parameters
GENCOMPL_FPATH="${ZI[SNIPPETS_DIR]}/comps"
GENCOMP_DIR="${ZI[SNIPPETS_DIR]}/comps"

# Install annex
zi light-mode for \
  z-shell/z-a-submods

# Go?
zi ice wait trigger-load'!gcomp' blockf \
  atclone'command rm -rf lib/*;git ls-files -z lib/ | xargs -0 git update-index --skip-worktree' \
  submods'RobSis/zsh-completion-generator -> lib/zsh-completion-generator; 
    nevesnunes/sh-manpage-completions -> lib/sh-manpage-completions' \
  atload'gcomp(){gencomp "${@}" && zi creinstall -q ${ZI[SNIPPETS_DIR]}/comps 1>/dev/null}'
zi light Aloxaf/gencomp

Generate fzf completion:

gcomp fzf

This is unusual as Zi should be able to install plugins/completions, and here creates while installing, so made it simple to understand common ice modifiers.

[anihm136]

Got it! Will try out these two approaches and see which one is easiest to work with for me. Thank you so much for your patient explanation, it was really helpful!

[ss-o]

If you decide to use a zsh plugin approach, then you can create and provide it as a zsh plugin/package. This method would allow choosing completion profiles:

Install default profile:

zi for comps-name

Install macOS developer completion profile:

zi pack'mac-dev' for comps-name

To achieve this you need to set ZI[PKG_OWNER] or create repository under @z-shell, then include package.json with profiles install commands:

    "zi-ices": {
      "default": {
        "git": "",
        "lucid": "",
        "as": "completion",
        "atpull": "%atclone",
        "nocompile": ""
      },
      "mac-dev": {
        "git": "",
        "lucid": "",
        "as": "completion",
        "atpull": "%atclone",
        "nocompile": ""
      }
    }

This is just an example. The package.json includes ice modifiers as it would be in .zshrc just using JSON syntax.