docs/org.eclipse.wst.sse.doc.user/topics/csrcedt006.html - sourceediting/webtools.sourceediting - Gitiles

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 <h1 class="topictitle1">Content assist</h1>
 <div><p>Content assist helps you insert or finish a tag or function or
 finish a line of code in a structured text editor. The placement of the cursor
 in the source file provides the context for the content assist to offer suggestions
 for completion.</p><p>Most of the structured text editors have content assist. For a list of
 editors that have content assist, see <a href="csrcedt004.html">Structured
 text editors for markup languages</a>. For information on how to get content
 assistance, see <a href="tsrcedt005.html">Getting content assistance
 in structured text editors</a></p>
 <p>The sections below describe specifics of HTML content assist, JavaScript content
 assist, and JSP content assist.</p>
 <div class="skipspace"><h4 class="sectiontitle">HTML content assist</h4><p>HTML is flexible in that some
 HTML elements allow end tags to be optionally omitted, such as <samp class="codeph">P</samp>, <samp class="codeph">DT</samp>, <samp class="codeph">DD</samp>, <samp class="codeph">LI</samp>, <samp class="codeph">THEAD</samp>, <samp class="codeph">TR</samp>, <samp class="codeph">TD</samp>, <samp class="codeph">TH</samp>,
 and so on. Other HTML elements that are defined to have no content may require
 the end tag always be omitted, such as <samp class="codeph">BR</samp>, <samp class="codeph">HR</samp>, <samp class="codeph">LINK</samp>, <samp class="codeph">META</samp>,
 and <samp class="codeph">IMG</samp>. This flexibility makes the content assist function
 within the HTML source page editor less precise than it might be with a more
 rigidly constrained markup language.</p>
 <p>HTML content assist is most beneficial
 when you need to complete a tag name, add an attribute name-value pair within
 a start tag, or select from an enumerated list of attribute values.</p>
 <p>Although
 content assist only shows attribute names that have not already been specified
 in a start tag, it does not take into account grammar constraints for tags.
 For example, the <samp class="codeph">HEAD</samp> element in HTML only permits zero or
 one occurrences of a <samp class="codeph">TITLE</samp> tag in its content. If you prompt
 for content assist within a <samp class="codeph">HEAD</samp> content that already contains
 a <samp class="codeph">TITLE</samp> tag, content assist will still show <samp class="codeph">TITLE</samp> in
 its proposal list.</p>
 <p>However, if an attribute is required according to
 the DTD/Schema, that attribute will show up at the top of the list, with a
 yellow circle indicator on its icon.</p>
 <p>If your cursor is in a position
 where content assist is available, a pop-up list of available choices is displayed.
 The list is based on the context. For example, if you use content assist directly
 after an opening paragraph tag (<samp class="codeph">&lt;p&gt;</samp>) , the first item
 in the content assist list will be the corresponding closing paragraph (<samp class="codeph">&lt;/p&gt;</samp>)
 tag.</p>
 <p>The content assist list displays all available tags for the current
 cursor position, including templates. The picture below shows the default
 content assist list for a paragraph tag example:<br /><img src="../images/ncontass.gif" alt="HTML Content assist" /><br /></p>
 <p>Tag proposals are listed
 alphabetically. If you type a <samp class="codeph">&lt;</samp> (to begin a new tag) before
 prompting for content assist, and begin typing the first one or two letters
 of the tag that you want to add, the proposal list automatically refreshes
 to reflect proposals that match the pattern you have typed. If you do not
 type a <samp class="codeph">&lt;</samp> before prompting for content assist, you can
 click within the proposal list and then type the letter that the tag begins
 with, to reduce (somewhat) the amount of scrolling to locate the desired tag.</p>
 <p>As
 you type the first one or two letters of the attribute names or enumerated
 attribute values that you want to add to a tag, the list automatically refreshes
 to reflect proposals that match the pattern you have typed.</p>
 <div class="restriction"><span class="restrictiontitle">Restriction: </span><img src="../images/nlinux.gif" alt="For Linux." /> When using Linux (Motif or
 GTK) and a DBCS locale, double-clicking on the content assist list can sometimes
 cause the Java VM to terminate. Instead of double-clicking on
 the list, use the arrows and Enter keys to make the selection from the list.</div>
 </div>
 <div class="skipspace"><h4 class="sectiontitle">JavaScript content assist</h4><p>Items
 in the JavaScript content assist list are preceded by an Internet
 Explorer icon, a Netscape icon, or both, to indicate whether specific JavaScript objects,
 methods, or functions are supported by one or both browsers. If the Internet
 Explorer icon is present, it indicates that the object, method, or function
 is supported by Internet Explorer Version 5.0 or higher.  If the Netscape
 icon is present, it indicates that the object, method, or function is supported
 by Netscape Navigator Version 4.7 or higher. A question mark icon (<img src="../images/nquest.gif" alt="Question mark icon" />)
 in place of one of the browser icons indicates that it is unknown whether
 the browser supports the object, method, or function.</p>
 <p>The picture below
 shows the default content assist list within a JavaScript file:<br /><img src="../images/njscdast.gif" alt="JavaScript content assist" /><br /></p>
 <p>Code
 proposals are listed alphabetically. If you type a <samp class="codeph">. </samp> (include
 the space) before prompting for content assist, and begin typing the first
 one or two letters of the code that you want to add, the proposal list automatically
 refreshes to reflect proposals that match the pattern you have typed, to reduce
 (somewhat) the amount of scrolling to locate the desired code.</p>
 </div>
 <div class="skipspace"><h4 class="sectiontitle">JSP content assist</h4><p>You have many options for embedding Java and
 HTML code in your JSP pages by using content assist.</p>
 <p>All of the JSP
 tags are included both in the template list and in XML format (for example, <samp class="codeph">&lt;jsp:expression&gt;</samp>).
 To add JSP scriptlet tags, for example, move the cursor to the appropriate
 position in the file and press Ctrl+Space to use content assist. Select <img src="../images/nmacscrp.gif" alt="JSP scriptlet content assist" /> from
 the proposal list to insert <samp class="codeph">&lt;% %&gt;</samp>  in the document.</p>
 <div class="p">Scriptlets
 are inserted in a tag <samp class="codeph">&lt;% %&gt;</samp>. For example: <pre>&lt;% System.currentTimeMillis() %&gt;</pre>
 </div>
 <p>This
 example will evaluate the Java statement to get the current time
 in milliseconds.</p>
 <div class="p">To have the result of the statement inserted in the
 file, put an equals sign (=) in the front of the statement. For example: <pre>&lt;b&gt;This is the time : &lt;%= System.currentTimeMillis()%&gt;&lt;/b&gt;</pre>
 </div>
 <div class="p">When you are within a scriptlet you are writing pure Java code.
 Therefore, content assist works exactly the same as it does for the Java editor.
 For example, if you request content assist after <samp class="codeph">System</samp>,
 content assist displays a list of methods. <div class="note"><span class="notetitle">Note: </span>Java content assist works only in a Web
 project, because it requires a buildpath to find the appropriate Java classes.</div>
 </div>
 <div class="p">There
 are also special tags such as useBean. For example: <pre>&lt;jsp:useBean id="useBean" class="java.lang.String"/&gt;</pre>
 </div>
 <p>The
 useBean tag enables you to create a bean called <samp class="codeph">aString</samp> of
 type <samp class="codeph">String</samp>. Then when you use content assist, this is recognized
 as a declared variable. For example, if you use content assist after <samp class="codeph">aString</samp>,
 as follows:</p>
 <div class="p"> <pre>&lt;% aString. %&gt; </pre>
 the content assist
 list shows available methods. This is because <samp class="codeph">aString</samp> has
 been declared as a bean of type String.</div>
 <div class="p">If you use content assist after
 the <samp class="codeph">a</samp>, as follows: <pre>&lt;% a %&gt; </pre>
 content
 assist knows that <samp class="codeph">aString</samp> exists, and it is shown in the
 content assist list.</div>
 </div>
 </div>
 <div><p><b class="relconceptshd">Related concepts</b><br />
 <a href="csrcedt004.html" title="Structured text editor is any of several text editors that you can use to edit various markup languages such as HTML, JavaScript, or XML.">Structured text editors for markup
 languages</a><br />
 </p>
 <p><b class="reltaskshd">Related tasks</b><br />
 <a href="tsrcedt005.html" title="To get help in adding markup to a file, you can use content assist in a structured text editor. Content assist helps you insert or finish a tag or function or finish a line of code in a structured text editor.">Getting content assistance in structured
 text editors</a><br />
 <a href="tsrcedt024.html" title="HTML content assist provides several templates, or chunks of predefined code, that you can insert into a file. You can use the default templates as provided, customize the default templates, or create your own templates.">Adding and removing HTML templates</a><br />
 </p>
 </div><p>
 		(C) Copyright IBM Corporation 2000, 2005. All Rights Reserved.
 </p>
 </body>
 </html>
	<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
	<!DOCTYPE html
	PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
	<html>
	<head>
	<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../org.eclipse.wst.doc.user/common.css" />
	<title>Content assist</title>
	</head>
	<body id="csrcedt006"><a name="csrcedt006"><!-- --></a>

	<h1 class="topictitle1">Content assist</h1>
	<div><p>Content assist helps you insert or finish a tag or function or
	finish a line of code in a structured text editor. The placement of the cursor
	in the source file provides the context for the content assist to offer suggestions
	for completion.</p><p>Most of the structured text editors have content assist. For a list of
	editors that have content assist, see <a href="csrcedt004.html">Structured
	text editors for markup languages</a>. For information on how to get content
	assistance, see <a href="tsrcedt005.html">Getting content assistance
	in structured text editors</a></p>
	<p>The sections below describe specifics of HTML content assist, JavaScript content
	assist, and JSP content assist.</p>
	<div class="skipspace"><h4 class="sectiontitle">HTML content assist</h4><p>HTML is flexible in that some
	HTML elements allow end tags to be optionally omitted, such as <samp class="codeph">P</samp>, <samp class="codeph">DT</samp>, <samp class="codeph">DD</samp>, <samp class="codeph">LI</samp>, <samp class="codeph">THEAD</samp>, <samp class="codeph">TR</samp>, <samp class="codeph">TD</samp>, <samp class="codeph">TH</samp>,
	and so on. Other HTML elements that are defined to have no content may require
	the end tag always be omitted, such as <samp class="codeph">BR</samp>, <samp class="codeph">HR</samp>, <samp class="codeph">LINK</samp>, <samp class="codeph">META</samp>,
	and <samp class="codeph">IMG</samp>. This flexibility makes the content assist function
	within the HTML source page editor less precise than it might be with a more
	rigidly constrained markup language.</p>
	<p>HTML content assist is most beneficial
	when you need to complete a tag name, add an attribute name-value pair within
	a start tag, or select from an enumerated list of attribute values.</p>
	<p>Although
	content assist only shows attribute names that have not already been specified
	in a start tag, it does not take into account grammar constraints for tags.
	For example, the <samp class="codeph">HEAD</samp> element in HTML only permits zero or
	one occurrences of a <samp class="codeph">TITLE</samp> tag in its content. If you prompt
	for content assist within a <samp class="codeph">HEAD</samp> content that already contains
	a <samp class="codeph">TITLE</samp> tag, content assist will still show <samp class="codeph">TITLE</samp> in
	its proposal list.</p>
	<p>However, if an attribute is required according to
	the DTD/Schema, that attribute will show up at the top of the list, with a
	yellow circle indicator on its icon.</p>
	<p>If your cursor is in a position
	where content assist is available, a pop-up list of available choices is displayed.
	The list is based on the context. For example, if you use content assist directly
	after an opening paragraph tag (<samp class="codeph"><p></samp>) , the first item
	in the content assist list will be the corresponding closing paragraph (<samp class="codeph"></p></samp>)
	tag.</p>
	<p>The content assist list displays all available tags for the current
	cursor position, including templates. The picture below shows the default
	content assist list for a paragraph tag example:<br /><img src="../images/ncontass.gif" alt="HTML Content assist" /><br /></p>
	<p>Tag proposals are listed
	alphabetically. If you type a <samp class="codeph"><</samp> (to begin a new tag) before
	prompting for content assist, and begin typing the first one or two letters
	of the tag that you want to add, the proposal list automatically refreshes
	to reflect proposals that match the pattern you have typed. If you do not
	type a <samp class="codeph"><</samp> before prompting for content assist, you can
	click within the proposal list and then type the letter that the tag begins
	with, to reduce (somewhat) the amount of scrolling to locate the desired tag.</p>
	<p>As
	you type the first one or two letters of the attribute names or enumerated
	attribute values that you want to add to a tag, the list automatically refreshes
	to reflect proposals that match the pattern you have typed.</p>
	<div class="restriction"><span class="restrictiontitle">Restriction: </span><img src="../images/nlinux.gif" alt="For Linux." /> When using Linux (Motif or
	GTK) and a DBCS locale, double-clicking on the content assist list can sometimes
	cause the Java VM to terminate. Instead of double-clicking on
	the list, use the arrows and Enter keys to make the selection from the list.</div>
	</div>
	<div class="skipspace"><h4 class="sectiontitle">JavaScript content assist</h4><p>Items
	in the JavaScript content assist list are preceded by an Internet
	Explorer icon, a Netscape icon, or both, to indicate whether specific JavaScript objects,
	methods, or functions are supported by one or both browsers. If the Internet
	Explorer icon is present, it indicates that the object, method, or function
	is supported by Internet Explorer Version 5.0 or higher. If the Netscape
	icon is present, it indicates that the object, method, or function is supported
	by Netscape Navigator Version 4.7 or higher. A question mark icon (<img src="../images/nquest.gif" alt="Question mark icon" />)
	in place of one of the browser icons indicates that it is unknown whether
	the browser supports the object, method, or function.</p>
	<p>The picture below
	shows the default content assist list within a JavaScript file:<br /><img src="../images/njscdast.gif" alt="JavaScript content assist" /><br /></p>
	<p>Code
	proposals are listed alphabetically. If you type a <samp class="codeph">. </samp> (include
	the space) before prompting for content assist, and begin typing the first
	one or two letters of the code that you want to add, the proposal list automatically
	refreshes to reflect proposals that match the pattern you have typed, to reduce
	(somewhat) the amount of scrolling to locate the desired code.</p>
	</div>
	<div class="skipspace"><h4 class="sectiontitle">JSP content assist</h4><p>You have many options for embedding Java and
	HTML code in your JSP pages by using content assist.</p>
	<p>All of the JSP
	tags are included both in the template list and in XML format (for example, <samp class="codeph"><jsp:expression></samp>).
	To add JSP scriptlet tags, for example, move the cursor to the appropriate
	position in the file and press Ctrl+Space to use content assist. Select <img src="../images/nmacscrp.gif" alt="JSP scriptlet content assist" /> from
	the proposal list to insert <samp class="codeph"><% %></samp> in the document.</p>
	<div class="p">Scriptlets
	are inserted in a tag <samp class="codeph"><% %></samp>. For example: <pre><% System.currentTimeMillis() %></pre>
	</div>
	<p>This
	example will evaluate the Java statement to get the current time
	in milliseconds.</p>
	<div class="p">To have the result of the statement inserted in the
	file, put an equals sign (=) in the front of the statement. For example: <pre><b>This is the time : <%= System.currentTimeMillis()%></b></pre>
	</div>
	<div class="p">When you are within a scriptlet you are writing pure Java code.
	Therefore, content assist works exactly the same as it does for the Java editor.
	For example, if you request content assist after <samp class="codeph">System</samp>,
	content assist displays a list of methods. <div class="note"><span class="notetitle">Note: </span>Java content assist works only in a Web
	project, because it requires a buildpath to find the appropriate Java classes.</div>
	</div>
	<div class="p">There
	are also special tags such as useBean. For example: <pre><jsp:useBean id="useBean" class="java.lang.String"/></pre>
	</div>
	<p>The
	useBean tag enables you to create a bean called <samp class="codeph">aString</samp> of
	type <samp class="codeph">String</samp>. Then when you use content assist, this is recognized
	as a declared variable. For example, if you use content assist after <samp class="codeph">aString</samp>,
	as follows:</p>
	<div class="p"> <pre><% aString. %> </pre>
	the content assist
	list shows available methods. This is because <samp class="codeph">aString</samp> has
	been declared as a bean of type String.</div>
	<div class="p">If you use content assist after
	the <samp class="codeph">a</samp>, as follows: <pre><% a %> </pre>
	content
	assist knows that <samp class="codeph">aString</samp> exists, and it is shown in the
	content assist list.</div>
	</div>
	</div>
	<div><p><b class="relconceptshd">Related concepts</b><br />
	<a href="csrcedt004.html" title="Structured text editor is any of several text editors that you can use to edit various markup languages such as HTML, JavaScript, or XML.">Structured text editors for markup
	languages</a><br />
	</p>
	<p><b class="reltaskshd">Related tasks</b><br />
	<a href="tsrcedt005.html" title="To get help in adding markup to a file, you can use content assist in a structured text editor. Content assist helps you insert or finish a tag or function or finish a line of code in a structured text editor.">Getting content assistance in structured
	text editors</a><br />
	<a href="tsrcedt024.html" title="HTML content assist provides several templates, or chunks of predefined code, that you can insert into a file. You can use the default templates as provided, customize the default templates, or create your own templates.">Adding and removing HTML templates</a><br />
	</p>
	</div><p>
	(C) Copyright IBM Corporation 2000, 2005. All Rights Reserved.
	</p>
	</body>
	</html>