Tab Completion & Platform-Aware Features

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Testing Command Completion
Platform-Specific Tab Completion Behavior
Case-Insensitive Execution
Testing File/Directory Completion
Testing Tilde Expansion Completion
Testing Glob Pattern Completion
Testing PATH Command Completion
Features Implemented

This guide demonstrates the tab completion and platform-aware execution functionality in gosh. Tab completion helps you work more efficiently by automatically completing commands, file names, and paths. Gosh adapts its tab completion behavior to match your operating system's conventions - by gosh, it's smart!

Testing Command Completion

Test built-in command completion by following these steps:

Start the shell: ./gosh
Type ec and press TAB - should complete to echo
Type ex and press TAB - should complete to exit and export
Type h and press TAB - should show help and history
Type qu and press TAB - should complete to quota (not ququota)

gosh - Command Completion

gosh> ec[TAB]

gosh> echo

gosh> ex[TAB]

exit export

Platform-Specific Tab Completion Behavior

Gosh adapts its tab completion behavior to match your operating system's conventions - gosh, it's like having a native shell on every platform!

🖥️ Platform-Aware Tab Completion

Windows: Case-insensitive tab completion (EC[TAB] → echo)
Linux/Unix/macOS: Case-sensitive tab completion (EC[TAB] → no match, ec[TAB] → echo)
Command Execution: Case-insensitive on ALL platforms (ECho works everywhere!)

Testing on Windows

On Windows, tab completion is case-insensitive to match Windows conventions:

Type EC and press TAB - should complete to echo
Type EX and press TAB - should show exit and export
Type PW and press TAB - should complete to pwd
Type HEL and press TAB - should complete to help

Testing on Linux/Unix/macOS

On Unix-like systems, tab completion is case-sensitive to match Unix conventions:

Type EC and press TAB - should NOT complete (no matches)
Type ec and press TAB - should complete to echo
Type EX and press TAB - should NOT complete (no matches)
Type ex and press TAB - should show exit and export

gosh - Platform-Specific Completion

# On Windows:

gosh> EC[TAB]

gosh> echo

# On Linux/Unix/macOS:

gosh> EC[TAB]

# No completion - case sensitive!

gosh> ec[TAB]

gosh> echo

🎯 Why Platform-Specific?

This behavior matches what users expect on each platform. Windows users are accustomed to case-insensitive file systems and commands, while Unix users expect case-sensitive behavior. Gosh respects these conventions - gosh, it's intuitive!

Case-Insensitive Execution

Gosh provides case-insensitive execution with platform-specific behavior:

Windows: All commands (built-ins and external) are case-insensitive
Linux/Unix/macOS: Only built-in commands, aliases, and user-defined functions are case-insensitive. External commands follow the platform's case-sensitive nature

This approach respects platform conventions while providing convenience for gosh's built-in functionality. Gosh, that's the best of both worlds!

Testing Case-Insensitive Execution

Built-in commands work case-insensitively on ALL platforms:

Type EXit and press ENTER - should exit the shell
Type ECho "Hello World" and press ENTER - should print "Hello World"
Type PWd and press ENTER - should print current directory
Type HeLp and press ENTER - should show help information
Type CLEAR and press ENTER - should clear the screen

External commands on Unix/Linux/macOS:

LS - may not work (depends on system PATH)
ls - works correctly
CAT file.txt - may not work
cat file.txt - works correctly

gosh - Case-Insensitive Built-ins (All Platforms)

gosh> ECho "Hello World"

Hello World

gosh> PWd

/Users/user/Projects/go/gosh

gosh> HeLp

Available commands: cd, echo, exit, help, pwd...

💡 Case-Insensitive Execution Benefits

User-Friendly: No need to remember exact capitalization for built-ins - gosh, that's forgiving!
Platform-Aware: Respects OS conventions for external commands
Flexible: Type built-in commands however feels natural
Error Prevention: Reduces "command not found" errors for gosh built-ins - gosh darn it, that's helpful!

Testing File/Directory Completion

Test file and directory completion:

Type cd (with space) and press TAB - should show directories in current folder
Type ls *. and press TAB - should show files starting with dot
Type cat README and press TAB - should complete to README.md
Navigate to examples/ directory and type ./case then press TAB - should complete to ./case_statement_demo.sh

gosh - File Completion

gosh> cd [TAB]

doc/ examples/

gosh> cat README[TAB]

gosh> cat README.md

Testing Tilde Expansion Completion

Test tilde expansion and home directory completion with cross-platform path separator support:

Type ls ~/ and press TAB - should show files and directories in your home directory
Type cd ~/D and press TAB - should complete to directories starting with 'D' in your home
Type ls ~/Documents/ and press TAB - should show contents of ~/Documents/ directory
Type echo ~ and press TAB - should complete to echo ~/
Type cd ~/ and press TAB - should not expand further (no completions shown)
Type cat ~/.* and press TAB - should show hidden files in home directory

Windows Backslash Support

On Windows, gosh also supports backslash path separators for tilde expansion:

Type cd ~\ and press TAB - should show directories in your home directory
Type ls ~\Documents\ and press TAB - should show contents of ~\Documents\ directory
Type cd ~\D and press TAB - should complete to directories starting with 'D' in your home

gosh - Tilde Expansion

gosh> ls ~/[TAB]

Desktop/ Documents/ Downloads/ Pictures/

gosh> cd ~/D[TAB]

Desktop/ Documents/ Downloads/

Testing Glob Pattern Completion

Test glob pattern matching and completion:

Create test files: touch file1. file2. test.
Type ls . and press TAB - should show files ending with dots
Create test files: touch test.txt example.txt sample.go
Type ls *.txt and press TAB - should show .txt files
Type ls test.* and press TAB - should show files starting with "test"
Test with directories: mkdir dir1 dir2 then ls dir* + TAB

gosh - Glob Patterns

gosh> touch test.txt example.txt sample.go

gosh> ls *.txt[TAB]

example.txt test.txt

gosh> ls test.*[TAB]

test.txt

Testing PATH Command Completion

Test completion of external commands from your PATH:

Type l and press TAB - should show commands like ls, ln, etc.
Type g and press TAB - should show commands like git, grep, etc.

gosh - PATH Completion

gosh> l[TAB]

ls ln less locate

gosh> g[TAB]

git grep gunzip gzip

Features Implemented

Gosh includes comprehensive tab completion support - gosh, it's feature-packed!

✅

Built-in Commands

Complete built-in commands like exit, cd, pwd, echo, etc. - gosh, that's handy!

✅

External Commands

Complete external commands from your PATH environment

✅

File & Directory

Complete file and directory names with proper context awareness

✅

Path Completion

Complete file paths including ./ and ../ prefixes

✅

Tilde Expansion

Complete ~ and ~/path with home directory expansion

✅

Alias Completion

Complete user-defined aliases and their expansions

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Context Awareness

Smart completion based on command context (commands vs arguments)

✅

Hidden Files

Complete hidden files when prefix starts with dot

✅

Directory Indicators

Automatically add trailing slash for directories

✅

Smart Sorting

Remove duplicates and sort completions alphabetically

🆕

Platform-Aware Completion

Case-insensitive on Windows, case-sensitive on Unix - gosh, it's adaptive!

🆕

Case-Insensitive Execution

Execute commands, aliases, and functions regardless of case on all platforms

Tips for Effective Tab Completion and Execution

Double TAB: Press TAB twice to see all available completions when there are multiple matches - gosh, that's thorough!
Partial Typing: Type a few characters before pressing TAB to narrow down completions
Context Matters: The shell understands whether you're typing a command or an argument
Platform-Aware Completion: Tab completion adapts to your OS (case-insensitive on Windows, case-sensitive on Unix)
Universal Case-Insensitive Execution: Built-in commands, aliases, and functions work regardless of case on ALL platforms (e.g., "EXIT", "exit", "Exit")
File System Case: File and directory completion respects your platform's case sensitivity conventions
Hidden Files: Start with a dot (.) to complete hidden files and directories - gosh, even the secrets are accessible!

Keyboard Shortcuts

                TAB        - Complete current word (platform-aware case sensitivity)
TAB TAB    - Show all possible completions
Ctrl+C     - Cancel current completion
Ctrl+L     - Clear screen (preserves current line)
            

🧠 Gosh, That's Smart!

The platform-aware tab completion means you get the behavior you expect on each operating system. Windows users get case-insensitive completion (just like cmd.exe and PowerShell), while Unix users get case-sensitive completion (just like bash and zsh).

For command execution, gosh strikes the perfect balance:

Built-in commands are always case-insensitive for convenience
External commands respect platform conventions

This gives you the familiarity of your native shell with the convenience of gosh's built-in features!

Table of Contents

Testing Command Completion

Platform-Specific Tab Completion Behavior

🖥️ Platform-Aware Tab Completion

Testing on Windows

Testing on Linux/Unix/macOS

🎯 Why Platform-Specific?

Case-Insensitive Execution

Testing Case-Insensitive Execution

💡 Case-Insensitive Execution Benefits

Testing File/Directory Completion

Testing Tilde Expansion Completion

Windows Backslash Support

Testing Glob Pattern Completion

Testing PATH Command Completion

Features Implemented

Built-in Commands

External Commands

File & Directory

Path Completion

Tilde Expansion

Alias Completion

Context Awareness

Hidden Files

Directory Indicators

Smart Sorting

Platform-Aware Completion

Case-Insensitive Execution

Tips for Effective Tab Completion and Execution

Keyboard Shortcuts

🧠 Gosh, That's Smart!