Eclipse not giving me variable name suggestions

Question

well I've seen in Tips & Tricks of Eclipse that it's possible to get a variable name generated by eclipse by clicking Ctrl + Space. However I'm getting empty suggestions. Fors instance I'm typing this and click ctrl + space:

private Color

And I am supposed to get some name suggestions on it? All I'm getting is an empty list of suggestions. So what's turned off? Any idea?

Thanks in advance.

This is what I want to achieve:

Solution 1

I believe you are trying to get variable name e.g. color after private Color where Color is you class i.e. private Color color. I see that working in my eclipse.

To verify your settings, go to below settings and verify as they look good to you.

    Windows -> Preferences -> Java -> Editor ->Content Assist

and

    Windows -> Preferences -> Java -> Editor ->Content Assist -> Advanced

Solution 2

This is the default behavior after entering a Java type and a space, and then pressing CTRL+Space to activate auto-complete. For example, if you enter:

private Color 

then activate auto-complete it will suggest some variable names for you.

An easier way than having to press CTRL+Space all the time is to change the characters which automatically activate auto-complete. I find it very useful to have all characters which could possible be variable names to activate auto-complete. Try having ._abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ as Auto activation triggers for Java found in Preferences -> Java -> Editor -> Content Assist:

This way you can achieve how Visual Studio handles auto-complete.

Solution 3

Goto Window -> preferences -> java -> Editor -> content Assist ->Advances -> Select all the check boxes. DONE :)

Solution 4

I tried them one after the other and found out that the correct one is:

Windows -> Preferences -> Java -> Editor ->Content Assist -> Advanced: check Word Proposals

Solution 5

private? It looks like you're creating something new.. eclipse cannot suggest in this case.

Autocomplete is for existing variables/functions/classes/etc.

View more solutions

Comments

[Ionut Hulub]

do it doesn't generate names. it only works after you have created some variables. you type the first letter/letters and when you click ctrl + space you get a list of all the variables that start with that letter/letters. it's an auto-complete tool...

[Jimmy]

check the settings : Windows > Preferences > Java > Editor > Content Assist > <>

[xedo]

did you find a solution? could you posted it?... the answers don't really solve the problem

[Arturas M]

Yeah, that's what I'm looking for, however it doesn't seem to work. I tried selecting all of those things in Content Assist, but they don't generate that "color" for me and don't suggest it...

[Yogendra Singh]

In advanced screen, do you see proposals being listed? If yes, are they selected?

[DDS]

Answer looks useful, but in 'C/C++' perspective is impossible to bind with an arbitrary list of characters, is there a way to do it anyway?

[laurent]

Precisely, you want to check the "Java Type Proposals" to achieve what you want.