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Well, I second and third that! I assume they are as aware of it as anybody, and have a good technical/resource reason that it's not there yet.

Stil, it would be helpful to know if/when it's planned.

By on 6/12/2009 3:14 PM ()Reply
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I asked fsbugs a while ago, and they said they've heard it from other users. Probably wouldn't hurt to email them how badly you need it and why.

By on 6/12/2009 9:55 AM ()Reply
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Probably wouldn't hurt to email them how badly you need it and why.

I feel like this is preaching to the choir, but still, here goes...

Visual Studio is one of the "killer apps" for F#. In fact, VS (along with Borland IDE's) has been, over 15 years, one of the main reasons that developers have adopted Windows. When Java looked like taking a lead, MS responded with C#, ASP.NET, and *really cool* IDE support. I can develop OCaml with a free editor, compiler and interpreter (and it is kinda fun), but I pay for VS because it's a small price to get a lot more done.

Now, intellisense in the editor is great. Being able to easily copy and paste to fsi is great. Having a command history in fsi is also great (can't do that in OCaml, AFAIK). So, what's there is already one of the best IDEs anywhere! But, when I'm in fsi I find it a real pain not even having tab completion. I'd get even more done if it had tab completion on the available identifiers. But, if it had full intellisense, then programming in F# would be just the #1 developer experience on the planet. Imagine the difference between the C#/Java.. compile/edit/run cycle, and interactively exploring your code and data in fsi. I'd love to get a web page, or a database record, in fsi, without having to remember every keystroke. Just entering let request = HttpWe<tab>.. , and then request.<tab> would be so cool!

Still, I can't be the first (or second, or third) person that's thought this. I assume there's some technical difficulty that makes it a lot harder than in the editor. For me, one of the differences between open source and commercial software is that the cost of the software subsidises these expensive UI features. I've never understood why, but, for some reason, open source just never seems to compete at this level.

By on 6/12/2009 5:35 PM ()Reply
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Actually FSI has tab completion in most cases, but this is not enough if you do not know what you are searching for.

By on 6/12/2009 11:25 PM ()Reply
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It's got tab completion? That is very, very good news.

I can't seem to get it to work though...

Here's a fresh fsi session..

> let fooBar = "fooBar";;

val fooBar : string = "fooBar"

> let x = fooBa<tab>

<tab> just tabs along. ^<tab> doesn't work, ^space doesn't work. It's not in any Options that I can see.

What's the secret?

By on 6/12/2009 11:39 PM ()Reply
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You using the VS integration or straight console app? I don't think it works in the VS window.

By on 6/12/2009 11:45 PM ()Reply
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I always use the VS window - could never see a reason for using the console app. I've just tried it in the console and tab completion works.

Maybe there's something I can do with Windows setup to get it in the VS integration.

Thanks, LOST and Michael. Good tip.

By on 6/12/2009 11:54 PM ()Reply
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