How do I make abbreviations expand for minimal prefixes?

Question

I want to create abbreviation for a large word, say configuration.

Vim command works even if we type part of it. Example, s[ubstitute].

When you type s, su, sub, subs, subst, substi, substit, etc., all these keywords work for the same command substitute.

Likewise, When I type Conf or Confi or Config or Configu, ... It has to expand to the full word. The user has to decide what should be the minimum part. In this case, it is Conf.

Without writing function or multiple remappings, is there a way to make this work?

I tried this way

:abbr conf[iguration] configuration

But it didn't work.

Answer 1

If you really want to use abbreviations, I'm afraid you'll have to

• either define one abbreviation for each leading part.
• or to define a mapping on a trigger like <tab> (or whatever) that analyses what is before the cursor in order to expand the missing part. In the end, this is how snippets plugins are expanded (except they are much more advanced)

You can also define a dictionary file and use it to explicitly complete text on i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K (-> :h 'dictionary')

Answer 2

Here is a little function that may help you, because I don't think you can do otherwise:

function! s:ExpandAbbrev(word, start)

  let l:start = a:start

  while l:start < len(a:word)
    let l:tmp_abb = strpart(a:word, 0, l:start)
    let l:start += 1

    execute 'iabbrev '.l:tmp_abb.' '.a:word
  endwhile

endfunction

You pass the string you want abbreviations for and the minimal length to be expanded.

Example:

call <SID>ExpandAbbrev('Configuration', 3)

Will produce (result of :iabbre):

i  Configuratio  Configuration
i  Configurati   Configuration
i  Configurat    Configuration
i  Configura     Configuration
i  Configur      Configuration
i  Configu       Configuration
i  Config        Configuration
i  Confi         Configuration
i  Conf          Configuration
i  Con           Configuration