Autocomplection in RichEdit Control

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• Download demo project - 26 Kb

CAutocomplectionCtrl is a control designed to add the auto completion feature in a CRichEditCtrl. You can easily modify the code to add the auto completion feature in a CRichEditView.

You can specify options such as displaying all known words or only the matching ones.

User can start the auto completion feature pressing Ctrl+space; he can confirm the selected word pressing space, Enter or a non-alpha char; he can use up, down, pgUp, pgDown, home, end, Ctrl+Space or mouse-wheel to switch between the words in the list; he can use left, right to modify the matching part of the word.

Using the control

Using ClassWizard add a variable in your dialog class; the variable must be a CAutocomplectionCtrl control; if the ClassWizard displays only CRichEdit select it, and change it to CAutocomplectionCtrl in the .h file.

Remember to include "Autocomplection.h" in your .h file and to insert the line

AfxInitRichEdit();

in the Initinstance() function of your application.

Then you must define your dictionary using the AddKeyword() funcion; usually you'll do that in the OnInitDialog function. In the sample application I read the words from a file, so resulting code is:

while (file.ReadString(keyword))
	m_edit.AddKeyword(keyword);

Well, your work is done :)

If you like you can specify some options...

Option functions

void Enable(BOOL);

You can enable or disable the auto completion feature; by default it's enabled.

void ShowListBox(BOOL);

You can select if to display the listbox or not

void ListAllWords(BOOL);

You can select if to display in the listbox all known words, or only the matching ones

void TrapEnter(BOOL);

Pressing Enter, the selected word is confirmed.

If TrapEnter is set to FALSE, when pressing Enter, the control will add a new line char, if TrapEnter is set to TRUE, the new line char will not be displayed

void CaseSensitive(BOOL);

You can select if the matching function must be case sensitive or not.

void AutoLearn(BOOL);

That feature isn't very useful; if enabled, when the user types an unknown word, the control will add it to the dictionary; that could be nice if the user never mistakes typing words...

void LearnOnDblClick(BOOL);

If this feature is enabled, when the user double-clicks over a word, the control learns it.

Dictionary functions

void GetDictionary(CStringArray& dictionary);

This function fills the given CStringArray with all known words.

void ResetDictionary();

This function empties the dictionary.

BOOL AddKeyword(const CString& str);

This function adds the specified word in the dictionary.

BOOL IsKeyword(const CString& str);

This function checks if the specified word is in the dictionary.

Developing notes

The code compiles cleanly under the warning level 4.

Search

I chose to insert word in alphabetic order and to find them using a binary search, so the search function is O(log(n)).

Case sense

Word matching can be case sensitive or not case sensitive. Instead of checking anytime or duplicate the code I decided to use function pointers...

Word recognition

Word recognition is done looking for the left-nearest "space" character. You can easily change your word recognition modifying the line

while (from && buffer[from]!=' ')

with a such line

while (from && buffer[from]!=' ' && buffer[from]!='(' && buffer[from]!='=')

Further improvements (aka TODO)

The learn feature could be improved; anyhow the applicative context suggests different improvement modalities: e.g., you could want to learn only frequent typed words, or only the # nearest words, or....

You could like to display an icon near the word (yes, like Visual Studio)... so you should replace the CArrayString with an array class and a class containing the string and an ID specifying the icon.

Sometimes (when there are many matching words) filling CListBox is slow. It could be useful to replace the CListBox with a faster one (maybe a owner data listbox...)

History

12 July 2002 - First public release

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Incorrect twips conversion Dan East 19:46 14 Dec '07   To convert twips to pixels you're just dividing by 10, which is not correct. This results in incorrect placement of the suggestion box relative to the baseline of the text, and the extent of the problem is dependent on the font size. The problem will also manifest better or worse depending on the dot pitch of the user's monitor. A fix is to change line 394 of AutocompletionCtrl.cpp from this: p.top=GetCharPos(curSel.cpMin-text.GetLength()).y + cf.yHeight/10; to this: CDC *pDC=GetDC(); p.top=GetCharPos(curSel.cpMin-text.GetLength()).y + (cf.yHeight*pDC->GetDeviceCaps(LOGPIXELSY)) / 1440; ReleaseDC(pDC); Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink VC8 compilation issues : error C2065: 'i' : undeclared identifier [modified] carlosrt 3:27 27 Sep '06   Nice work, but there are problems in VC8. In Line 449 @ AutocompletionCtrl.cpp for (int i=0; i < nofitems; i++) { m_listbox.GetText(i,temp); if (temp.CompareNoCase(text)>0) break; } m_listbox.SetTopIndex(i--); <-- uses 'i' which was declared within the scope of the for loop This was very common in VC6 as it was pre-standard C++. Make it compliant, and declare i outside the for loop int i=0 for (; i < nofitems; i++) { m_listbox.GetText(i,temp); if (temp.CompareNoCase(text)>0) break; } m_listbox.SetTopIndex( i--); Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink pb with download hiko-seijuro 22:41 26 Jun '05   Hi i can't download the source and the demo. Is it normal ? thx Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink how to add image nevis 4:29 9 Jul '04   hai how to include .gif and any animated images include in CRichEditCtrl . i know, how to include bitmap.That coding does not support animated files. so,any body know,then tell me. thank you. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 1.00/5 (1 vote) Select list item with mouse Adrian Gibbons 5:03 3 Feb '04   At the moment, the listbox is removed when I try to select an item from the list with the mouse button. This is because RemoveList() is called from OnKillFocus() and OnLButtonClick(). How can I get round this problem? I am working on an MDI application so I need RemoveList() when the view is changed. Adrian. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 2.00/5 (1 vote) Re: Select list item with mouse sammyc 20:33 3 Jun '04   Adrian, Did you ever solve this? I'm working on the same problem now and I can't seem to get it working correctly. I thought you might need to redirect the mouse button messages to the control, but you somehow need to check if the mouse pointer is inside the control and only send the message if it is. Anyway, if you did solve it put up a post - I'm sure a few people are wondering about it. Later, Sam. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 2.00/5 (1 vote) Re: Select list item with mouse Adrian Gibbons 0:32 4 Jun '04   Hey Sam, I sure did manage to solve the problem. I think you've posted a similar solution in your next post but this is my code from PreTranslateMessage(): if(pMsg->hwnd == m_lbListBox.m_hWnd && pMsg->message == WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK) { PostMessage(WM_CHAR, VK_RETURN); return TRUE; // Don't dispatch message. } if(pMsg->message == WM_MOUSEWHEEL && m_lbListBox.GetSafeHwnd()) { CPoint pt = (CPoint)pMsg->lParam; CRect rcLB; m_lbListBox.GetWindowRect(&rcLB); // If mouse pointer over listbox forward message. if(rcLB.PtInRect(pt)) { m_lbListBox.SendMessage(WM_MOUSEWHEEL, pMsg->wParam, pMsg->lParam); } else { RemoveListbox(); } return TRUE; // Don't dispatch message. } Double clicking an item with the mouse cursor stimulates a enter key press. The list will scroll with the mouse wheel if the cursor is over it, otherwise the view will be scrolled and the list box removed. Hope this helps, Adrian. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Select list item with mouse sammyc 23:06 3 Jun '04   I've found a solution to this problem, though its a bit involved. First of all, create a new class for your control that is inherited from CListBox - You need to process a few messages, so its easier if you override the control. I use a CView for my window, but I'm guessing its the same from a RichEdit or Edit window. In your window, override the PreTranslateMsg function and reroute the mouse messages to the (CListBox box derived) control after you figure out if the mouse cursor is actually in the control or not. BOOL CMyView::PreTranslateMessage(MSG* pMsg) { if( m_autocompleteCtrl && m_bAutocompleteEnabled && m_bAutocompleteVisible ) { if(::IsWindow(m_autocompleteCtrl->m_hWnd)) { switch(pMsg->message) { case WM_MOUSEMOVE: case WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK: case WM_RBUTTONDBLCLK: case WM_RBUTTONDOWN: case WM_LBUTTONDOWN:{ CRect ctrlRect; m_autocompleteCtrl->GetWindowRect(ctrlRect); if(ctrlRect.PtInRect(pMsg->pt)){ pMsg->hwnd = m_autocompleteCtrl->m_hWnd; pMsg->lParam = MAKELPARAM( pMsg->pt.x - ctrlRect.left, pMsg->pt.y - ctrlRect.top); return m_autocompleteCtrl->PreTranslateMessage(pMsg); } break; } } } } return CSyntaxTextView::PreTranslateMessage(pMsg); } This will send the mouse messages to the list box control whenever the mouse is inside the box. BUT - now the list box has the focus which means if the user presses a key it will be sent to the list box instead of the window (which is bad) Inside your ListBox class, override the PreTranslateMsg function, and add a function to handle the LMB double click event: void CAutocompleteCtrl::OnLButtonDblClk(UINT nFlags, CPoint point) { // TODO: Add your message handler code here and/or call default CListBox::OnLButtonDblClk(nFlags, point); ::SendMessage(GetParent()->GetSafeHwnd(), WM_KEYDOWN, VK_RETURN, 0); } BOOL CAutocompleteCtrl::PreTranslateMessage(MSG* pMsg) { switch(pMsg->message) { case WM_KEYDOWN: case WM_CHAR: { pMsg->hwnd = GetParent()->m_hWnd; return GetParent()->PreTranslateMessage(pMsg); } } return CListBox::PreTranslateMessage(pMsg); } Becarful with sending the messaged from the list box control. The control will send the messages to whatever window was passed into the Create function. So, you should call CMyListBox->Create(WS_CHILD|WS_VISIBLE, pos, this, IDC_LIST); (or something like it) where 'this' is your window class (in my case, the CView) I say this because you may be parsing in a different window to solve the bug where the list box disappears if its near the bottom of the window. (using this->GetParentFrame() solves this a little - but not much). At any rate, make sure you send the messages from the ListBox control to the right place. Hope that helps, Sam Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Problem with scrolling arikgreen 15:15 6 Sep '03   When Edit has vertical scroll bar and listbox is opening I'm trying to scroll Edit's vertical scroll bar and i think that listbox should move but it does not work.List box remains on the same place.How to fix it? Thanks Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 2.00/5 (2 votes) do not appear inside a text mmueller 9:14 22 May '03   For me the listbox appears only when the selection is at the end of the line. To overcome this problem I changed the following line in the GetCurWord function: // int nLineLength = GetRichEditCtrl().LineLength(curSel.cpMin); old int nLineLength = curSel.cpMax - GetRichEditCtrl().LineIndex( l); Matthais Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 2.00/5 (1 vote) bug with tabs mmueller 8:41 22 May '03   Very nice work. I found just a small bug. When I use a tabulator in the text like: curword = "float\tf" the list box do not appear. I analysed the code and I changed the following line: while (from && buffer[from]!=' ' && buffer[from]!='\t') from--; in the GetCurWord function. Now it works for me. Thank you very much it help me a lot! Matthias Mueller Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: bug with tabs Ganesan Subramaniam 4:44 15 Jan '04   Perhaps it would be better to just check for all whitespace characters using the "isspace()" function. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Listbox disapears Skipla 13:14 20 Feb '03   Hi great this is just what I was loking for. The only thing is that when I was testing the demo I notice that the list box only appears in the edit control area, so it gradually disappears as you get closer to the bottom of the edit control. It would be nice if it stayed a top of everything so that it would be always visible when in use. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 4.00/5 (1 vote) Re: Listbox disapears sammyc 20:36 3 Jun '04   Skipla, Skipla wrote: I was testing the demo I notice that the list box only appears in the edit control area, so it gradually disappears as you get closer to the bottom of the edit control Did you ever find a solution to this? Sam Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink bug: list box leaves artifacts hector8011 21:18 1 Feb '03   I am using the Autocomplection control in a project I am working on, but have found a bug, and need to fix it before I can release my app. I've spent some time trying to fix the code to behave properly but haven't had much luck. Any help or guidence on a fix would be greatly appretiated. Problem: When the current line of the RichEditCtrl is full of text, and I use the Autocompletion list box to select a word long enough to push the text after the insertion point to the next line, the bottom few pixels of the Autocompletion listbox appears below the current listbox. Steps to repeat: 1. Run the CAutocomplectionDemo executable. 2. Paste the following text into the without the quotes into the Demo: "00000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000" 3. There are three spaces inbetween the two series of zeros. Place the cursor in the middle-most space, type 'i', then press 'CTRL-SPACE' to activate the Autocomplection listbox. 4. Use the up and down arrow keys. Notice the listbox artifacts as you do so. Thanks again for any help on this problem, Michael wojciec5@hotmail.com Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink How to implement in CRichEditView? RickGavin 21:42 5 Aug '02   Hello,    I was wondering if you could show an example of how to implement this with a CRichEditView.   I assume you have to Subclass the RichEditCtrl hwnd using the GetRichEditCtrl() method of the view? Thanks in advance. Rick G Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: How to implement in CRichEditView? Paolo Vernazza 2:30 7 Aug '02   It should be subclassed the GetRichEditCtrl. you have only to add the same funcions in the CRichEditView inherited class... some of them (dictionary related funcions) should be inserted in the CRichEditDoc inherited class. I think that it's really easy, just a little boring Paolo Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: How to implement in CRichEditView? allelimo 4:23 18 Nov '02   Anyone has a working example of this in CRichEditView? Alessandro Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: How to implement in CRichEditView? Adrian Gibbons 3:05 11 Dec '03   Hello, I'm trying to use your control in a CRichEditView. I'm not that experienced with VC++ and this would really help my project... Can you be explicit about what needs to be done in order to use it with CRichEditView? Like which functions need to go in CRichEditView and which go into CRichEditDoc, and how/where to subclass? Thanks! Adrian. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: How to implement in CRichEditView? worldtree1 19:26 13 Apr '06   Just put everything into your class that extends CRichEditView. Then change all CRichEditCtrl:: to CRichEditView::. Then add GetRichEditCtrl(). to the front of any direct CRichEditCtrl calls, like GetSel(). It just tool me about 1/2 an hour to do it. Jode Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink This is Great Colin Davies 20:32 14 Jul '02   I have always wondered how this could be done ! Excellent work !! Regardz Colin J Davies Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin I am sick of fighting with Martin, I think I will ignore his posts from here on in, and spend the time working on articles instead. Christian Graus Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink how to show the list?? benben 4:52 14 Jul '02   how to show the list??when I input "c" ,nothing happen.How to use your work? Thanks Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 2.00/5 (4 votes) Re: how to show the list?? Paolo Vernazza 15:36 14 Jul '02   As in visual studio... ctrl+space but it is easy to modify the code to get it working with other keys (as TAB) Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 3.10/5 (7 votes) busted image bryce 17:00 11 Jul '02   erm the image is busted bryce Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 3.50/5 (2 votes) Re: busted image Paolo Vernazza 22:52 11 Jul '02   Uops..... now it works Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 3.40/5 (4 votes)

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