Add option to always show word based suggestions

[OliverJAsh]

• VSCode Version: 1.9.1

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Go to an empty TypeScript file
2. Enter fooBarBaz
3. Enter a new line and then type fooBa

Expected result: word based quick suggestions should show.

Actual result: no quick suggestions. Ctrl+space shows a popup with content 'No suggestions'.

Try the same in a JavaScript file and it works.

I would like IntelliSense and word based suggestions for my TypeScript.

[mjbvz]

After looking into this, I don't think JavaScript has word based suggestions in your example either. The result you see in the js case is actually a suggestion entry returned by TypeScript, not one provided by VSCode's word based suggestions.

The root cause: the word based suggestion completion item provider is less specific than the JS and TS completion item providers. Our suggest logic only looks at the most specific completion provider that return a valid result: https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/blob/master/src/vs/editor/contrib/suggest/common/suggest.ts#L66

This suggest logic is not specific to JavaScript or TypeScript and I can trigger the same sort of behavior in languages like python as well.

@jrieken and @alexandrudima: Is the lack of word based suggestions when a more specific suggestion provided returns results the designed behavior? I could see word based suggestions cluttering up the list in most cases where a language suggestion provider exists, but wanted to confirm that the current behavior is as-designed

[OliverJAsh]

Interesting, thanks for investigating. In my case the most specific provider returns no results, so in this case at least it should fallback to the word based provider?

[jrieken]

Is the lack of word based suggestions when a more specific suggestion provided returns results the designed behavior?

Yes, but this is a good sample of it going wrong. The idea is that each provider gets a score based on its language selector, in short a full selector like typescript get 10 points whereas the * selector gets only 5 points. Then we start with those providers that have the highest score, ask them, and unless they produce a result, continue with the next bucket. We do this to prevent mixing good suggestions with word based suggestions.

This works well for cases like word-based suggestions in comments or when typing the name of a declaration because TS usually doesn't return anything then. The problem with the sample above is that TypeScript returns many suggestions after fooBa and that our logic doesn't do the filtering yet (matching each suggestion with the text it wants to replace). Because we now have suggestions from a smart provider, we don't ask the word-based provider anymore.

Not yet sure what to do here...

[rubencaro]

Because we now have suggestions from a smart provider, we don't ask the word-based provider anymore.

Why don't you keep asking the word-based provider to complete the list of suggestions? The 'smart' provider is not always so smart, and word-based suggestions are enough most of the time. In this case there would still be some word-based suggestions even if the smart provider does not give any.

Just the same way you always add the snippets provider: https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/blob/master/src/vs/editor/contrib/suggest/common/suggest.ts#L52

This seems to affect every suggestion provider, not only TS/JS: timmhirsens/vscode-elixir#56

[jrieken]

Why don't you keep asking the word-based provider to complete the list of suggestions?

It would result in many duplicates

[justnonamenoname]

I suggest to add option for allow word-based with compiler provider
no words is more big problem then if you have duplicates

it's possible to enable this at this moment only to modify
Microsoft VS Code\resources\app\out\vs\workbench\electron-browser\workbench.main.js

find
if(!h)return a.TPromise.join(r.map(function(r)
change to
return a.TPromise.join(r.map(function(r)