Autocomplete Should Complete From Packages Which Haven't Been Imported Yet

[a-h]

Just thinking how vscode-go could be even more awesome for me.

I sometimes find myself hunting through APIs. For example...

• I know that in the fmt package, there is a function called Prints which formats to a string, but I can't remember the parameters.
• So, I type fmt.Prints(, but I don't see any autocompletion. This is because fmt hasn't been imported yet.
• I hit save, but it still doesn't import the package. I wonder why...
• I put a value into the method's parameters and hit save, but it still doesn't add the import automatically.
• I google the docs for the fmt package and realise that the function is actually called Sprint not Prints, so I fix it and hit save... the plugin now imports fmt and I can browse the parameters and return value in the popup.

I wanted to use vscode-go to help me browse the fmt package and choose the correct method, but it's not helping me to do that. Note how when I've typed fmt. I can't see anything...

It would be better if:

• I type fmt. and a list of possible functions and their parent packages appears. fmt is already in my path (but not listed in my imports), so all the methods from fmt are listed. I notice Prints isn't in the list.
• I notice that fmt.Sprint is there, I hit the down arrow a couple of times to choose it and press the open bracket. I'm in the parameters list, and I can see the popup detailing the parameters the method accepts.
• I hit Save and the import statement is updated as usual.

Does anyone else think this would be good?

[leaxoy]

+1

[apognu]

This is an issue most editors I've used suffer from. It would be amazing is this could be implemented.

[a-h]

Visual Studio (not VS Code) solves this problem in C# by adding a blue 'tag' to a type that can be imported, as well as by providing autocomplete for namespaces.

Hitting the blue tag provides a selection of assemblies which contain a MailMessage type, when one is selected then a using statement is added (similar to importing a package in Go).

Here's what it looks like in LinqPad:

(In the screencast, I've used the mouse to click on the little bar instead of the keyboard shortcut to make it clearer.)

[ramya-rao-a]

This feature is now available in the latest version of the Go extension : 0.6.44

You need to set go.autocompleteUnimportedPackages to true to enable this feature.

Do give it a try and give feedback

We will turn it on by default in the next update

[a-h]

@ramya-rao-a - I'd just like to say thanks for implementing this feature, I've really been enjoying it!

[ramya-rao-a]

@a-h Thanks for bringing up the feature request in the first place. There has been a lot of positive feedback around this!