v0.145.4Internal beta docs
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Beta documentation · eXLib v0.145.4. Public release is pending.

Autocomplete, Hints & References

Three sources, one clean list

Autocomplete triggers on ., ", ', or with Ctrl+Space, and merges three sources into a single clean list:

  1. The AE type registry — real AE globals, functions, and properties.
  2. Your own symbols in scope — the variables, let/consts, functions, and parameters you've declared, resolved from a real parse of your code.
  3. Live composition names — the actual layer, effect, and property names from your currently open comp (see below).

Duplicate entries are collapsed, and your local names shadow globals of the same name.

Live composition names

When you're typing inside a layer("…"), effect("…"), or property("…") string argument, eXLib pulls the real layer, effect, and property names from your open composition, fed by the native companion's comp-hierarchy snapshot (see The Native Companion).

i

These screenshots were captured in an earlier beta. Toolbar and Library layouts have since changed; the written instructions on this page describe v0.145.4. See A Tour of the Panel for the current controls.

Typing thisComp.layer with a suggestion dropdown showing real layer names from the open composition
Type inside layer("…") and the completions are the actual layers in your open composition.

Live layer/effect names come from the companion's snapshot of your open composition. With no comp open, string completions fall back to your declared symbols and globals.

Required-argument snippets

Accept a function that has a known signature, and eXLib inserts it with its required parameters pre-filled as tab-stops. Accepting wiggle inserts wiggle(freq, amp) with the parameter names selected and tab-able. Optional parameters are skipped.

Signature help

While you type a function call's arguments, a floating tooltip shows that function's full signature and highlights which parameter you're currently on. It appears automatically after ( and advances as you type commas.

Go to / Peek References

Ctrl/Cmd+Click (or Shift+F12) any identifier to peek all its other occurrences in the same expression. Matching is context-aware: it distinguishes a property access .foo from a bare variable foo, and respects declarations and parameters.

While you hold the modifier key, the identifier under the cursor gets a pointer cursor and an underline, and a hover shows the reference count.