Improved auto-complete for SciTE

AutoComplete.lua

-- AutoComplete v0.8 by Lexikos
--[[
Tested on SciTE4AutoHotkey 3.0.06.01; may also work on SciTE 3.1.0 or later.
To use this script with SciTE4AutoHotkey:
  - Place this file in your SciTE user settings folder.
  - Add the following to UserLuaScript.lua:
        dofile(props['SciteUserHome'].."/AutoComplete.lua")
  - Restart SciTE.
]]

-- List of styles per lexer that autocomplete should not occur within.
local IGNORE_STYLES = { -- Should include comments, strings and errors.
    [SCLEX_AHK1] = {1,2,3,6,20},
    [SCLEX_AHK2] = {1,2,3,5,15},
    [SCLEX_LUA]  = {1,2,3,6,7,8,12}
}

local INCREMENTAL = true
local IGNORE_CASE = true
local CASE_CORRECT = true
local CASE_CORRECT_INSTANT = false
local WRAP_ARROW_KEYS = false
local CHOOSE_SINGLE = props["autocomplete.choose.single"]

-- Number of chars to type before the autocomplete list appears:
local MIN_PREFIX_LEN = 2
-- Length of shortest word to add to the autocomplete list:
local MIN_IDENTIFIER_LEN = 2
-- List of regex patterns for finding suggestions for the autocomplete menu:
local IDENTIFIER_PATTERNS = {"[a-z_][a-z_0-9]+"}

-- Override settings that interfere with this script:
props["autocomplete.ahk1.start.characters"] = ""
props["autocomplete.ahk2.start.characters"] = ""

-- This feature is very awkward when combined with automatic popups:
props["autocomplete.choose.single"] = "0"


local names = {}


local notempty = next
local shouldIgnorePos -- init'd by buildNames().
local normalize

if IGNORE_CASE then
    normalize = string.upper
else
    normalize = function(word) return word end
end


local function setLexerSpecificStuff()
    -- Disable collection of words in comments, strings, etc.
    -- Also disables autocomplete popups while typing there.
    if IGNORE_STYLES[editor.Lexer] then
        -- Define a function for calling later:
        shouldIgnorePos = function(pos)
            return isInTable(IGNORE_STYLES[editor.Lexer], editor.StyleAt[pos])
        end
    else
        -- Optional: Disable autocomplete popups for unknown lexers.
        shouldIgnorePos = function(pos) return true end
    end
end


local apiCache = {} -- Names from api files, stored by lexer name.

local function getApiNames()
    local lexer = editor.LexerLanguage
    if apiCache[lexer] then
        return apiCache[lexer]
    end
    local apiNames = {}
    local apiFiles = props["APIPath"] or ""
    apiFiles:gsub("[^;]+", function(apiFile) -- For each in ;-delimited list.
        for name in io.lines(apiFile) do
            name = name:gsub("[\(, ].*", "") -- Discard parameters/comments.
            if string.len(name) > 0 then
                apiNames[name] = true
            end
        end
        return ""
    end)
    apiCache[lexer] = apiNames -- Even if it's empty.
    return apiNames
end


local function buildNames()
    setLexerSpecificStuff()
    -- Reset our array of names.
    names = {}
    -- Collect all words matching the given patterns.
    local unique = {}
    for i, pattern in ipairs(IDENTIFIER_PATTERNS) do
        local startPos, endPos
        endPos = 0
        while true do
            startPos, endPos = editor:findtext(pattern, SCFIND_REGEXP, endPos + 1)
            if not startPos then
                break
            end
            if not shouldIgnorePos(startPos) then
                if endPos-startPos+1 >= MIN_IDENTIFIER_LEN then
                    -- Create one key-value pair per unique word:
                    local name = editor:textrange(startPos, endPos)
                    unique[normalize(name)] = name
                end
            end
        end
    end
    -- Build an ordered array from the table of names.
    for name in pairs(getApiNames()) do
        -- This also "case-corrects"; e.g. "gui" -> "Gui".
        unique[normalize(name)] = name
    end
    for _,name in pairs(unique) do
        table.insert(names, name)
    end
    table.sort(names, function(a,b) return normalize(a) < normalize(b) end)
    buffer.namesForAutoComplete = names -- Cache it for OnSwitchFile.
end


local lastAutoCItem = 0 -- Used by handleKey().
local menuItems

local function handleChar(char, calledByHotkey)
    local pos = editor.CurrentPos
    local startPos = editor:WordStartPosition(pos, true)
    local len = pos - startPos
    if not INCREMENTAL and editor:AutoCActive() then
        -- Nothing to do.
        return
    end
    if len < MIN_PREFIX_LEN then
        if editor:AutoCActive() then
            if len == 0 then
                -- Happens sometimes after typing ")".
                editor:AutoCCancel()
                return
            end
            -- Otherwise, autocomplete is already showing so may as well
            -- keep it updated even though len < MIN_PREFIX_LEN.
        else
            if char then
                -- Not enough text to trigger autocomplete, so return.
                return
            end
            -- Otherwise, we were called explicitly without a param.
        end
    end
    if not editor:AutoCActive() and shouldIgnorePos(startPos) and not calledByHotkey then
        -- User is typing in a comment or string, so don't automatically
        -- pop up the auto-complete window.
        return
    end
    local prefix = normalize(editor:textrange(startPos, pos))
    menuItems = {}
    for i, name in ipairs(names) do
        local s = normalize(string.sub(name, 1, len))
        if s >= prefix then
            if s == prefix then 
                table.insert(menuItems, name)
            else
                break -- There will be no more matches.
            end
        end
    end
    if notempty(menuItems) then
        -- Show or update the auto-complete list.
        local list = table.concat(menuItems, "\1")
        editor.AutoCIgnoreCase = IGNORE_CASE
        editor.AutoCCaseInsensitiveBehaviour = 1 -- Do NOT pre-select a case-sensitive match
        editor.AutoCSeparator = 1
        editor.AutoCMaxHeight = 10
        editor:AutoCShow(len, list)
        -- Check if we should auto-auto-complete.
        if normalize(menuItems[1]) == prefix and not calledByHotkey then
            -- User has completely typed the only item, so cancel.
            if CASE_CORRECT then
                if CASE_CORRECT_INSTANT or #menuItems == 1 then
                    -- Make sure the correct item is selected.
                    editor:AutoCShow(len, menuItems[1])
                    editor:AutoCComplete()
                end
                if #menuItems > 1 then
                    editor:AutoCShow(len, list)
                end
            end
            if #menuItems == 1 then
                editor:AutoCCancel()
                return
            end
        end
        lastAutoCItem = #menuItems - 1
        if lastAutoCItem == 0 and calledByHotkey and CHOOSE_SINGLE then
            editor:AutoCComplete()
        end
    else
        -- No relevant items.
        if editor:AutoCActive() then
            editor:AutoCCancel()
        end
    end
end


local function handleKey(key, shift, ctrl, alt)
    if key == 0x20 and ctrl and not (shift or alt) then -- ^Space
        handleChar(nil, true)
        return true
    end
    if alt or not editor:AutoCActive() then return end
    if key == 0x8 then -- VK_BACK
        if not ctrl then
            -- Need to handle it here rather than relying on the default
            -- processing, which would occur after handleChar() returns:
            editor:DeleteBack()
            handleChar()
            return true
        end
    elseif key == 0x25 then -- VK_LEFT
        if not shift then
            if ctrl then
                editor:WordLeft() -- See VK_BACK for comments.
            else
                editor:CharLeft() -- See VK_BACK for comments.
            end
            handleChar()
            return true
        end
    elseif key == 0x26 then -- VK_UP
        if editor.AutoCCurrent == 0 then
            -- User pressed UP when already at the top of the list.
            if WRAP_ARROW_KEYS then
                -- Select the last item.
                editor:AutoCSelect(menuItems[#menuItems])
                return true
            end
            -- Cancel the list and let the caret move up.
            editor:AutoCCancel()
        end
    elseif key == 0x28 then -- VK_DOWN
        if editor.AutoCCurrent == lastAutoCItem then
            -- User pressed DOWN when already at the bottom of the list.
            if WRAP_ARROW_KEYS then
                -- Select the first item.
                editor:AutoCSelect(menuItems[1])
                return true
            end
            -- Cancel the list and let the caret move down.
            editor:AutoCCancel()
        end
    elseif key == 0x5A and ctrl then -- ^z
        editor:AutoCCancel()
    end
end


-- Event handlers

local events = {
    OnChar          = handleChar,
    OnKey           = handleKey,
    OnSave          = buildNames,
    OnSwitchFile    = function()
        -- Use this file's cached list if possible:
        names = buffer.namesForAutoComplete
        if not names then
            -- Otherwise, build a new list.
            buildNames()
        else
            setLexerSpecificStuff()
        end
    end,
    OnOpen          = function()
        -- Ensure the document is styled first, so we can filter out
        -- words in comments and strings.
        editor:Colourise(0, editor.Length)
        -- Then do the real work.
        buildNames()
    end
}
-- Add event handlers in a cooperative fashion:
for evt, func in pairs(events) do
    local oldfunc = _G[evt]
    if oldfunc then
        _G[evt] = function(...) return func(...) or oldfunc(...) end
    else
        _G[evt] = func
    end
end

There's a bug in buildNames.
Since you initialize endPos = 0 (line 100), and then, you use endPos + 1 (line 102), the very first word of a file will get truncated in the autocomplete list.

There's a bug in buildNames.
Since you initialize endPos = 0 (line 100), and then, you use endPos + 1 (line 102), the very first word of a file will get truncated in the autocomplete list.