One of the most useful features of the Linux (and OS X) command line is autocomplete for file and path names. when using the command line As someone used to using terminals under Linux / OS X, I have a tendency to use cmd.exe for the same purposes when using Windows.
For those unfamiliar with using autocomplete, it allows you to press the [tab] key and have the terminal automatically fill the rest of the filename for you. For example, if you were at the root level (/) of your Linux filesystem and typed “cd pac[tab]“, it would be autocompleted to “cd package” for you. Autocompletion takes a little getting used to, but is invaluable once you use it regularly.
To enable this under Windows XP, open regedit (Start -> Run -> regedit) and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USERSSoftwareMicrosoftCommandProcessor and change the value of CompletionChar key to 9 (HEX). Restart cmd.exe (Start -> Run -> cmd) and enjoy.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 17th, 2003 at 14:18 and is filed under Windows. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.