How to make PowerShell tab completion work like Ba

Question

Let's say I have the following files in my current directory:

buildBar.bat
buildFoo.bat
buildHouse.bat

And I type the following at my command prompt, ./bu and then TAB.

• In Bash, it gets expanded to ./build

• In PowerShell, it gets expanded to ./buildBar.bat -- the first item in the list.

• In Cmd, the behavior is the same as PowerShell.

I prefer the Bash behaviour - is there a way to make PowerShell behave like Bash.

Answer 1

New versions of PowerShell include PSReadline, which can be used to do this:

Set-PSReadlineKeyHandler -Key Tab -Function Complete

To make it permanent, put this command into C:\Users\[User]\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\profile.ps1.

Answer 2

Take a look here, not really your desiderata:

PowerTab

but I think is the best tab expansion feature for PowerShell console!!!

Answer 3

It is now possible to get PowerShell to do BASH-style completion, using PSReadline. Check out http://www.leeholmes.com/blog/2012/09/13/bash-like-tab-completion-in-powershell/

Answer 4

Modify the TabExpansion function to achieve what you want. Remember that perhaps it completes till the end if you press tab again the new suggestion modify from where you originally press the key. I strongly prefer the actual behaviour, I want the line writted as fast as possible. Finally don't forget the wildcard expansion, for example: bu*h[Tab] automatically completes to buildHouse.bat