Question

In Eclipse, after a line like this:

List list = new ArrayList();

Typing “for” just beneath, and followed by “ctrl-space” (by default), will bring several options that can help completing this “for loop”:

But if the variable “list” is declared far from here (e.g. as a class field) which may not be directly inferred from this context, or there are many Lists declared,then the assistance doesn’t work well:

@@ split line —

In some cases, Eclipse can assist, but just don’t work for member variable. E.g. manually type “another” and ENTER after the “:” didn’t persuade Eclipse to guess about it….

(P.S. workable case:

Auto guessed

Entered wanted name, and ENTER, works great

)

Does anyone have any tip to make this assistance work under such scenarios?

Answer 1

What I usually do to solve the content assist with for loop is the following:

• create a local variable by typing collection variable that is declared far above and a semicolon:

  list;
  

• press Ctrl+2 L

• Eclipse generates a new local variable declaration which looks like this:

  List list2 = list;
  

• type my foreach and autocomplete with Ctrl+space getting the following:

  List list2 = list;
  for (Object object : list2) {
  }
  

• place cursor on list2 in the for loop declaration and press Alt+Shift+I which stands for inline variable.

• this results in what you want to achieve. The effort is minimal after some practicing:

  for (Object object : list) {
  }