Autocomplete and tab key in PDB
ipdb to the rescue.
ipdb exports functions to access the IPython debugger, which features tab completion, syntax highlighting, better tracebacks, better introspection with the same interface as the pdb module.
The iPython is third-party solution for this problem. Sometimes you can only rely on vanilla Python. I found 2 solutions for it.
Per-shell solution - usage module 'rlcompleter':
$ python3
Python 3.4.3 (default, Sep 14 2016, 12:36:27)
[GCC 4.8.4] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import pdb
>>> pdb.set_trace()
--Return--
> <stdin>(1)<module>()->None
# press tab - but nothing
(Pdb) str.
*** SyntaxError: invalid syntax
(Pdb) --KeyboardInterrupt--
(Pdb) c
>>> import rlcompleter
>>> pdb.Pdb.complete=rlcompleter.Completer(locals()).complete
>>> pdb.set_trace()
--Return--
> <stdin>(1)<module>()->None
(Pdb) str.
str.__add__( str.__getattribute__( str.__name__ str.__text_signature__ str.isdigit( str.rfind(
str.__base__( str.__getitem__( str.__ne__( str.__weakrefoffset__ str.isidentifier( str.rindex(
str.__bases__ str.__getnewargs__( str.__new__( str.capitalize( str.islower( str.rjust(
str.__basicsize__ str.__gt__( str.__prepare__( str.casefold( str.isnumeric( str.rpartition(
str.__call__( str.__hash__( str.__qualname__ str.center( str.isprintable( str.rsplit(
str.__class__( str.__init__( str.__reduce__( str.count( str.isspace( str.rstrip(
str.__contains__( str.__instancecheck__( str.__reduce_ex__( str.encode( str.istitle( str.split(
str.__delattr__( str.__itemsize__ str.__repr__( str.endswith( str.isupper( str.splitlines(
str.__dict__ str.__iter__( str.__rmod__( str.expandtabs( str.join( str.startswith(
str.__dictoffset__ str.__le__( str.__rmul__( str.find( str.ljust( str.strip(
str.__dir__( str.__len__( str.__setattr__( str.format( str.lower( str.swapcase(
str.__doc__ str.__lt__( str.__sizeof__( str.format_map( str.lstrip( str.title(
str.__eq__( str.__mod__( str.__str__( str.index( str.maketrans( str.translate(
str.__flags__ str.__module__ str.__subclasscheck__( str.isalnum( str.mro( str.upper(
str.__format__( str.__mro__ str.__subclasses__( str.isalpha( str.partition( str.zfill(
str.__ge__( str.__mul__( str.__subclasshook__( str.isdecimal( str.replace(
(Pdb) c
>>>
System-wide solution - usage file ~/.pdbrc
$ cat ~/.pdbrc
import rlcompleter
pdb.Pdb.complete=rlcompleter.Completer(locals()).complete
$ python3
Python 3.4.3 (default, Sep 14 2016, 12:36:27)
[GCC 4.8.4] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import pdb
>>> pdb.set_trace()
--Return--
> <stdin>(1)<module>()->None
(Pdb) str.
str.__add__( str.__getattribute__( str.__name__ str.__text_signature__ str.isdigit( str.rfind(
str.__base__( str.__getitem__( str.__ne__( str.__weakrefoffset__ str.isidentifier( str.rindex(
str.__bases__ str.__getnewargs__( str.__new__( str.capitalize( str.islower( str.rjust(
str.__basicsize__ str.__gt__( str.__prepare__( str.casefold( str.isnumeric( str.rpartition(
str.__call__( str.__hash__( str.__qualname__ str.center( str.isprintable( str.rsplit(
str.__class__( str.__init__( str.__reduce__( str.count( str.isspace( str.rstrip(
str.__contains__( str.__instancecheck__( str.__reduce_ex__( str.encode( str.istitle( str.split(
str.__delattr__( str.__itemsize__ str.__repr__( str.endswith( str.isupper( str.splitlines(
str.__dict__ str.__iter__( str.__rmod__( str.expandtabs( str.join( str.startswith(
str.__dictoffset__ str.__le__( str.__rmul__( str.find( str.ljust( str.strip(
str.__dir__( str.__len__( str.__setattr__( str.format( str.lower( str.swapcase(
str.__doc__ str.__lt__( str.__sizeof__( str.format_map( str.lstrip( str.title(
str.__eq__( str.__mod__( str.__str__( str.index( str.maketrans( str.translate(
str.__flags__ str.__module__ str.__subclasscheck__( str.isalnum( str.mro( str.upper(
str.__format__( str.__mro__ str.__subclasses__( str.isalpha( str.partition( str.zfill(
str.__ge__( str.__mul__( str.__subclasshook__( str.isdecimal( str.replace(
(Pdb) c
>>>
Notes:
Tested only on the Python 3.4
OS - Linux Mint
Based on https://reminiscential.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/python-enable-auto-complete-in-a-pdb-session/