Completion

[felixfbecker]

Should suggest:

• global symbols (classes, interfaces, traits, functions)
• local variables
• local parameters
• variables imported with use
• not the variables outside of the function scope
• properties and methods of classes if the cursor is behind a ->
  • it should resolve the variable to a class type and get the members
• namespaces and classes when the cursor is inside a use statement
• built-in PHP functions, classes and globals
  • how to get them? Is there a machine-parseble version of the docs?

It should:

• follow PSR autoloading rules defined in composer.json
• parse docblocks for type annotations of parameters and properties

[lgabeskiria]

@felixfbecker you are doing great job!

for built-in php classes, functions you can use https://github.com/JetBrains/phpstorm-stubs

[felixfbecker]

Thanks for the hint!

[mniewrzal]

For more advanced completion features language server needs to index files from project. For now it looks that whole process of indexing is not standardized (microsoft/language-server-protocol#54)

[kaloyan-raev]

Another repo with PHP Stubs: https://github.com/HvyIndustries/crane-php-stubs

Used by the Crane PHP language server.

[felixfbecker]

I think relying on the PHPStorm stubs is the better way to go.

As for the indexing, here is what I have in my head:

• Upon initialization, parse the stub files
• Upon a completion request
  • at the start of a line (no node in front of it)
    • check if it has been used in the file, try to load it using the autoloader if yes
    • read the directory (which is equivalent to the current namespace). we can quickly provide the list of files as classes, then resolve additional details with the completionItem/resolve request by parsing it. folders can be provided as namespaces the same way.
    • check if it is in the globally parsed files (composer.json files property and stubs)
  • with a namespace name in front it, do the above steps in the typed namespace
  • with a class in front of it, find the file with the autoloader and parse it, then provide completion
  • with a variable in front of it, find the definiton (basically what definitionRequest will do), then find out its type (assignment or parameter type hint / docblock. Need some recursive logic here to resolve assignments). If the resolved type is a class, find the file with the autoloader and parse it, then provide completion.

[felixfbecker]

https://github.com/JetBrains/phpstorm-stubs is licensed under Apache 2, while the language server is ISC. Does anyone know if we can use it? Are they compatible? Afaik Apache 2 is more restrictive

[kaloyan-raev]

Do you plan redistributing the stub files with the language server? If yes, then looking at the license compatibility would make sense.

Another approach is to download the stub files on demand, i.e. before parsing them during the initialize phase. This way the language server is not tightly coupled to the stub files. Users may even configure the language server to download stub files from a different location. This approach should not qualify as "redistribution" and I don't see any license issue.

[felixfbecker]

I was planning to add them as dependency with composer:

    "require": {
        "JetBrains/phpstorm-stubs": "dev-master"
    },
    "repositories": [
        {
            "type": "package",
            "package": {
                "name": "JetBrains/phpstorm-stubs",
                "version": "dev-master",
                "dist": {
                    "url": "https://github.com/JetBrains/phpstorm-stubs/archive/master.zip",
                    "type": "zip"
                },
                "source": {
                    "url": "https://github.com/JetBrains/phpstorm-stubs",
                    "type": "git",
                    "reference": "master"
                }
            }
        }
    ],

downloading on demand would be an option of course, that would put the burden on the user. The extension would have to make it easy for the user to download them and then send the location to the language server. Why can't they just release as ISC/MIT 🙄

[kaloyan-raev]

I guess you can open an issue to the phpstorm-stubs project and ask to change the license to MIT/ISC.

However, I have read the 4. Redistribution section of the Apache 2.0 license and I don't see any license compatibility issue to distribute the stubs as you have described above.

Is there any particular clause that worries you?

[felixfbecker]

No, I just wanted to be sure. When we add it as dependency, the license notice will be included in the subfolder, so I guess it should be fine?

By the way: I just did a diff between HvyIndustries/crane-php-stubs and JetBrains/phpstorm-stubs and they are basically the same. Besides changes that were not merged from the upstream and some renames, the files are almost identical and it looks like crane's stubs are based on JetBrain's. Which would mean he copied the JetBrains stubs, removed the README and LICENSE, removed the PHPStorm specific files, and published it in a fresh commit as "crane php stubs". That would be an illegal copyright infringement and a violation of the license terms, which states that the license must be included in all copies.

That is exactly what I do not want to do. Give credit where credit is due.