I defined the basic completion script. For program d, it can take subcommand exempt, limit, show, and update.
complete -W "exempt limit show update" d
However, when I press tab after d exempt, bash displays the completion menu again.
$ d <tab>
exempt limit show update
$ d exempt <tab>
exempt limit show update
$ d exempt exempt <tab>
exempt limit show update
How do I prevent Bash from inserting the same word again and again?
What you see is the intended behavior when you use the basic completion mechanism complete -W.
If you want a more intelligent completion, you need to to write completion functions (see the "Programmable Completion" section in the Bash manual) and use complete -F.
Here is how to adapt your example:
$ comp_d() {
COMPREPLY=( $(
if [ "$COMP_CWORD" -eq 1 ]; then
compgen -W "exempt limit show update" "$2"
fi
) )
}
$ complete -F comp_d d
Such functions must return the completion candidates in an array COMPREPLY. I only use your word list when the user is completing the first argument (COMP_CWORD is 1), else the array is left empty.
