Live templates

Use live templates to insert common constructs into your code, such as statements or definitions of database objects.

The following video shows how you can use live templates.

To expand a code snippet, type the corresponding template abbreviation and press Tab. Keep pressing Tab to jump from one variable in the template to the next one. Press Shift+Tab to move to the previous variable.

Types of live templates

The following types of live templates are distinguished:

Simple templates contain only fixed plain text. When you expand a simple template, the text is automatically inserted into your source code, replacing the abbreviation.
Abbreviation
Expands to
tab
CREATE TABLE new_table ( col INT NOT NULL );
col
col int not null

Abbreviation	Expands to
`tab`	CREATE TABLE new_table ( col INT NOT NULL );
`col`	col int not null

Parameterized templates contain variables that enable user input. When you expand a parameterized template, variables are either replaced by input fields for the user to specify manually, or calculated by DataGrip automatically.

Abbreviation	Expands to
`ins`	INSERT INTO ... (...) VALUES (...);
`sel`	SELECT * FROM ...;
`selc`	SELECT count(*) FROM ... alias WHERE alias. ...;
`selw`	SELECT * FROM ... alias WHERE alias. ...;
`upd`	UPDATE ... SET ... = ... WHERE ...;

Surround templates wrap a block of the selected code with the text specified by the user.

Postfix code completion is similar to live templates. It transforms the current expression without selecting it. For example, you can type .cfrom after an expression to invoke the corresponding postfix completion and expand the SELECT statement to SELECT <all_column_names_from_table> FROM <table>.

Configure live templates

To configure live templates, open the Editor | Live Templates page of the IDE settings Control+Alt+S. On the Live Templates page, you can see all the available live templates, edit them and create new templates.

Templates are grouped according to the context where they can be used (usually, by the corresponding language). To move a template to another group, right-click the template, select Move, and then select the necessary group name.

Set an SQL dialect for a live template

You can select a specific dialect for a live template. For example, if you want the upd template to work only in MySQL and not in Db2.

In Settings Control+Alt+S, navigate to Editor | Live Templates.
Expand the SQL tree.
Right-click the template you want to modify and select Change context.
In the Change Context Type for Selected Templates window, expand the SQL tree node and select the context.

Each live template is defined by an abbreviation containing alphanumeric characters, dots, and hyphens. The abbreviation must be unique within a group, but the same abbreviation may be used in different groups and expand to different constructs according to the context of the corresponding group. Abbreviations of modified default templates are shown in the list with blue font.

Live template settings

To configure live templates, open Settings (Control+Alt+S), go to the Editor | Live Templates page. On this page, you can see all the available live templates grouped by language or framework. To configure a template, expand the desired group (for example, Ruby) and select a template.

Main settings

Item		Description
By default expand with		Specifies the default invocation key for all templates. Individual expansion keys for the particular templates are defined in the editing area. If the standard expansion keys (`Tab`, `Enter`, or `Space`) are not desirable, select the Custom option from this list. When Custom is selected, the Change link appears next to the drop-down, leading you to the Keymap page.
Live Templates		Displays all currently available template abbreviations with their descriptions. The abbreviations are grouped below nodes and sorted alphabetically within each group. To activate a template or an entire group, select the checkbox near the template or the group. Only active templates are displayed in the editor. If a template is active, the editor is sensitive to its abbreviation. Otherwise, the abbreviation is considered a set of characters.
	Add `Alt+Insert`	Adds a new template item to the current group of templates. You can define the template abbreviation, description, text, variables, expansion key, and context in the editing area below.
	Remove `Delete`	Removes the selected live template from the list.
	Duplicate	Click this button to create a new template based on the selected template. A new template item is added to the current node, and the fields in the Template Text area show the definition of the selected template.
	Restore deleted default templates	Click this button to restore the deleted live templates. This button is only enabled when the changes are applied.

Context menu of a live template

Item	Description
Move	Moves the selected template to a specified group.
Change context	Changes context or contexts where the current template is enabled. When you select this command, a list of supported language contexts is displayed. To make DataGrip consider a context-sensitive to the template, select a checkbox next to the context name. The available context types depend on the enabled plugins.
Copy	Creates a serialized template XML in the system clipboard.
Paste	Pastes an XML representation of the copied templates to the selected group of templates.

Template editing area

The focus is moved to this area in the following cases:

When you click the Add or Copy button.
When you select a live template in the list.
When you select a fragment of code in the editor and choose Code | Save as Live Template.

Use controls of this area to create new live templates and edit the settings for the existing ones.

You can navigate through the Template Text Area using the hot keys that are marked in the field labels.

Item	Description
Abbreviation	In this field, specify the template abbreviation. For example, a sequence of characters that identify the template in the editor.
Description	In this field, provide optional description of a template or an example of its usage.
Template Text	In this field, type the template body that may contain plain text and variables in the format $<variable name>$ . If necessary, click Edit Variables and configure the variables as required. To escape a dollar sign `$` in the template text, just duplicate it `$$`.
Applicable in	This read-only field shows the languages and pieces of code where the editor should be sensitive to the template. Upon pressing `Control+J` in such context, DataGrip displays a list of templates that are valid for this context.
Change	Click this link to modify the set of contexts where the current template is enabled. Upon clicking the link, a list of supported language contexts is displayed. To make DataGrip consider a context-sensitive to the template, select a checkbox next to the context name.
Edit Variables	Open the Edit Template Variables dialog, where you can define how DataGrip should process template variables upon template expansion. For more information, refer to Live template variables.
Options	In this area, define the behavior of the editor when a template is expanded. Expand with - from this list, choose the key to invoke the template. Reformat according to style: select this checkbox to have DataGrip automatically reformat the expanded text according to the current style settings, defined on the Code Style page.

Last modified: 08 September 2023