14733, 14736

1 files changed, 2690 insertions, 1614 deletions

diff --git a/Doc/Zsh/compsys.yo b/Doc/Zsh/compsys.yo
index 2c7d813d6..aedad700d 100644
--- a/Doc/Zsh/compsys.yo
+++ b/Doc/Zsh/compsys.yo
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-texinode(Completion System)(Zftp Function System)(Zsh Modules)(Top)
+texinode(Completion System)(Completion Using compctl)(Completion Widgets)(Top)
 chapter(Completion System)
 cindex(completion system)
 cindex(completion, programmable)
@@ -26,11 +26,10 @@ sect(Initialization)
 findex(compinstall)
 cindex(completion system, installing)
 
-The function tt(compinstall) can be run by a user to set up the completion
-system for use, which also provides options for more advanced usage.
-However, if the system was installed completely, it should be enough to
+If the system was installed completely, it should be enough to
 call the shell function tt(compinit) from your initialization file; see the
-next section.
+next section.  However, the function tt(compinstall) can be run by a user
+to configure various aspects of the completion system.
 
 Usually, tt(compinstall) will insert code into tt(.zshrc), although if
 that is not writable it will save it in another file and tell you that
@@ -40,27 +39,22 @@ them to an earlier place in the file if tt(.zshrc) usually returns early.
 So long as you keep them all together (including the comment lines at the
 start and finish), you can rerun tt(compinstall) and it will correctly
 locate and modify these lines.  Note, however, that any code you add to
-this section by hand is likely to be lost if you rerun tt(compinstall).
+this section by hand is likely to be lost if you rerun tt(compinstall),
+although lines using the command `tt(zstyle)' should be gracefully handled.
+
 The new code will take effect next time you start the shell, or run
-tt(.zshrc) by hand.
-
-To run it, you will need to make sure it is in a directory mentioned in your
-tt($fpath) parameter, and that it is autoloaded (`tt(autoload -U
-compinstall)' is recommended).  It will ask you various questions about how
-you would like completion set up.  It is in two parts; the basic part
-locates the completion files and decides where to put your personal
-dumpfile, used to speed up initialization after the first time.  After
-that, you will be asked if you wish to go on to the advanced set-up; if you
-answer tt(n), you can rerun tt(compinstall) later without having to
-re-enter any of the basic settings.
-
-You can abort the installation any time you are being prompted for
-information, and your tt(.zshrc) will not be altered at all.
-
-After initialization all the builtin completion widgets such as
-tt(expand-or-complete) will be redefined to use the new completion system.
-Should you need to, you can still bind keys to the old functions by putting
-a `tt(.)' in front, e.g. `tt(.expand-or-complete)'.
+tt(.zshrc) by hand; there is also an option to make them take effect
+immediately.  However, if tt(compinstall) has removed definitions, you will
+need to restart the shell to see the changes.
+
+To run tt(compinstall) you will need to make sure it is in a directory
+mentioned in your tt(fpath) parameter, which should already be the case if
+zsh was properly configured as long as your startup files do not remove the
+appropriate directories from tt(fpath).  Then it must be autoloaded
+(`tt(autoload -U compinstall)' is recommended).  You can abort the
+installation any time you are being prompted for information, and your
+tt(.zshrc) will not be altered at all; changes only take place right at the
+end, where you are specifically asked for confirmation.
 
 subsect(Use of compinit)
 findex(compinit)
@@ -71,14 +65,22 @@ the current session when run directly by the user; if you have run
 tt(compinstall) it will be called automatically from your tt(.zshrc).
 
 To initialize the system, the function tt(compinit) should be in a
-directory mentioned in the tt($fpath) variable, and should be autoloaded
-(`tt(autoload -U compinit)' is recommended).  When run, it will define a
+directory mentioned in the tt(fpath) parameter, and should be autoloaded
+(`tt(autoload -U compinit)' is recommended), and then run simply as
+`tt(compinit)'.  This will define a
 few utility functions, arrange for all the necessary shell functions to be
-autoloaded, and will then re-bind all keys that do completion to use the
-new system. Note that this means that the tt(zsh/complist) module has
-to be loaded before the completion system is initialized (i.e. the
-tt(compinit) function is called) to make sure that the tt(menu-select)
-widget defined by it will be redefined, too.
+autoloaded, and will then re-define all widgets that do completion to use the
+new system.  If you use the tt(menu-select) widget, which is part of the
+tt(zsh/complist) module, you should make sure that that module is loaded
+before the call to tt(compinit) so that that widget is also
+re-defined.  If completion styles (see below) are set up to perform
+expansion as well as completion by default, and the TAB key is bound to
+tt(expand-or-complete), tt(compinit) will rebind it to tt(complete-word);
+this is necessary to use the correct form of expansion.
+
+Should you need to use the original completion commands, you can still
+bind keys to the old widgets by putting a `tt(.)' in front of the
+widget name, e.g. `tt(.expand-or-complete)'.
 
 To speed up the running of tt(compinit), it can be made to produce a dumped
 configuration which will be read in on future invocations; this is the
@@ -86,14 +88,17 @@ default, although it can be turned off by calling tt(compinit) with the
 option tt(-D).  The dumped file is tt(.zcompdump) in the same
 directory as the startup files (i.e. tt($ZDOTDIR) or tt($HOME));
 alternatively, an explicit file name can be given by `tt(compinit -d)
-var(dumpfile)'.  On the next call to tt(compinit), the dumped file will be
-read instead of a full initialization.
+var(dumpfile)'.  On the next call to tt(compinit), it will read the dumped
+file instead of performing a full initialization.
 
 If the number of completion files changes, tt(compinit) will recognise this
 and produce a new dump file.  However, if the name of a function or the
 arguments in the first line of a tt(#compdef) function (as described below)
-change, it is easiest to delete the dump file by hand so that the next time
-tt(compinit) will re-create it.
+change, it is easiest to delete the dump file by hand so that
+tt(compinit) will re-create it the next time it is run.  The check
+performed to see if there are new functions can be omitted by giving
+the option tt(-C).  In this case the dump file will only be created if
+there isn't one already.
 
 The dumping is actually done by another function, tt(compdump), but you
 will only need to run this yourself if you change the configuration
@@ -104,6 +109,27 @@ If the parameter tt(_compdir) is set, tt(compinit) uses it as a directory
 where completion functions can be found; this is only necessary if they are
 not already in the function search path.
 
+For security reasons tt(compinit) also checks if the completion system
+would use files not owned by root or by the current user, or files in
+directories that are world- or group-writable or that are not owned by 
+root or by the current user.  If such files or directories are found,
+tt(compinit) will ask if the completion system should really be used.  To
+avoid these tests and make all files found be used without asking, use the
+option tt(-u), and to make tt(compinit) silently ignore all insecure files
+and directories use the option tt(-i).  This security check is skipped
+entirely when the tt(-C) option is given.
+
+findex(compaudit)
+The security check can be retried at any time by running the function
+tt(compaudit).  This is the same check used by tt(compinit), but when it
+is executed directly any changes to tt(fpath) are made local to the
+function so they do not persist.  The directories to be checked may be
+passed as arguments; if none are given, tt(compaudit) uses tt(fpath) and
+tt(_compdir) to find completion system directories, adding missing ones
+to tt(fpath) as necessary.  To force a check of exactly the directories
+currently named in tt(fpath), set tt(_compdir) to an empty string before
+calling tt(compaudit) or tt(compinit).
+
 subsect(Autoloaded files)
 cindex(completion system, autoloaded functions)
 
@@ -111,21 +137,22 @@ The convention for autoloaded functions used in completion is that they
 start with an underscore; as already mentioned, the tt(fpath/FPATH)
 parameter must contain the directory in which they are stored.  If tt(zsh)
 was properly installed on your system, then tt(fpath/FPATH) automatically
-contains the required directories.
+contains the required directories for the standard functions.
 
 For incomplete installations, if tt(compinit) does not find enough files
 beginning with an underscore (fewer than twenty) in the search path, it
 will try to find more by adding the directory tt(_compdir) to the search
-path; if you have run tt(compinstall), this will be set automatically.
-Furthermore, if the directory in question ends in the path segment
-tt(Core), or has a subdirectory named tt(Core), tt(compinit) will add all
-subdirectories of the directory where tt(Core) is to the path: this allows
+path.  If that directory has a subdirectory named tt(Base), all
+subdirectories will be added to the path.  Furthermore, if the subdirectory
+tt(Base) has a subdirectory named tt(Core), tt(compinit) will add all
+subdirectories of the subdirectories is to the path: this allows
 the functions to be in the same format as in the tt(zsh) source
 distribution.
 
+cindex(compdef, use of by compinit)
 When tt(compinit) is run, it searches all such files accessible via
 tt(fpath/FPATH) and reads the first line of each of them.  This line should
-contain one of the tags described below. Files whose first line does not
+contain one of the tags described below.  Files whose first line does not
 start with one of these tags are not considered to be part of the
 completion system and will not be treated specially.
 
@@ -138,6 +165,14 @@ in it will be called when completing var(names), each of which is
 either the name of a command whose arguments are to be completed or one of
 a number of special contexts in the form tt(-)var(context)tt(-) described
 below for the tt(_complete) function.
+
+Each var(name) may also be of the form `var(cmd)tt(=)var(service)'.  This
+is used by functions that offer multiple services, i.e. different
+completion behaviour for multiple commands.  Such a string
+makes the completion system call the function when completing
+arguments for the command `tt(cmd)', setting the parameter tt($service) 
+to the string `tt(service)'.  The function can then use that parameter 
+to decide what to complete.
 )
 item(tt(#compdef -p) var(pattern))(
 The file will be made autoloadable and the function defined in it will be
@@ -151,27 +186,26 @@ completion function for the command on the line could be found.
 )
 item(tt(#compdef -k) var(style key-sequences...))(
 This can be used to bind special completion functions to the
-var(key-sequences).  It creates a widget behaving like the builtin widget
-var(style), which must be one of those that perform completion, namely
-tt(complete-word), tt(delete-char-or-list), tt(expand-or-complete),
-tt(expand-or-complete-prefix), tt(list-choices), tt(menu-complete),
-tt(menu-expand-or-complete), or tt(reverse-menu-complete). If the
-tt(complist) module is loaded (see
+var(key-sequences) specified.  It creates a widget behaving like the
+builtin widget var(style), which must be one of those that perform
+completion, namely tt(complete-word), tt(delete-char-or-list),
+tt(expand-or-complete), tt(expand-or-complete-prefix), tt(list-choices),
+tt(menu-complete), tt(menu-expand-or-complete), or
+tt(reverse-menu-complete).  If the tt(zsh/complist) module is loaded (see
 ifzman(zmanref(zshmodules))\
 ifnzman(noderef(The zsh/complist Module))\
-), the tt(menu-select) widget can be used, too.  Note that the
-bindings will not be used if the key is already bound (that
-is, is bound to something other than tt(undefined-key)).
+), the same happens to the tt(menu-select) widget.
 
 The widget is then bound to all the var(key-sequences) given, if any: when
 one of the var(key-sequences) is typed, the function in the file will
-be invoked to generate the matches. The widget created has the same
-name as the file and can also be bound to other keys using tt(bindkey) 
-as usual.
+be invoked to generate the matches.  Note that a key will not be re-bound
+if if it already was (that is, was bound to something other than
+tt(undefined-key)).  The widget created has the same name as the file and
+can be bound to any other keys using tt(bindkey) as usual.
 )
 item(tt(#compdef -K) var(widget-name) var(style) var(key-sequences) ...)(
 This is similar to tt(-k), with the same var(style) and var(key-sequences)
-arguments arguments, preceeded by a string giving the name of a widget.
+arguments, preceded by a string giving the name of a widget.
 In this case only one var(key-sequences) argument may be given, but the
 entire set of three arguments may be repeated with a different set of
 arguments.  In particular, the var(widget-name) must be distinct in each
@@ -185,18 +219,32 @@ example(#compdef -K _foo_complete complete-word "^X^C" \
 (all on one line) defines a widget tt(_foo_complete) for completion, bound
 to `tt(^X^C)', and a widget tt(_foo_list) for listing, bound to `tt(^X^D)'.
 )
-item(tt(#autoload))(
-This is used for files defining utility function that are not to be
+item(tt(#autoload) [ var(options) ])(
+This is used for files defining utility functions that are not to be
 called directly as completion functions but should be loaded automatically
 when invoked.  Typically they are to be called from within one of the
 completion functions.
+
+The var(options) will be given to the tt(autoload) builtin command
+when making the function autoloaded.  Most often, this will be tt(+X) to
+force the function to be loaded immediately.  Note that the tt(-U) flag is
+always implicitly added.
 )
 enditem()
 
-Note that the tt(#) is part of the tag name and no white space is allowed
-after it.  The tt(#compdef) tags use the tt(compdef) function described
-below; the main difference is that the name of the function is supplied
-implicitly.
+The tt(#) is part of the tag name and no white space is allowed after it.
+The tt(#compdef) tags use the tt(compdef) function described below; the
+main difference is that the name of the function is supplied implicitly.
+
+Note also that the functions for the completion system assume that the
+tt(KSH_AUTOLOAD) option is not set and cannot be loaded when it is
+set.  To avoid having to unset tt(KSH_AUTOLOAD), you can instead use one or
+more tt(zwc) file(s) which have been created with the command tt(zcompile
+-z) to load the functions for the completion system; see
+ifzman(zmanref(zshbuiltins))\
+ifnzman(noderef(Shell Builtin Commands))\
+.  This forces the functions to be autoloaded the way zsh normally
+loads functions.
 
 subsect(Functions)
 
@@ -214,7 +262,15 @@ xitem(tt(compdef -k) [ tt(-an) ] var(function style key-sequences...))
 item(tt(compdef -K) [ tt(-an) ] var(function name style key-sequences ...))(
 The first form tells the completion system to call the given
 var(function) when completing for the contexts or commands
-whose var(names) are given:  this is like the tt(#compdef) tag.  If the
+whose var(names) are given:  this is like the tt(#compdef) tag unless
+the first word contains an equal sign.  In this case all words have to 
+be of the form `var(cmd)tt(=)var(service)' where var(service) is the
+name of a command or of a service defined by an autoloaded function
+with the tt(#compdef) tag and an argument of the form
+`var(cmd)tt(=)var(service)'.  This kind of use makes the arguments of
+the var(cmd)s be completed as those for the var(services).
+
+If the
 tt(-n) option is given, any existing completion behaviour for particular
 contexts or commands will not be altered.  These definitions can be deleted
 by giving the tt(-d) option as in the second form.
@@ -252,6 +308,20 @@ tt(autoload -U )var(function)).
 )
 enditem()
 
+The tt(compdef) function is the place to turn to when one wants to
+define what the completion system should complete for a certain
+command.  The function named can of course be one of the functions
+supplied or one written by the user.  For example, if one has a
+command tt(foo) that gets process identifiers as arguments, one could
+do:
+
+example(compdef _pids foo)
+
+using the tt(_pids) function from the distribution to generate the
+process identifiers.  Not also the tt(_gnu_generic) function described
+below, which can be used to complete options for commands that
+understand the `tt(-)tt(-help)' option.
+
 texinode(Completion System Configuration)(Control Functions)(Initialization)(Completion System)
 sect(Completion System Configuration)
 cindex(completion system, configuration)
@@ -265,34 +335,34 @@ subsect(Overview)
 When completion is attempted somewhere on a command line the
 completion system first tries to find out the context where completion 
 was tried.  The context depends on such things as the name of the
-command when completing an argument, and possibily also
+command when completing an argument, and possibly also
 the name of an option when completing an argument to that option.
 
-For the context a name consisting of multiple fields is built. This
-name is then used to look up styles that can be used to configure the
-completion system. Since it is not possible to build the whole context 
-name in advance, completion function may modify some of the fields and 
-hence the context name used for lookup may vary during the same call
+The `context' of a completion is a string consisting of multiple fields. This
+is used to look up styles that can be used to configure the
+completion system.  Since it is not possible to build the whole context 
+string in advance, completion functions may modify some of the fields and 
+hence the context used for lookup may vary during the same call
 to the completion system.
 
-The context name always consists of the following fields, separated
-by colons:
+The context string always consists of the following fields, separated
+by colons and with a leading colon before the first:
 
-startitem()
-item()(
+startitemize()
+itemiz(\
 The literal string tt(completion), saying that this style is used by
 the completion system.
 )
-item()(
+itemiz(\
 The var(function); in many cases this field will be blank, but when
 the completion system is called from other functions, like
 tt(predict-on) or one of the functions in the tt(Command) directory of 
-the distribution, this field contains the (probably abbreviated) name
-of that function.
+the distribution, this field contains the name of that function, often
+in an abbreviated form.
 )
-item()(
-The var(completer) currently active, i.e. the name of the completer
-function without the leading underscore. Such a completer is in
+itemiz(\
+The var(completer) currently active, which is the name of the function
+without the leading underscore.  A `completer' is in
 overall control of how completion is to be performed; `tt(complete)'
 is the basic one for ordinary completion, but completers may perform
 various related tasks such as correction, or modify the behaviour of a
@@ -301,36 +371,37 @@ ifzman(the section `Control Functions' below)\
 ifnzman(noderef(Control Functions)) 
 for more information).  
 )
-item()(
-The var(context) or var(command). This is either one of the special
+itemiz(\
+The var(context) or var(command).  This is either one of the special
 context names such as tt(-condition-) as explained for the
 tt(_complete) completer below, or the name of the command we are
-completing arguments for. Completion functions for commands that have
+completing arguments for.  Completion functions for commands that have
 sub-commands usually modify this field to contain the name of the
 command followed by a minus sign and the sub-command (e.g. the
 completion function for the tt(cvs) command sets this field to strings
 such as tt(cvs-add) when completing for the tt(add) sub-command).
 )
-item()(
+itemiz(\
 The var(argument), describing which argument we are
-completing. Normally this is either a string of the form
+completing.  Normally this is either a string of the form
 tt(argument-)var(n), where var(n) is the number of the argument or it
-is a string of the form tt(-)var(opt)tt(-)var(n) when completing the
+is a string of the form tt(option-)var(opt)tt(-)var(n) when completing the
 var(n)'th argument of the option var(opt).
 )
-item()(
-The var(tag). Tags are used for two purposes:  to describe the types
-of matches a completion function can generate for a certain context
-and to simplify the definition of styles that are tested.
+itemiz(\
+The var(tag).  Tags are used to discriminate between the types
+of matches a completion function can generate in a certain context.
 )
-enditem()
+enditemize()
 
 As an example, the context name
-`tt(:completion::complete:dvips:-o-1:files)' says that normal
-completion was attempted on an argument of the tt(dvips)
-command (more precisely: completion was attempted on the first
-argument after the tt(-o) option) and the completion function will
-generate filenames for this context.
+
+example(tt(:completion::complete:dvips:option-o-1:files))
+
+says that normal completion was attempted on an argument of the tt(dvips)
+command (more precisely: completion was attempted on the first argument
+after the tt(-o) option) and the completion function will generate
+filenames for this context.
 
 In many of the possible contexts the completion system can generate
 matches, often multiple types of matches.  These types are represented as
@@ -340,22 +411,22 @@ below.  To determine in which order the tags are to be used by the
 completion function, the `tt(tag-order)' style for the appropriate
 context may be set, as described in the list of standard styles below.
 Only those types of matches whose tags were selected by this style
-will be produced, and in the order given.
+will be produced, and in the order given, although the default is to try
+all relevant tags in an order determined by the particular completion in
+use.
 
 The tt(_complete_help) bindable command described in 
 ifzman(the section `Bindable Commands' below)\
 ifnzman(noderef(Bindable Commands))
-can be invoked to find out the context and tag names used at a particular
-point in completion.  It shows a list of context names and the 
-tag names used in those contexts if completion were tried at the
-current cursor position.  Hence one can easily find out all the
-information needed to change the behaviour of the tt(tag-order) style
-for a particular context.
+can be invoked to find out the context and tag names and styles used at a
+particular point in completion.  It shows the list of contexts and tags 
+that would be used in if completion were tried at the current cursor
+position.  Hence one can easily find out all the information needed to
+change the behaviour of the tt(tag-order) style for a particular context.
 
 Completion behaviour can be modified by various other
-styles defined with the tt(zstyle) builtin command
-(see
-ifzman(zmanref(zshmodules))\
+styles defined with the tt(zstyle) builtin command (\
+ifzman(see zmanref(zshmodules))\
 ifnzman(noderef(The zsh/zutil Module))).
 When looking up styles the completion system uses full context names,
 including the tag.
@@ -369,22 +440,23 @@ the style itself, which must be given exactly.
 
 For example, many completion functions can generate matches in a
 simple and a verbose form and use the tt(verbose) style to decide
-which form should be used. To make all such functions always use the
-verbose form one can simply call
+which form should be used.  To make all such functions use the verbose form,
+put
 
 example(zstyle ':completion:*' verbose yes)
 
-in one of the startup files like tt(.zshrc). This definition simply
+in one of the startup files like tt(.zshrc); this sort of style can also be
+configured with the tt(compinstall) function.  This definition simply
 means that the tt(verbose) style has tt(yes) as its value in every
-context inside the completion system.  If the pattern were `tt(*)', it
-would mean that the verbose style had this value anywhere the style
-mechanism is used.
+context inside the completion system.  If the context pattern were `tt(*)',
+the verbose style would have this value anywhere the style mechanism is
+used, not just in completion.
 
 As a more specific example, the completion function for the tt(kill)
 builtin command uses the tt(verbose) style to decide if jobs and processes
 are listed only as job numbers and process identifiers or if they are
 listed with the full job texts and the command lines of the processes (the
-latter is achieved by calling the tt(ps) command). To make this builtin
+latter is achieved by calling the tt(ps) command).  To make this builtin
 list the matches only as numbers one could call:
 
 example(zstyle ':completion:*:*:kill:*' verbose no)
@@ -396,260 +468,378 @@ builtin command uses the tags tt(jobs) and tt(processes), we can use:
 
 example(zstyle ':completion:*:*:kill:*:jobs' verbose no)
 
+To have more control over when certain values for styles are used one
+can use the special parameters available in completion widgets (see
+ifzman(see zmanref(zshcompwid))\
+ifnzman(noderef(Completion Widgets)))\
+) and the tt(-e) option to tt(zstyle) that makes the value be
+evaluated when looked up.  For example, to make the tt(completer)
+style have a different value when completing for the tt(cvs) command,
+one could use the tt(words) special array:
+
+example(zstyle -e ':completion:*' completer '
+    if [[ $words[1] = cvs ]]; then
+      reply=(_complete)
+    else
+      reply=(_complete _approximate)
+    fi')
+
+One should be careful not to use too complicated code with this
+option, at least for the styles that are looked up quite often.  These 
+are basically those that define some global completion behaviour but
+allow that to be different for all matches or groups of matches (such
+as the tt(menu) and tt(list-rows-first) styles).  Alternatively one
+can always use a less general pattern for the context than in the
+example above and use a second call to tt(zstyle) with a generic
+pattern and without using the tt(-e) option to define the default
+behaviour.
+
 Note that the order in which styles are em(defined) does not matter; the
 style mechanism uses the most specific possible match for a particular
 style to determine the set of values.  More precisely, strings are
-preferred over patterns (for example, `tt(:completion:complete:foo)' is
-more specific than `tt(:completion:complete:*')), and longer patterns are
+preferred over patterns (for example, `tt(:completion::complete:foo)' is
+more specific than `tt(:completion::complete:*')), and longer patterns are
 preferred over shorter patterns.
 
-As for tags, completion functions can use any number of styles, so
-there can't be a complete list. However, the following two sections
+As with tags, completion functions can use any style they choose, so
+there can't be a complete list.  However, the following two sections
 list those tags and styles that are used in many places of the
 completion system.
 
 subsect(Standard Tags)
 cindex(completion system, tags)
 
-Here are the tags currently used by the completion system. Note that
-some of these tags are not actually used while generating matches,
-but are only used by some completion functions when looking up
-styles.
+Here are the tags currently used by the completion system.  Some of them
+are only used when looking up styles and do not refer to a particular type
+of match.
 
 startitem()
+kindex(accounts, completion tag)
 item(tt(accounts))(
 used to look up the tt(users-hosts) style
 )
-item(tt(all-files))(
-for the names of all files
-)
+kindex(all-expansions, completion tag)
 item(tt(all-expansions))(
-used by the tt(_expand) completer when adding the string containing
-all expansions
+used by the tt(_expand) completer when adding the single string containing
+all possible expansions
+)
+kindex(all-files, completion tag)
+item(tt(all-files))(
+for the names of all files (as distinct from a particular subset, see the
+tt(globbed-files) tag).
 )
+kindex(arguments, completion tag)
 item(tt(arguments))(
 when an argument of a command may be completed
 )
+kindex(arrays, completion tag)
 item(tt(arrays))(
 for names of array parameters
 )
+kindex(association-keys, completion tag)
 item(tt(association-keys))(
-for keys of associative arrays (e.g. when completing inside a
-subscript of such a parameter)
+for keys of associative arrays; used when completing inside a
+subscript of a parameter of this type
 )
+kindex(bookmarks, completion tag)
 item(tt(bookmarks))(
 when completing bookmarks (e.g. for URLs and the tt(zftp) function suite)
 )
+kindex(builtins, completion tag)
 item(tt(builtins))(
 for names of builtin commands
 )
+kindex(characters, completion tag)
 item(tt(characters))(
 used for commands like tt(stty) when completing characters; also used
 when completing character classes after a opening bracket
 )
+kindex(colormapids, completion tag)
+item(tt(colormapids))(
+for X colormap ids
+)
+kindex(colors, completion tag)
 item(tt(colors))(
 for color names
 )
+kindex(commands, completion tag)
 item(tt(commands))(
 for names of external commands and names of sub-commands (used by some 
 commands like tt(cvs))
 )
+kindex(contexts, completion tag)
+item(tt(contexts))(
+for contexts used by the zstyle builtin command
+)
+kindex(corrections, completion tag)
 item(tt(corrections))(
 used by the tt(_approximate) and tt(_correct) completers for the possible
 corrections
 )
+kindex(cursors, completion tag)
 item(tt(cursors))(
 for cursor names used by X programs
 )
+kindex(default, completion tag)
 item(tt(default))(
 used to look up default values for various styles that may also be set 
-for tags that are used when generating matches
+for tags that are used when generating matches; note that this tag is
+used when only the var(function) field of the context name is set up
 )
+kindex(descriptions, completion tag)
 item(tt(descriptions))(
 used when looking up the value of the tt(format) style for
 descriptions
 )
+kindex(devices, completion tag)
 item(tt(devices))(
 for names of device special files
 )
+kindex(directories, completion tag)
 item(tt(directories))(
 for names of directories
 )
+kindex(directory-stack, completion tag)
 item(tt(directory-stack))(
 for entries in the directory stack
 )
+kindex(displays, completion tag)
 item(tt(displays))(
 for X display names
 )
+kindex(domains, completion tag)
 item(tt(domains))(
 for network domains
 )
+kindex(expansions, completion tag)
 item(tt(expansions))(
-used by the tt(_expand) completer for possible expansions
+used by the tt(_expand) completer for individual possibilities resulting
+from expansion of a word
 )
+kindex(extensions, completion tag)
 item(tt(extensions))(
 for X server extensions
 )
+kindex(file-descriptors, completion tag)
+item(tt(file-descriptors))(
+for the numbers of open file descriptors
+)
+kindex(files, completion tag)
 item(tt(files))(
-used by completion functions that can complete some kind of filenames
-and different types of matches
+the generic file-matching tag used by completion functions that can
+complete the names of some kind of file
 )
+kindex(fonts, completion tag)
 item(tt(fonts))(
 used for X font names
 )
+kindex(functions, completion tag)
 item(tt(functions))(
-names of functions (shell functions or other kinds of functions for
-some commands)
+names of functions, normally shell functions although certain commands may
+understand other kinds of function
 )
+kindex(globbed-files, completion tag)
 item(tt(globbed-files))(
 for names of files matching the glob pattern used by completion
 functions that expect a certain type of file
 )
+kindex(groups, completion tag)
 item(tt(groups))(
 used when completing names of user groups
 )
+kindex(history-words, completion tag)
 item(tt(history-words))(
 for words from the history
 )
+kindex(hosts, completion tag)
 item(tt(hosts))(
 for hostnames
 )
+kindex(indexes, completion tag)
 item(tt(indexes))(
 used for array indexes
 )
+kindex(jobs, completion tag)
 item(tt(jobs))(
 used for jobs
 )
+kindex(keymaps, completion tag)
 item(tt(keymaps))(
 for names of zsh keymaps
 )
+kindex(keysyms, completion tag)
 item(tt(keysyms))(
 for names of X keysyms
 )
-item(tt(local-directories))(
-for names of directories in the current working directory when
-completing for the tt(cd) builtin command
-)
+kindex(libraries, completion tag)
 item(tt(libraries))(
 for names of system libraries
 )
+kindex(limits, completion tag)
 item(tt(limits))(
 for system limits
 )
+kindex(local-directories, completion tag)
+item(tt(local-directories))(
+for names of directories which are subdirectories of the current working
+directory when completing for the tt(cd) and related builtin commands
+)
+kindex(manuals, completion tag)
 item(tt(manuals))(
 for names of manual pages
 )
+kindex(maps, completion tag)
 item(tt(maps))(
-for map names (e.g. YP maps)
+for map names (e.g. NIS maps)
 )
+kindex(messages, completion tag)
 item(tt(messages))(
 used to look up the tt(format) style for messages
 )
+kindex(modifiers, completion tag)
 item(tt(modifiers))(
 for names of X modifiers
 )
+kindex(modules, completion tag)
 item(tt(modules))(
 for modules (e.g. tt(zsh) modules)
 )
+kindex(my-accounts, completion tag)
 item(tt(my-accounts))(
 used to look up the tt(users-hosts) style
 )
+kindex(named-directories, completion tag)
 item(tt(named-directories))(
 for named directories (you wouldn't have guessed that, would you?)
 )
+kindex(names, completion tag)
 item(tt(names))(
 for all kinds of names
 )
+kindex(nicknames, completion tag)
 item(tt(nicknames))(
-for nicknames of YP maps
+for nicknames of NIS maps
 )
+kindex(options, completion tag)
 item(tt(options))(
 for command options
 )
+kindex(original, completion tag)
 item(tt(original))(
 used by the tt(_approximate), tt(_correct) and tt(_expand) completers when
 adding the original string
 )
+kindex(other-accounts, completion tag)
 item(tt(other-accounts))(
 used to look up the tt(users-hosts) style
 )
+kindex(packages, completion tag)
 item(tt(packages))(
 for packages (e.g. tt(rpm) or installed tt(Debian) packages)
 )
+kindex(parameters, completion tag)
 item(tt(parameters))(
 for names of parameters
 )
+kindex(path-directories, completion tag)
 item(tt(path-directories))(
-for names of directories in directories from the tt(cdpath) array when
-completing for the tt(cd) builtin command
+for names of directories found by searching the tt(cdpath) array when
+completing for the tt(cd) and related builtin commands
 )
+kindex(paths, completion tag)
 item(tt(paths))(
-used to look up the values of the tt(expand), tt(cursor) and
+used to look up the values of the tt(expand), tt(ambiguous) and
 tt(special-dirs) styles
 )
-item(tt(pids))(
-for process identifiers
-)
-item(tt(pids-list))(
-used to look up the tt(command) style when generating the list to
-display for process identifiers
-)
+kindex(pods, completion tag)
 item(tt(pods))(
-for perl pods
+for perl pods (documentation files)
 )
+kindex(ports, completion tag)
 item(tt(ports))(
 for communication ports
 )
+kindex(prefixes, completion tag)
 item(tt(prefixes))(
-for prefixes (like those of an URL)
+for prefixes (like those of a URL)
 )
+kindex(printers, completion tag)
 item(tt(printers))(
 for printer names
 )
+kindex(processes, completion tag)
 item(tt(processes))(
 for process identifiers
 )
+kindex(processes-names, completion tag)
+item(tt(processes-names))(
+used to look up the tt(command) style when generating the names of
+processes for tt(killall)
+)
+kindex(sequences, completion tag)
 item(tt(sequences))(
 for sequences (e.g. tt(mh) sequences)
 )
+kindex(sessions, completion tag)
 item(tt(sessions))(
 for sessions in the tt(zftp) function suite
 )
+kindex(signals, completion tag)
 item(tt(signals))(
 for signal names
 )
+kindex(strings, completion tag)
 item(tt(strings))(
 for strings (e.g. the replacement strings for the tt(cd) builtin
 command)
 )
+kindex(styles, completion tag)
+item(tt(styles))(
+for styles used by the zstyle builtin command
+)
+kindex(tags, completion tag)
 item(tt(tags))(
 for tags (e.g. tt(rpm) tags)
 )
+kindex(targets, completion tag)
 item(tt(targets))(
 for makefile targets
 )
+kindex(types, completion tag)
 item(tt(types))(
-for types of whatever (e.g. adress types for the tt(xhost) command)
+for types of whatever (e.g. address types for the tt(xhost) command)
 )
+kindex(urls, completion tag)
 item(tt(urls))(
-used to look up the tt(path) and tt(local) styles when completing URLs
+used to look up the tt(urls) and tt(local) styles when completing URLs
 )
+kindex(users, completion tag)
 item(tt(users))(
 for usernames
 )
+kindex(values, completion tag)
 item(tt(values))(
 when completing a value out of a set of values (or a list of such
 values)
 )
+kindex(version, completion tag)
+item(tt(version))(
+used by tt(_call_program) to look up the command to run to determine the installed
+version of various other commands (such as tt(diff) and tt(make)).
+)
+kindex(warnings, completion tag)
 item(tt(warnings))(
 used to look up the tt(format) style for warnings
 )
+kindex(widgets, completion tag)
 item(tt(widgets))(
 for zsh widget names
 )
+kindex(windows, completion tag)
 item(tt(windows))(
 for IDs of X windows
 )
+kindex(zsh-options, completion tag)
 item(tt(zsh-options))(
 for shell options
 )
@@ -658,177 +848,291 @@ enditem()
 subsect(Standard Styles)
 cindex(completion system, styles)
 
-Here are the names of the styles used by the completion system. Note
+Here are the names of the styles used by the completion system.  Note
 that the values of several of these styles represent boolean
-values. In all these cases any of the strings `tt(true)', `tt(on)',
+values; here, any of the strings `tt(true)', `tt(on)',
 `tt(yes)', and `tt(1)' can be used for the truth value `true' and
 the strings `tt(false)', `tt(off)', `tt(no)', and `tt(0)' are
 interpreted as `false'.  The behavior for any other value is undefined 
 unless the description for the particular style mentions other
-possible values.
+possible values; in particular, the default value may be either on or off
+if the style is not set.
+
+Some of these styles are tested for every tag used to add possible
+matches and for the tt(default) tag (most notably tt(menu),
+tt(list-colors) and the styles controlling the completion listing like 
+tt(list-packed) and tt(last-prompt)). When tested for the tt(default)
+tag, only the var(function) field of the context will be set up, so
+the default value will normally be set like:
+
+example(zstyle ':completion:*:default' menu ...)
 
 startitem()
+kindex(accept-exact, completion style)
 item(tt(accept-exact))(
 This is tested for the default tag and the tags used when generating
-matches. If it is set to `true' for at least one match which is the
+matches.  If it is set to `true' for at least one match which is the
 same as the string on the line, this match will immediately be
 accepted.
+
+When completing pathnames (where it is looked up for the tt(paths)
+tag), this style also accepts any number of patterns as the value. If
+this is used, pathnames matching one of these patterns will be
+accepted immediately even if the command line contains some more
+partially typed pathname components and these match no file under the
+directory accepted.
+
+Note that this is also used by the tt(_expand) completer to decide if
+words beginning with a tilde or parameter expansion should be
+expanded. This means that if, for example, there are parameters
+tt(foo) and tt(foobar), the string `tt($foo)' will only be expanded if 
+tt(accept-exact) is set to `true'.
 )
+kindex(add-space, completion style)
 item(tt(add-space))(
-This style is used by the tt(_prefix) completer to decide if a space
-should be inserted before the suffix.
-)
+This style is used by the tt(_expand) completer.  If it is `true' (the
+default), a space will be inserted after all words resulting from the 
+expansion (except for directory names which get a slash).  The value
+may also be the string `tt(file)' to make the completer add a space
+only to names of existing files.  Finally, the `true' values and
+`tt(file)' may be combined with `tt(subst)' to keep the completer from 
+adding a space when the resulting words were generated by expanding a
+substitution of the form `tt($LPAR()...RPAR())' or `tt(${...})'.
+
+It is also used by the tt(_prefix) completer as a simple boolean value
+to decide if a space should be inserted before the suffix.
+)
+kindex(ambiguous, completion style)
+item(tt(ambiguous))(
+This applies when completing non-final components of filename paths.
+If it is set, the cursor is left after the first ambiguous component, even
+if menu completion is in use.  It is tested with the tt(paths) tag.
+)
+kindex(assign-list, completion style)
+item(tt(assign-list))(
+When completing after an equals sign, the completion system normally
+completes only one filename.  In some cases, particularly for certain
+parameters such as tt(PATH), a list of filenames separated by colons is
+required.  This style can be set to a list of patterns matching the names
+of such parameters.
+
+The default is to complete lists when the word on the line already
+contains a colon.
+)
+kindex(auto-description, completion style)
 item(tt(auto-description))(
 If set, this style's value will be used as the description for options which
 are not described by the completion functions, but that have exactly
-one argument. The sequence `tt(%d)' in the value will be replaced by
-the description for this argument. Depending on personal preferences,
+one argument.  The sequence `tt(%d)' in the value will be replaced by
+the description for this argument.  Depending on personal preferences,
 it may be useful to set this style to something like `tt(specify: %d)'. 
 Note that this may not work for some commands.
 )
-item(tt(break))(
-This style is used by the tt(incremental-complete-word) widget (found
-in the tt(Functions/Zle) directory of the distribution). Its value
-should be a pattern and all keys matching this pattern will cause the
-widget to stop incremental completion without the key having any
-further effect.
-)
+kindex(avoid-completer, completion style)
+item(tt(avoid-completer))(
+This is used by the tt(_all_matches) completer to decide if the string 
+consisting of all matches should be added to the list currently being
+generated.  Its value is a list of names of completers.  If any of
+these is the name of the completer that generated the matches in this
+completion, the string will not be added.
+
+The default value for this style is `tt(_expand _old_list _correct
+_approximate)', i.e. it contains the completers for which a string
+with all matches will almost never be wanted.
+)
+kindex(cache-path, completion style)
+item(tt(cache-path))(
+This style defines the path where any cache files containing dumped
+completion data are stored.  Defaults to `tt($ZDOTDIR/.zcompcache)', or
+`tt($HOME/.zcompcache)' if tt($ZDOTDIR) is not defined.  The completion
+layer will not be used unless the tt(use-cache) style is set.
+)
+kindex(call-command, completion style)
+item(tt(call-command))(
+Currently this is only used by the function completing tt(make)
+targets.  If it is set to `true' and the installed version of the
+tt(make) command allows it, tt(make) is called in a way to generate
+all possible targets.  The default value of this style is `false'
+because calling tt(make) can potentially take a very long time and in
+some cases may even cause actions from the makefile be executed
+despite the options given to tt(make).
+)
+kindex(command, completion style)
 item(tt(command))(
-This style can be used to override the defaults in several completion
-functions for how commands are called to generate information about
-possible matches. The strings in the value are joined with spaces
-between them to build the command line to execute. If the value starts 
-with a hyphen the string built will be prepended to the default
-supplied by the completion function. This allows one to easily stick a 
-tt(builtin) or tt(command) in front of the default in case one has,
-for example, a shell function with the same name as the command
-called, but for completion purposes one needs to ensure that the real
-command is called.
-
-For example, the function generating process IDs as matches uses this
-style with the tt(pids) tag to generate the IDs to complete and iwhen
-the tt(verbose) style is `true', it uses this style with the
-tt(pids-list) tag to generate the strings to display. When using
-different values for these two tags one should ensure that the process
-IDs appear in the same order in both lists.
+In many places, completion functions need to call external commands to
+generate the list of completions.  This style can be used to override the
+command which is called in some such cases.  The elements of the value are
+joined with spaces to form a command line to execute.  The value can also
+start with a hyphen, in which case the usual command will be added to the
+end; this is most useful for putting `tt(builtin)' or `tt(command)' in
+front to make sure the appropriate version of a command is called, for
+example to avoid calling a shell function with the same name as an external
+command.
+
+As an example, the function generating process IDs as matches uses this
+style with the tt(processes) tag to generate the IDs to complete and
+the list of processes to display (if the tt(verbose) style is `true').
+The list produced by the command should look like the output of the
+tt(ps) command.  The first line is not displayed, but is searched for
+the string `tt(PID)' (or `tt(pid)') to find the position of the
+process IDs in the following lines.  If the line does not contain
+`tt(PID)', the first numbers in each of the other lines are taken as the 
+process IDs to complete.
+
+Note that the completion function generally has to call the command
+every time it is called.  Because of that care should be taken to
+specify only commands that take a short time to run (and that will
+eventually stop at all).
+)
+kindex(commands, completion style)
+item(tt(commands))(
+This is used by the function completing sub-commands for the system
+initialisation scripts (residing in tt(/etc/init.d) or somewhere not
+too far away from that).  It's values give the default commands to
+complete for those commands for which the completion function isn't
+able to find them out automatically.  The default for this style are
+the two strings `tt(start)' and `tt(stop)'.
+)
+kindex(complete, completion style)
+item(tt(complete))(
+This is used by the tt(_expand_alias) function when invoked as a
+bindable command.  If it set to `true' and the word on the command
+line is not the name of an alias, matching alias names will be
+completed.
 )
+kindex(completer, completion style)
 item(tt(completer))(
-The strings given as the value of this style give the names of the
+The strings given as the value of this style provide the names of the
 completer functions to use. The available completer functions are
 described in
 ifzman(the section `Control Functions' below)\
 ifnzman(noderef(Control Functions))\
 .
 
-Note that the widget functions from the distribution that call the
-completion code (namely, the tt(incremental-complete-word) and the
-tt(predict-on) widgets) set up their top-level context name before
-calling completion. This allows one to define different sets of
-completer functions for normal completion and for these widgets. For
-example, to use completion, approximation and correction for normal
-completion, completion and correction for incremental completion and
-only completion for prediction one could use:
-
-example(zstyle ':completion:*' completer _complete _correct _approximate
-zstyle ':completion:incremental:*' completer _complete _correct
-zstyle ':completion:predict:*' completer _complete)
-
-The default value for this style is tt(_complete), i.e. normally only
-completion will be done.
-)
-item(tt(completions))(
-This style is used by the tt(_expand) completer function.
-
-If this is set to an non-empty string it should be an expression
-usable inside a `tt($((...)))' arithmetical expression. The completer
-function evaluates this expression and if the result is `tt(1)', no
-expansions will be generated, but instead the completions will be
-generated as normal and all of them will be inserted into the command
-line.
-)
+Each string may be the name of a completer function or a string of the 
+form `var(function)tt(:)var(name)'. In the first case the
+var(completer) field of the context will contain the name of the
+completer without the leading underscore and with all other
+underscores replaced by hyphens.  In the second case the
+var(function) is the name of the completer to call, but the context
+will contain the var(name) in the var(completer) field of the
+context.  If the var(name) starts with a hyphen, the string for the
+context will be build from the name of the completer function as in
+the first case with the var(name) appended to it.  For example: 
+
+example(zstyle ':completion:*' completer _complete _complete:-foo)
+
+Here, completion will call the tt(_complete) completer twice, once
+using `tt(complete)' and once using `tt(complete-foo)' in the
+var(completer) field of the context.  Normally, using the same
+completer more than once makes only sense when used with the
+`var(functions)tt(:)var(name)' form, because otherwise the context
+name will be the same in all calls to the completer; possible
+exceptions to this rule are the tt(_ignored) and tt(_prefix)
+completers.
+
+The default value for this style is tt(_complete _ignored),
+i.e. normally only completion will be done, first using the
+tt(ignored-patterns) style and the tt($fignore) array and then without 
+ignoring matches.
+)
+kindex(condition, completion style)
 item(tt(condition))(
-This style is used by the tt(_list) completer function.
-
-If it is not set or set to the empty string, the insertion of
-matches will be delayed unconditionally. If it is set, the value
-should be an expression usable inside a `tt($((...)))'
-arithmetical expression. In this case, delaying will be done if the
-expression evaluates to `tt(1)'. For example, with
-
-example(zstyle ':completion:*:list:::' condition 'NUMERIC != 1')
-
-delaying will be done only if given an explicit numeric argument
-other than `tt(1)'.
-)
-item(tt(cursor))(
-This is used together with the tt(paths) tag by the function
-generating filenames as matches to find out if the cursor should be left
-after the first ambiguous pathname component even when menucompletion
-is used.
-
-The tt(predict-on) widget uses this style to decide where to place the 
-cursor after completion has been tried. If it is set to tt(complete),
-the cursor is left at the place where completion left it, but only if
-it is after a character equal to the one just inserted by the user. If 
-it is after another character, the value is treated as if it where the 
-string tt(key). If the value is set to tt(key), the cursor is left
-after the var(n)th occurrence of the character just inserted, where
-var(n) is the number of times that character appeared in the word
-before completion was attempted. In short, this has the effect of
-leaving the cursor after the character just typed even if the
-completion code found out that no other characters need to be inserted 
-at that position. Finally, any other value for this style
-unconditionally leaves the cursor at the position where the completion
-code left it.
+This style is used by the tt(_list) completer function to decide if
+insertion of matches should be delayed unconditionally. The default is 
+`true'.
 )
+kindex(disabled, completion style)
+item(tt(disabled))(
+If this is set to `true', the tt(_expand_alias) completer and bindable 
+command will try to expand disabled aliases, too.  The default is
+`tt(false)'.
+)
+kindex(disable-stat, completion style)
 item(tt(disable-stat))(
-This is used with the an empty tag by the function completing for the
+This is used with an empty tag by the function completing for the
 tt(cvs) command to decide if the tt(zsh/stat) module should be used to
-generate only names of modified files in the appropriate places.
+generate names of modified files in the appropriate places (this is its
+only use).  If set, completion will use the tt(ls) command.
 )
+kindex(domains, completion style)
 item(tt(domains))(
 If set, gives the names of network domains that should be
-completed. If this is not set by the user domain names mentioned in
-tt(/etc/resolv.conf) will be used.
+completed.  If this is not set by the user domain names will be taken from
+the file tt(/etc/resolv.conf).
 )
+kindex(expand, completion style)
 item(tt(expand))(
 This style is used when completing strings consisting of multiple
-parts, such as path names. If its
-value contains the string tt(prefix), the partially typed word from
+parts, such as path names.  If its
+value contains the string `tt(prefix)', the partially typed word from
 the line will be expanded as far as possible even if trailing parts
-can not be completed. If it contains the string tt(suffix)
+cannot be completed.  If it contains the string `tt(suffix)'
 and normal (non-menu-) completion is used, matching names for
-components after the first ambiguous one will be added, too. This
+components after the first ambiguous one will also be added.  This
 means that the resulting string is the longest unambiguous string
-possible, but if menucompletion is started on the list of matches
+possible, but if menu completion is started on the list of matches
 generated this way (e.g. due to the option tt(AUTO_MENU) being set),
 this will also cycle through the names of the files in pathname
 components after the first ambiguous one.
 )
+kindex(fake-files, completion style)
+item(tt(fake-files))(
+This style is used when completing files and looked up 
+without a tag.  Its values are of the form
+`var(dir)tt(:)var(names...)'.  This will add the var(names) (strings
+separated by spaces) as
+possible matches when completing in the directory var(dir), even if no 
+such files really exist.
+
+This can be useful on systems that support special filesystems whose
+top-level pathnames can not be listed or generated with glob patterns.
+It can also be used for directories for which one does not have read
+permission.
+)
+kindex(fake-parameters, completion style)
+item(tt(fake-parameters))(
+This is used by the completion function generating parameter names as
+matches.  Its values are names of parameters which might not yet be
+set, but which should be completed nonetheless.  Each name may also be 
+followed by a colon and a string specifying the type of the parameter
+(like `tt(scalar)', `tt(array)' or `tt(integer)').  If such a type is
+given, the name will only be completed if parameters of that type are
+requested in the particular context.  Names for which no type is
+specified will always be completed.
+)
+kindex(file-patterns, completion style)
 item(tt(file-patterns))(
 In most places where filenames are completed, the function tt(_files)
-is used which can be configured with this style. If the style is
-unset, tt(_files) offers up to three tags: tt(globbed-files),
-tt(directories) and tt(all-files), depending on the types of files
-expected by the caller of tt(_files). Using the tt(tag-order) style
-described below it is possible to specify when which type of files
-should be tried.
+is used which can be configured with this style.  If the style is
+unset, tt(_files) offers, one after another, up to three tags:
+`tt(globbed-files)',
+`tt(directories)' and `tt(all-files)', depending on the types of files
+expected by the caller of tt(_files).
 
 If the tt(file-patterns) style is set, the default tags are not
-used. Instead, the value of the style says which tags and which
-patterns are to be offered. The strings in the value are of the form
-`var(patterns)tt(:)var(tag)'. The var(patterns) gives one or more glob 
-patterns separated by spaces that are to be used to generate
-filenames. If it is the empty string, i.e. the string starts with a
-colon, then the glob patterns supplied by the completion function will 
-be used. Colons in the pattern have to be preceded by a backslash to
-make them distinguishable from the colon before the var(tag). The
+used.  Instead, the value of the style says which tags and which
+patterns are to be offered.  The strings in the value contain
+specifications of the form
+`var(pattern)tt(:)var(tag)'; each string may contain any number of
+such specifications.  The var(pattern) gives a glob 
+pattern that is to be used to generate
+filenames.  If it contains the sequence `tt(%p)', that is replaced by
+the pattern(s) given by the calling function.
+Colons in the pattern must be preceded by a backslash to
+make them distinguishable from the colon before the var(tag).  If more
+than one pattern is needed, the patterns can be given inside braces,
+separated by commas.  The
 var(tag)s of all strings in the value will be offered by tt(_files)
-and used when looking up other styles. The var(tag) may also be
-followed by an optional second colon and a description. If that is
+(again, one after another) and used when looking up other styles.  For
+strings containing more than one specification, the filenames for all
+specifications will be generated at the same try.  If
+no `tt(:)var(tag)' is given the `tt(files)' tag will be used.  The
+var(tag) may also be
+followed by an optional second colon and a description.  If that is
 given, this description will be used for the `tt(%d)' in the value of
 the tt(format) style (if that is set) instead of the default
-description supplied by the completion function. If the description
+description supplied by the completion function.  If the description
 given here contains itself a `tt(%d)', that is replaced with the
 description supplied by the completion function.
 
@@ -836,66 +1140,114 @@ For example, to make the tt(rm) command first complete only names of
 object files and the names of all files if no object file matches
 the string on the line, one would do:
 
-example(zstyle ':completion:*:*:rm:*' file-patterns \
-  '*.o:object-files' ':all-files')
+example(zstyle ':completion:*:*:rm:*' file-patterns \ 
+    '*.o:object-files' '%p:all-files')
+
+Another interesting example is to change the default behaviour that
+makes completion first offer files matching the patterns given by the
+calling function, then directories and then all files.  Many people 
+prefer to get both the files matching the given patterns and the
+directories in the first try and all files at the second try.  To
+achieve this, one could do:
+
+example(zstyle ':completion:*' file-patterns \ 
+    '%p:globbed-files *(-/):directories' '*:all-files')
+
+This works even for contexts in which all files would be completed,
+because tt(_files) will not try a pattern more than once and it stops
+when the pattern `tt(*)' was tried.
 
 Note also that during the execution of completion functions, the
 tt(EXTENDED_GLOB) option is in effect, so the characters `tt(#)',
 `tt(~)' and `tt(^)' have special meanings in the patterns.
 )
+kindex(file-sort, completion style)
+item(tt(file-sort))(
+The completion function that generates filenames as possible matches
+uses this style without a tag to determine in which order the 
+names should be listed and completed when using menu completion.  The
+value may be one of `tt(size)' to sort them by the size of the file,
+`tt(links)' to sort them by the number of links to the file,
+`tt(modification)' (or `tt(time)' or `tt(date)') to sort them by the last
+modification time, `tt(access)' to sort them by the last access time, or
+`tt(inode)' (or `tt(change)') to sort them by the last inode change
+time.  If the style is set to any other value, or is unset, files will be
+sorted alphabetically by name.  If the value contains the string
+`tt(reverse)', sorting is done in decreasing order.
+)
+kindex(force-list, completion style)
+item(tt(force-list))(
+This forces a list of completions to be shown at any point where listing is
+done, even in cases where the list would usually be suppressed.
+For example, normally the list is only shown if
+there are at least two different matches.  By setting this style to
+`tt(always)', the list will always be shown, even if there is only a
+single match which is immediately accepted.  The style may also
+be set to a number.  In this case the list will be shown if there are
+at least that many matches, even if they would all insert the same
+string.
+
+This style is tested for the default tag and all tags used when
+generating matches. This allows one to turn unconditional listing on
+for certain types of matches.
+)
+kindex(format, completion style)
 item(tt(format))(
 If this is set for the tt(descriptions) tag, its value is used as a
-string to display above matches in completion lists. The sequence
+string to display above matches in completion lists.  The sequence
 `tt(%d)' in this string will be replaced with a short description of
-what these matches are. This string may also contain the sequences to
-specify output attributes, such as `tt(%b)' and `tt(%s)'.
+what these matches are.  This string may also contain the sequences to
+specify output attributes, such as `tt(%B)', `tt(%S)' and
+`tt(%{)...tt(%})'.
 
-For the same purpose, this style is also tested with the tags used
-when matches are generated before it is tested for the
-tt(descriptions) tag. This gives the possibility to define different
-format strings for different types of matches.
+For the same purpose, this style is also tested with the tags used when
+matches are generated before it is tested for the tt(descriptions)
+tag.  This provides the possibility of defining different format
+strings for different types of matches.
 
 Note also that some completer functions define additional
-`tt(%)'-sequences. These are described for the completer functions that 
+`tt(%)'-sequences.  These are described for the completer functions that 
 make use of them.
 
-For the tt(messages) tag, this defines a string used by some
-completion functions to display messages. Here, the `tt(%d)' is
-replaced with the message given by the completion function.
-
-Finally, for the tt(warnings) tag, it is printed when no matches could 
-be generated at all. In this case the `tt(%d)' is replaced with the
-descriptions for the matches that were expected. If the value does not 
-contain a `tt(%d)', then those descriptions are added in the same way
-as matches are added, i.e. they appear below the value for the
-tt(format) style laid out in columns. The descriptions are added as if 
-for the tag tt(warnings) so that you can use the tt(list-colors) style 
-for that tag to highlight them.
-
-Here and in all other cases where the completion system uses `tt(%)'
-sequences, the `tt(%)' may be followed by field width specifications as 
-described for the tt(zformat) builtin command from the tt(zutil)
-module, see
+For the tt(messages) tag, this style defines a string used by some
+completion functions to display messages.  Here, the `tt(%d)' is
+replaced with a message given by the completion function.
+
+Finally, when set with the tt(warnings) tag, the format string is
+printed when no matches could be generated at all.  In this case the
+`tt(%d)' is replaced with the descriptions for the matches that were
+expected separated by spaces and the sequence `tt(%D)' is replaced with
+those descriptions separated by newlines.
+
+The `tt(%)' for the sequences that are replaced by strings provided by 
+the completion functions like the `tt(%d)' may be followed by field
+width specifications as  described for the tt(zformat) builtin command
+from the tt(zsh/zutil) module, see
 ifzman(zmanref(zshmodules))\
 ifnzman(noderef(The zsh/zutil Module))\
 .
 )
+kindex(glob, completion style)
 item(tt(glob))(
-Like tt(completions), this is used by the tt(_expand) completer.
-
-The value is used like the one for tt(completions) and if it evaluates to 
-`tt(1)', globbing will be attempted on the words resulting from
-substitution (see the tt(substitute) style) or the original string
-from the line.
+This is used by the tt(_expand) completer.  If
+it is set to `true' (the default), globbing will be attempted on the
+words resulting from substitution (see the tt(substitute) style) or
+the original string from the line.
 )
+kindex(global, completion style)
+item(tt(global))(
+If this is set to `true' (the default), the tt(_expand_alias)
+completer and bindable command will try to expand global aliases.
+)
+kindex(group-name, completion style)
 item(tt(group-name))(
 The completion system can put different types of matches in different
 groups which are then displayed separately in the list of possible
-completions. This style can be use to give the names for these groups
-for particular tags. For example, in command position the completion
+completions.  This style can be used to give the names for these groups
+for particular tags.  For example, in command position the completion
 system generates names of builtin and external commands, names of
-aliases and shell functions and reserved words as possible
-completions. To have the external commands and shell functions listed
+aliases, shell functions and parameters and reserved words as possible
+completions.  To have the external commands and shell functions listed
 separately, one can set:
 
 example(zstyle ':completion:*:*:-command-:*:commands' group-name commands
@@ -914,13 +1266,15 @@ example(zstyle ':completion:*' group-name '')
 All matches for which no group name is defined will be put in a group
 named tt(-default-).
 )
+kindex(group-order, completion style)
 item(tt(group-order))(
-This style is to be used together with the tt(group-name) style. Once
+This style is to be used together with the tt(group-name) style.  Once
 different types of matches are put into different groups, this style
-can be used to define in which order these groups should appear in the 
-list. The strings in the value are taken as group names and the named
+can be used to define in which order these groups should appear when listing 
+(compare tt(tag-order), which determines which completions appear at
+all).  The strings in the value are taken as group names and the named
 groups will be shown in the order in which their names appear in the
-value. All groups whose names are not given in the value of this style 
+value.  All groups whose names are not given in the value of this style 
 will appear in the order defined by the function generating the
 matches.
 
@@ -928,233 +1282,385 @@ For example, to have names of builtin commands, shell functions and
 external commands appear in this order when completing in command
 position one would set:
 
-example(zstyle ':completion:*:*:-command-:*' group-order builtins functions commands)
+example(zstyle ':completion:*:*:-command-:*' group-order \ 
+       builtins functions commands)
 )
+kindex(groups, completion style)
 item(tt(groups))(
 A style holding the names of the groups that should be completed. If
 this is not set by the user, the group names from the YP database or
 the file `tt(/etc/group)' will be used.
 )
+kindex(hidden, completion style)
 item(tt(hidden))(
 If this is set to one of the `true' values, the matches for the tags
 for which this is set will not appear in the list; only the
 description for the matches as set with the tt(format) style will be
-shown. If this is set to tt(all), not even the description will be
+shown.  If this is set to `tt(all)', not even the description will be
 displayed.
 
-Note that the matches will still be completed, they are just not shown 
-in the list. To avoid having matches considered as possible
-completions at all the tt(tag-order) style can be modified as described
+Note that the matches will still be completed; they are just not shown 
+in the list.  To avoid having matches considered as possible
+completions at all, the tt(tag-order) style can be modified as described
 below.
 )
+kindex(hosts, completion style)
 item(tt(hosts))(
 A style holding the names of hosts that should be completed. If this
 is not set by the user the hostnames in `tt(/etc/hosts)' will be used.
 )
+kindex(hosts-ports, completion style)
 item(tt(hosts-ports))(
 This style is used by commands that need or accept hostnames and
-ports. The strings in the value should be of the form
-`var(host)tt(:)var(port)'. These hostnames and ports are completed
+ports.  The strings in the value should be of the form
+`var(host)tt(:)var(port)'.  These hostnames and ports are completed
 depending on the information already on the line, so that if, for
-example, the hostname is already typed, only those ports will be
-completed for which pairs with the hostname from the line exist.
-)
+example, the hostname is already typed, only those ports specified for that
+host will be completed.  Multiple ports for the same host may appear.
+)
+kindex(ignore-line, completion style)
+item(tt(ignore-line))(
+This style is tested for the tags used when generating matches.  If it
+is set to `true', then none of the words that are already on the line
+will be considered possible completions.  If it is set to
+`tt(current)', the word the cursor is on will not be considered a
+possible completion.  The same happens if the value is
+`tt(current-shown)', but only if the list of completions is currently
+shown on the screen.  Finally, if it is set to `tt(other)' all words
+except the current one will not be considered to be a possible
+completion.
+
+The values `tt(current)' and `tt(current-shown)' are a bit like the
+opposite of tt(accept-exact). They mean that only strings with
+missing characters will be completed.
+
+Note that you almost certainly don't want to set this to `true' or
+`tt(other)' for a general
+context such as `tt(:completion:*)'.  This is because it would disallow
+completion of, for example, options multiple times even if the command
+in question accepts the option more than once.
+)
+kindex(ignore-parents, completion style)
 item(tt(ignore-parents))(
-When completing files it is possible to make names of directories
-already mentioned on the line or the current working directory be
-ignored. The style is tested for the tt(files) tag and if its value
-contains the string tt(parent), then the name of any directory whose
-path is already contained in the word on the line is ignored. For
-example, when completing after tt(foo/../), the directory tt(foo) will
-not be considered a valid completion.
-
-If the style contains the string tt(pwd), then the name of the current 
-working directory will not be completed, so that, for example,
-completion after tt(../) will not use the name of the current
+The style is tested by the function completing pathnames without a tag to
+determine whether to ignore
+the names of directories already mentioned in the current word, or the
+name of the current working directory.  The value must include one or both
+of the following strings:
+
+startitem()
+item(tt(parent))(
+The name of any directory whose path is already contained in the word on
+the line is ignored.  For example, when completing after tt(foo/../), the
+directory tt(foo) will not be considered a valid completion.
+)
+item(tt(pwd))(
+The name of the current working directory will not be completed, so that,
+for example, completion after tt(../) will not use the name of the current
 directory.
+)
+enditem()
+
+In addition, the value may include one or both of:
 
-If the style contains the string tt(..) both tests will only be
-performed if the word on the line contains the substring tt(../) and
-if the value contains the string tt(directory), then the tests will
-only be performed if only names of directories are completed.
+startitem()
+item(tt(..))(
+Ignore the specified directories only when the word on the line contains
+the substring `tt(../)'.
+)
+item(tt(directory))(
+Ignore only when names of directories are completed, not when completing
+names of files.
+)
+enditem()
 
 Note that names of directories ignored because of one of the tests
-will be placed in the alternate set of completions so that they will
-be completed if there are no other possible completions.
+will be ignored in the same way as the matches ignored because of the
+tt(ignored-patterns) style.  I.e., by using the tt(_ignored) completer
+it is possible to complete these directories nonetheless.
 )
+kindex(ignored-patterns, completion style)
 item(tt(ignored-patterns))(
-This style is used with the tags used when adding matches and defines a
-couple of patterns. All matches that are matched by any of these
-patterns will be ignored as long as there are other matches not
-matched by any of the patterns.  It is a more configurable version
-of the shell parameter tt($fignore).
+This style can be used to specify a list of patterns which are tested
+against against the trial completions in a given context; any matching
+completions will be removed from the list of possibilities.  The
+tt(_ignored) completer can appear in the list of completers to produce a
+list which includes these matches once more.  This is a more configurable
+version of the shell parameter tt($fignore).
 
 Note that during the execution of completion functions, the
 tt(EXTENDED_GLOB) option is in effect, so the characters `tt(#)',
 `tt(~)' and `tt(^)' have special meanings in the patterns.
 )
+kindex(insert-ids, completion style)
+item(tt(insert-ids))(
+When completing process IDs, for example as arguments to the tt(kill) and
+tt(wait) builtins, completion allows the user to type the name of a
+command, which will be converted to the appropriate process ID.  A problem
+arises when the process name typed is not unique.  By default (or if this
+style is set explicitly to `tt(menu)') the name will be converted
+immediately to a set of possible IDs, and menu completion will be started
+to cycle through them.  If the value of the style is `tt(single)', however,
+the shell will wait until the user has typed enough to make the command
+unique before converting the name to an ID; the user must type any
+additional characters required.  If the value is any other string, menu
+completion will be started when the string typed by the user is longer than
+the common prefix of the corresponding IDs.
+)
+kindex(insert-tab, completion style)
+item(tt(insert-tab))(
+If this has one of the `true' values, the completion system will
+insert a TAB character (assuming it was used to start completion) instead
+of performing completion when there is no non-blank character to the left
+of the cursor.  If set to `false', completion will be done even there.
+
+The value may also contain the substrings `tt(pending)' or
+`tt(pending=)var(val)' to make the character typed to start completion 
+be inserted instead of completion being tried when there is input
+pending which has not yet been processed by the shell. If a var(val)
+is given, completion will not be done if there are at least that many
+characters of unprocessed input. This is often useful to have set when 
+pasting characters into a terminal. Note however, that it relies on
+the tt($PENDING) special parameter from the tt(zsh/zle) module being set
+properly which is not guaranteed on all platforms.
+
+The default value of this style is `true' unless when completing
+inside the tt(vared) builtin command, where it defaults to `false'.
+)
+kindex(insert-unambiguous, completion style)
 item(tt(insert-unambiguous))(
 This is used by the tt(_match) and tt(_approximate) completer
-functions. If it is set to `true', the completer will start menu
+functions, where the possible completions may not have a common prefix so
+that menu completion is often the most useful may of choosing completions.
+If the style is set to `true', the completer will start menu
 completion only if no unambiguous string could be generated that is at
-least as long as the original string from the line. Note that the
+least as long as the original string typed by the user.  Note that the
 tt(_approximate) completer uses it after setting the completer field
 in the context name to one of tt(correct-)var(num) or
 tt(approximate-)var(num), where var(num) is the number of errors that
 were accepted.
-)
+
+When used for the tt(_match) completer, the style may also be set to
+the string `tt(pattern)'.  This makes the pattern on the line be left
+unchanged if it didn't match unambiguously.
+)
+kindex(keep-prefix, completion style)
+item(tt(keep-prefix))(
+This style is used by the tt(_expand) completer.  If it is `true', the
+completer will try to keep a prefix containing a tilde or parameter
+expansion.  I.e., the string `tt(~/f*)' would be expanded to
+`tt(~/foo)' instead of `tt(/home/user/foo)'.  If the style is set to
+`tt(changed)' (the default), the prefix will only be left unchanged if
+there were other changes between the expanded words and the original
+word from the command line.  Any other value makes the prefix be
+expanded unconditionally.
+
+Note that with one of the `true' values, the tt(_expand) completer
+returns if there is only one expansion and that is, after restoring
+the original prefix, the same as the original word.  This means that
+other completers will be called immediately after tt(_expand).
+)
+kindex(last-prompt, completion style)
 item(tt(last-prompt))(
 This is used to determine if the completion code should try to put the
 cursor back onto the previous command line after showing a completion
-listing (as for the tt(ALWAYS_LAST_PROMPT) option). Like several other 
-styles it is tested for the tt(default) tag and all tags used when
-generating matches. The cursor will be moved back to the previous line 
-if this style is `true' for all types of matches added. Note also that 
-this is independent of the numeric argument -- unlike the
+listing (as for the tt(ALWAYS_LAST_PROMPT) option).  As with several other
+styles, it is tested for the tt(default) tag as well as all the possible
+tags when generating matches.  The cursor will be moved back to the
+previous line if this style is `true' for all types of matches added.  Note
+also that this is independent of the numeric argument, unlike the
 tt(ALWAYS_LAST_PROMPT) option.
 )
+kindex(list, completion style)
 item(tt(list))(
-This is used by the tt(_history_complete_word) bindable command
-(context `tt(:completion:history-words)') and by the
-tt(incremental-complete-word) widget (context `tt(:completion:incremental)).
-
-The tt(_history_complete_word) bindable command uses this style to
-decide if the available matches should be shown.
-
-When using the tt(incremental-complete-word) widget, this style says
-if the matches should be listed on every key press (if they fit on the 
-screen).
-
-The tt(predict-on) widget uses this style to decide if the completion
-should be shown even if there is only one possible completion. This is 
-done if the value of this style is the string tt(always).
+This style is used by the tt(_history_complete_word) bindable command.
+If it is set to `true' it has no effect, but if it is set to `false'
+the matches will not be listed, overriding the setting of the options
+that control listing behaviour, especially tt(AUTO_LIST). Use the
+context prefix `tt(:completion:history-words)'.
 )
+kindex(list-colors, completion style)
 item(tt(list-colors))(
 If the tt(zsh/complist) module is used, this style can be used to set
 color specifications as with the tt(ZLS_COLORS) and tt(ZLS_COLOURS)
-parameters (see
+parameters, which will not be honored under this completion system (see
 ifzman(the section `The zsh/complist Module' in zmanref(zshmodules))\
 ifnzman(noderef(The zsh/complist Module))\
 ).
 
 If this style is set for the tt(default) tag, the strings in the value 
-are taken as specifications that are to be used everywhere. If it is
+are taken as specifications that are to be used everywhere.  If it is
 set for other tags, the specifications are used only for matches of
-the type described by the tag. For this to work, the tt(group-name)
-style has to be set to an empty string. If the tt(group-name) tag
+the type described by the tag.  For this to work best, the tt(group-name)
+style must be set to an empty string.  If the tt(group-name) tag
 specifies other names for the groups the matches in these groups can
 be colored by using these names together with the `tt((group)...)'
 syntax described for the tt(ZLS_COLORS) and tt(ZLS_COLOURS) parameters 
 and adding the specifications to the value for this style with the
-tt(default) tag.
+tt(default) tag (although in most cases it should work by setting this 
+style for the appropriate tags).
 
-To be able to share the same specifications one has set up for the GNU
-version of the tt(ls) command one can use:
+It is possible to use the same specifications set up for the GNU
+version of the tt(ls) command:
 
 example(zstyle ':completion:*:default' list-colors ${(s.:.)LS_COLORS})
 
-And to get the default colors (which are the same as for the GNU
-tt(ls) command) one should set the style to an empty value.
+The default colors are the same as for the GNU tt(ls) command and can be
+obtained by setting the style to an empty string (i.e. tt('')).
 )
+kindex(list-packed, completion style)
 item(tt(list-packed))(
 Like the tt(list-colors) style, this is tested with the tt(default)
-tag and all tags used when generating matches. If it is set to `true'
+tag and all tags used when generating matches.  If it is set to `true'
 for a tag, the matches added for it will be listed as if the
-tt(LIST_PACKED) option were set for them. If it is set to `false',
+tt(LIST_PACKED) option were set.  If it is set to `false',
 they are listed normally.
 )
+kindex(list-prompt, completion style)
+item(tt(list-prompt))(
+If this style is set for the tt(default) tag,
+completion lists that don't fit on the screen can be scrolled (see
+ifzman(the description of the tt(zsh/complist) module in zmanref(zshmodules))\
+ifnzman(noderef(The zsh/complist Module))\
+).  The value, if not the empty string, will be displayed after every
+screenful and the shell will prompt for a key press; if the style is
+set to the empty string,
+a default prompt will be used.  The value may contain the escape sequences
+`tt(%l)' or `tt(%L)', which will be replaced by the number of the last line
+displayed and the total number of lines; `tt(%m)' or `tt(%M)', which will
+be replaced by the number of the  last match shown and the total number of
+matches; and `tt(%p)' and `tt(%P)', which will be replaced by `tt(Top)'
+when at the beginning of the list, `tt(Bottom)' when at the end and the
+position shown in percent of the total length otherwise.  In each of these
+cases the form with the uppercase letter is replaced by a string of fixed
+width, padded to the  right with spaces.  As in other prompt strings, the
+escape sequences `tt(%S)', `tt(%s)', `tt(%B)', `tt(%b)', `tt(%U)',
+`tt(%u)', and `tt(%{)...tt(%})' for entering and leaving the display modes
+standout, bold and underline are also available.
+)
+kindex(list-rows-first, completion style)
 item(tt(list-rows-first))(
-This style is tested like the tt(list-packed) style and determines if
-matches are to be listed in a rows-first fashion, as for the
+This style is tested in the same way as the tt(list-packed) style and
+determines if matches are to be listed in a rows-first fashion, as for the
 tt(LIST_ROWS_FIRST) option.
 )
+kindex(list-suffixes, completion style)
+item(tt(list-suffixes))(
+This style is used by the function used to complete filenames.  If
+completion is attempted on a string containing multiple partially
+typed pathname components and this style is set to `true', all
+components starting with the first one for which more than one match
+could be generated will be shown.
+)
+kindex(local, completion style)
 item(tt(local))(
 This style is used by completion functions which generate URLs as
 possible matches to add suitable matches when a URL points to a
-local web server. Its value should consist of three strings: a
+local web server, that is, one whose files are available directly on the
+local file system.  Its value should consist of three strings: a
 hostname, the path to the default web pages for the server and the
 directory name used by a user placing web pages within their home
-area.
+area.  For example, completion after `tt(http://toast/~yousir/)' will
+attempt to match the name `tt(toast)' against the first argument to the
+style, and if successful will look in the directory under tt(~yousir) given
+by the third argument to the style for possible completions.
 )
+kindex(match-original, completion style)
 item(tt(match-original))(
 This is used by the tt(_match) completer.  If it is set to
 tt(only), tt(_match) will try to generate matches without inserting a
 `tt(*)' at the cursor position.  If set to any other non-empty value,
 it will first try to generate matches without inserting the `tt(*)'
 and if that yields no matches, it will try again with the `tt(*)'
-inserted.
+inserted.  If it is unset or set to the empty string, matching will
+only be done with the `tt(*)' inserted.
 )
+kindex(matcher, completion style)
 item(tt(matcher))(
-This style is tested for tags used when generating matches. Its value
-is used as an additional match specification to use when adding the
-matches as described in
+This style is tested for tags used when generating matches.  Its value
+is used as an match specification additional to any given by the
+tt(matcher-list) style which should be in the form described in
 ifzman(the section `Matching Control' in zmanref(zshcompwid))\
 ifnzman(noderef(Matching Control))\
 .
 )
+kindex(matcher-list, completion style)
 item(tt(matcher-list))(
 This style is used by the main completion function to retrieve match
-specifications that are to be used everywhere. Its value should be a
-list of such specifications. The completion system will try them one
+specifications that are to be used everywhere.  Its value should be a
+list of such specifications.  The completion system will try them one
 after another for each completer selected. For example, to first try
 simple completion and, if that generates no matches, case-insensitive
 completion one would do:
 
 example(zstyle ':completion:*' matcher-list '' 'm:{a-zA-Z}={A-Za-z}')
 
-But the style allows even finer control: the style is looked up for
-every completer tried with the name of the completer (without the
-leading underscore) in the context name. For example, if one uses the
-completers tt(_complete) and tt(_prefix) and wants to try
-case-insensitive completion only when using the tt(_complete)
-completer, one would do:
+By default every specification replaces previous ones. If specification
+is prefixed with tt(+), it is added to the existing list. This allows
+testing more general patterns without repeating the whole list every
+time, as in:
+
+example(zstyle ':completion:*' matcher-list '' '+m{a-Z}={A-Z}' '+m{A-Z}={a-z}')
+
+The style allows even finer control by specifying a particular completer,
+without the leading underscore, in the third field of the completion
+context.  For example, if one uses the completers tt(_complete) and
+tt(_prefix) but wants to try case-insensitive completion only when using
+the tt(_complete) completer, one would do:
 
 example(zstyle ':completion:*' completer _complete _prefix
-zstyle ':completion:*:complete*:*' matcher-list '' 'm:{a-zA-Z}={A-Za-z}')
+zstyle ':completion:*:complete:*' matcher-list \ 
+       '' 'm:{a-zA-Z}={A-Za-z}')
 
-Note that there is no colon directly after the `tt(complete)'. That's
-because the completion system really uses the name of the completer
-followed by a minus sign and a number in the var(completer) field of
-the context name. This is useful if, for example, one wants to try
+Note that the tt(completer) style allows user-defined names to 
+be used in the context instead of the name of the completer.
+This is useful if, for example, one wants to try
 normal completion without a match specification and with
 case-insensitive matching first, correction if that doesn't generate
 any matches and partial-word completion if that doesn't yield any
-matches either. In such a case one can give the tt(_complete)
+matches either.  In this case one can give the tt(_complete)
 completer more than once in the tt(completer) style and define different
-match specifications for them, as in:
+match specifications for each occurrence, as in:
 
-example(zstyle ':completion:*' completer _complete _correct _complete
-zstyle ':completion:*:complete-1:*' matcher-list '' 'm:{a-zA-Z}={A-Za-z}'
-zstyle ':completion:*:complete-2:*' matcher-list \
+example(zstyle ':completion:*' completer _complete _correct _complete:foo
+zstyle ':completion:*:complete:*' matcher-list \ 
+    '' 'm:{a-zA-Z}={A-Za-z}'
+zstyle ':completion:*:foo:*' matcher-list \ 
     'm:{a-zA-Z}={A-Za-z} r:|[-_./]=* r:|=*')
 
-Note that in any case an unset style makes the completion code use no
-global match specification. Also, some completers (like tt(_correct)
-and tt(_approximate)) do not use the match specifications. But even if 
-such completers are used one can use the simple form to set this style 
-(as in the first example above) because such completers will make sure 
-that they are executed only once even if multiple match specifications 
-have been given.
+If the style is unset in any context no match specification is applied;
+further, some completers such as tt(_correct) and tt(_approximate) do not
+use the match specifications at all.  However, it is always safe
+to use the simple form for this style (as in the first example above),
+since any completers which do not use match specifications will only ever
+be called once, rather than once per specification.
+
+Since the specification-strings in this style have to be tried one after
+another, it is a good idea to keep their number low.  In most cases
+one to three strings (each of which may, without to large a performance 
+hit, consist of more than one single match specification) will give
+acceptable performance.
 )
+kindex(max-errors, completion style)
 item(tt(max-errors))(
 This is used by the tt(_approximate) and tt(_correct) completer functions
-to determine the maximum number of errors to accept. The completer will try
+to determine the maximum number of errors to allow.  The completer will try
 to generate completions by first allowing one error, then two errors, and
-so on, until either a match was found or the maximum number of errors
-given by this style has been reached.
+so on, until either a match or matches were found or the maximum number of
+errors given by this style has been reached.
 
-If the value for this style contains the string tt(numeric), the 
+If the value for this style contains the string `tt(numeric)', the 
 completer function will take any numeric argument as the
 maximum number of errors allowed. For example, with
 
 example(zstyle ':completion:*:approximate:::' max-errors 2 numeric)
 
-two errors will be allowed if no numeric argument is given. However,
-with a numeric argument of six (as in `tt(ESC-6 TAB)'), up to six
+two errors are allowed if no numeric argument is given, but with
+a numeric argument of six (as in `tt(ESC-6 TAB)'), up to six
 errors are accepted.  Hence with a value of `tt(0 numeric)', no correcting
 completion will be attempted unless a numeric argument is given.
 
-If the value contains the string tt(not-numeric), the completer
+If the value contains the string `tt(not-numeric)', the completer
 will em(not) try to generate corrected
 completions when given a numeric argument, so in this case the number given
 should be greater than zero.  For example, `tt(2 not-numeric)' specifies that
@@ -1164,49 +1670,69 @@ performed.
 
 The default value for this style is `tt(2 numeric)'.
 )
+kindex(menu, completion style)
 item(tt(menu))(
-This style is tested for the tt(default) tag and the tags used when
-adding matches. The value should be one of the `true' values (tt(yes), 
-tt(true), tt(1), or tt(on)) if menu completion should be started when
-matches for the given tag (or always in case of the tt(default) tag)
-are generated. If none of these values is defined for any of the tags
-used, but for at least one of these tags the value is the string
-tt(auto), this says that the same behavior as for the tt(AUTO_MENU)
-option should be used. Finally, if menucompletion is started by some 
-other means (e.g. by setting the tt(MENU_COMPLETE) option) and the
-value for one of the tags used is `false' (i.e. tt(no), tt(false),
-tt(0), or tt(off)), then menucompletion will em(not) be started for
-this completion. Note that the values defined for normal tags
-override the value set for the tt(default) tag.
-
-Either instead of or in addition to one of the values above, the value
-for this style may also contain the string tt(select), optionally
-followed by an equal sign and a number. In this case menuselection
-(as defined by the tt(zsh/computil) module) will be started. Without the
-optional number, it will be started unconditionally and with a number
-it will be started only if at least that many matches are generated
-(if the values for more than one tag define such a number, the
-smallest one is taken). Starting menuselection can explicitly be
-turned off by defining a value containing the string
-tt(no-select).
-)
+If this is set to true in a given context, using any of the tags defined
+for a given completion, menu completion will be used.  The tag
+`tt(default)' can be used to set the default value, but a specific tag will take
+precedence.  If none of the values found in this way is true but at least
+one is set to `tt(auto)' the behaviour will be as for the tt(AUTO_MENU)
+option.  Finally, if one of the values is explicitly set to false, menu
+completion will be turned off even if it would otherwise be active (for
+example, with the tt(MENU_COMPLETE) option).
+
+Using the form `tt(yes=)var(num)', where `tt(yes)' may be any of the
+true values (`tt(yes)', `tt(true)', `tt(on)' and `tt(1)') turns on
+menu completion if there at least var(num) matches.  Using this for one
+of the `false' values (as in `tt(no=10)') makes menu completion
+em(not) be used if there are var(num) or more matches.  Of course,
+this is only useful when menu completion is normally used, e.g. by
+setting the tt(MENU_COMPLETE) option.  The `true' values may also be
+used in the form `tt(yes=long)' to turn on menu completion
+if the list does not fit onto the screen.  This will start menu
+completion only if normal completion was attempted, not when only the
+list of possible completions was requested.  To start menu completion
+even then, the value `tt(yes=long-list)' can be used.
+
+In addition to (or instead of) the above possibilities, the value may
+contain the string `tt(select)', optionally followed by an equals sign and a
+number.  In this case menu selection (as defined by the tt(zsh/complist)
+module) will be started.  Without the optional number, it will be started
+unconditionally and with a number it will be started only if at least that
+many matches are generated; if the values for more than one tag provide a
+number, the smallest number is taken.  Menu selection can be turned off
+explicitly by defining a value containing the string `tt(no-select)'.
+
+It is also possible to start menu selection only if the list of
+matches does not fit on the screen by using the value
+`tt(select=long)'.  This will only start menu selection if the widget
+invoked does completion, not simply listing as done by
+tt(delete-char-or-list); to start menu selection even here, use the value
+`tt(select=long-list)'.
+
+To turn on menu completion or menu selection when a certain number of
+matches is generated em(or) the list of matches does not fit onto the
+screen, both of `tt(yes=)' and `tt(select=)' can be given twice, once
+with a number and once with `tt(long)' or `tt(long-list)'.
+)
+kindex(numbers, completion style)
 item(tt(numbers))(
-This is used with the tt(jobs) tag. If it is `true', the completions
-will use the job numbers instead of the shortest unambiguous strings
-of the jobs' command lines. If the value is a number, job numbers will 
-only be used if for at least one of the jobs that many (or more) words 
-from the command line string have to be used to make the strings
-unambiguous. E.g. if it is set to `tt(1)', strings will only be used
-if all jobs differ in the first word on their command lines.
-)
+This is used with the tt(jobs) tag.  If it is `true', the shell will
+complete the job numbers instead of the shortest unambiguous strings
+of the jobs' command lines.  If the value is a number, job numbers will
+only be used if that many words from the job descriptions are required to
+resolve ambiguities.  For example, if the value is `tt(1)', strings will
+only be used if all jobs differ in the first word on their command lines.
+)
+kindex(old-list, completion style)
 item(tt(old-list))(
-This is used by the tt(_oldlist) completer.  If this is set to tt(always),
+This is used by the tt(_oldlist) completer.  If it is set to `tt(always)',
 then standard widgets which perform listing will retain the current list of
-matches, however they were generated.  If it is set to tt(never), this will
-not be done (the behaviour without the tt(_oldlist) completer).  If it is
-unset, or any other value, then the existing list of completions will
-be displayed if it is not already; otherwise, the standard completion
-list will be generated:  this is the default behaviour of
+matches, however they were generated; this can be turned off explicitly
+with the value `tt(never)', giving the behaviour without the tt(_oldlist)
+completer.  If the style is unset, or any other value, then the existing
+list of completions is displayed if it is not already; otherwise, the
+standard completion list is generated; this is the default behaviour of
 tt(_oldlist).  However, if there is an old list and this style contains
 the name of the completer function that generated the list, then the
 old list will be used even if it was generated by a widget which does
@@ -1220,331 +1746,440 @@ tt(_oldlist), it will instead show the list of corrections already
 generated.
 
 As another example consider the tt(_match) completer: with the
-tt(insert-unambiguous) style set to `true' it inserts only an
-unambiguous prefix string if there is any. But since this may remove
-parts of the original pattern, attempting completion again may result
-in more matches than on the first attempt. But by using the
-tt(_oldlist) completer and setting this style to tt(_match), the list of 
-matches generated on the first attempt will be used again.
+tt(insert-unambiguous) style set to `true' it inserts only a common prefix
+string, if there is any.  However, this may remove parts of the original
+pattern, so that further completion could produce more matches than on the
+first attempt.  By using the tt(_oldlist) completer and setting this style
+to tt(_match), the list of matches generated on the first attempt will be
+used again.
+)
+kindex(old-matches, completion style)
+item(tt(old-matches))(
+This is used by the tt(_all_matches) completer to decide if an old
+list of matches should be used if one exists.  It may be set to one of 
+the `true' values or to the string `tt(only)' to use such a list.  If
+it is set to `tt(only)', tt(_all_matches) will only use an old list
+and won't have any effect on the list of matches currently being
+generated.
 )
+kindex(old-menu, completion style)
 item(tt(old-menu))(
-This is used by the tt(_oldlist) completer. Here it controls how menu
+This is used by the tt(_oldlist) completer.  It controls how menu
 completion behaves when a completion has already been inserted and the
-user types a standard completion key type such as tt(TAB). The default
+user types a standard completion key type such as tt(TAB).  The default
 behaviour of tt(_oldlist) is that menu completion always continues
 with the existing list of completions.  If this style is set to
 `false', however, a new completion is started if the old list was
-generated by a different completion command (the behaviour without the 
-tt(_oldlist) completer).
+generated by a different completion command; this is the behaviour without
+the  tt(_oldlist) completer.
 
 For example, suppose you type tt(^Xc) to generate a list of corrections,
-and menu completion is started in one of the usual ways.  Usually, typing
-tt(TAB) at this point would start trying to complete the line as it now
-appears.  With tt(_oldlist), it will instead continue to cycle through the
-list of completions.
+and menu completion is started in one of the usual ways.  Usually, or with
+this style set to tt(false), typing tt(TAB) at this point would start
+trying to complete the line as it now appears.  With tt(_oldlist), it
+instead continues to cycle through the list of corrections.
 )
+kindex(original, completion style)
 item(tt(original))(
 This is used by the tt(_approximate) and tt(_correct)
 completers to decide if the original string should be added as
-one possible completion. Normally, this is done only if there are
+one possible completion.  Normally, this is done only if there are
 at least two possible corrections, but if this style is set to `true', it
-will always be added. Note that these completers use this style after
+is always added.  Note that these completers use this style after
 setting the completer field in the context name to
 tt(correct-)var(num) or tt(approximate-)var(num), where var(num) is
 the number of errors that were accepted.
 )
+kindex(packageset, completion style)
 item(tt(packageset))(
-A style containing an override for the default package set
-for that context.  For example,
+This style is used when completing arguments of the Debian `tt(dpkg)'
+program.  It contains an override for the default package set
+for a given context.  For example,
 
-example(zstyle ':completion:*:complete:dpkg:--status-1:' packageset avail)
+example(zstyle ':completion:*:complete:dpkg:option--status-1:*' \ 
+               packageset avail)
 
-will cause available packages, rather than only installed packages,
+causes available packages, rather than only installed packages,
 to be completed for `dpkg --status'.
 )
+kindex(path, completion style)
 item(tt(path))(
-This is used together with the the tt(urls) tag by completion
-functions that generate URLs as possible matches. It should be set to
-the path of a directory containing sub-directories named like
-`tt(http)', `tt(ftp)', `tt(bookmark)', and so on. These
-sub-directories should contain files and other sub-directories whose
-pathnames are possible completions after the initial `tt(http://)',
-`tt(ftp://)', etc. See the description in the file tt(_urls) in the
-tt(User) sub-directory of the completion system for more information.
-
-Also, the function that completes color names uses this style with the 
-tt(colors) tag. Here, the value should be the pathname of a file
-containing color names in the format of an X11 tt(rgb.txt) file. That
-file (if it can be found) will be used as the default if the style is
-not set.
+The function that completes color names uses this style with the 
+tt(colors) tag.  The value should be the pathname of a file
+containing color names in the format of an X11 tt(rgb.txt) file.  If
+the style is not set but this file is found in one of various standard
+locations it will be used as the default.
 )
+kindex(ports, completion style)
 item(tt(ports))(
-A style holding the service names of ports to complete. If this is
+A style holding the service names of ports to complete.  If this is
 not set by the user, the service names from `tt(/etc/services)' will
 be used.
 )
-item(tt(prefer-ignored))(
-This style is tested by the main completion function before calling a
-completer. The context name is formed in the same way as for the
-tt(matcher-list) style, i.e. it contains the name of the completer
-that will be called plus a hyphen and the number of the call to that
-completer.
-
-If the style is set to true and completion did not generate any normal 
-matches yet, but there are matches that were ignored because they
-matched one of the patterns given with the tt(fignore) array or the
-tt(ignored-patterns) style, these ignored matches are used immediatly
-and no other completer will be called.
-
-It is sometimes useful to set this style for the tt(correct) or
-tt(approximate) completer so that ignored matches are prefered over
-corrections.
-
-example(zstyle ':completion:*:complete-2:*' prefer-ignored yes
-zstyle ':completion:*:(correct|approximate)-1:*' prefer-ignored yes)
-)
+kindex(prefix-hidden, completion style)
 item(tt(prefix-hidden))(
 This is used when matches with a common prefix are added (e.g. option
-names). If it is `true', this prefix will not be shown in the list of
+names).  If it is `true', this prefix will not be shown in the list of
 matches.
 
 The default value for this style is `false'.
 )
+kindex(prefix-needed, completion style)
 item(tt(prefix-needed))(
-This, too, is used for matches with a common prefix. If it is set to
+This, too, is used for matches with a common prefix.  If it is set to
 `true' this common prefix has to be typed by the user to generate the
-matches. E.g. for options this means that the `tt(-)', `tt(+)', or
+matches.  E.g. for options this means that the `tt(-)', `tt(+)', or
 `tt(-)tt(-)' has to be on the line to make option names be completed at
 all.
 
 The default style for this style is `true'.
 )
-item(tt(prompt))(
-The tt(incremental-complete-word) widget shows the value of this
-style in the status line during incremental completion. The sequence
-`tt(%u)' is replaced by the unambiguous part of all matches if there
-is any and it is different from the word on the line. A `tt(%s)' is
-replaced with `tt(-no match-)', `tt(-no prefix-)', or an empty string
-if there is no completion matching the word on the line, if the
-matches have no common prefix different from the word on the line or
-if there is such a common prefix, respectively. The sequence `tt(%c)'
-is replaced by the name of the completer function that generated the
-matches (without the leading underscore). Finally, `tt(%n)' is
-replaced by the number of matches generated, `tt(%a)' is replaced by
-an empty string if the matches are in the normal set (i.e. the one
-without file names with one of the suffixes from the
-tt(ignored-suffixes) style) and with `tt( -alt-)' if the matches are
-in the alternate set, and if the tt(list) style is set, `tt(%l)' is
-replaced by `tt(...)' if the list of matches is too long to fit on the
-screen and with an empty string otherwise. If the tt(list) style is
-`false', `tt(%l)' will always be removed.
-)
+kindex(range, completion style)
+item(tt(range))(
+This is used by the tt(_history) completer and the
+tt(_history_complete_word) bindable command to decide which words
+should be completed.  It may be set to a number, var(N), to say that
+only the last var(N) words from the history should be completed.  The
+value may also be of the form `var(max)tt(:)var(slice)'.  This means
+that first the last var(slice) words will be completed.  If that
+yields no matches, the var(slice) words before those will be tried and 
+so on, until either at least one match is generated or var(max) words
+have been tried.  The default is to complete all words from the
+history at once.
+)
+kindex(regular, completion style)
+item(tt(regular))(
+This style is used by the tt(_expand_alias) completer and bindable 
+command.  If set to `true' (the default), regular aliases will be
+expanded but only in command position.  If it is set to `false', regular
+aliases will never be expanded and if it is set to the string
+`tt(always)', regular aliases will be expanded even if not in command
+position.
+)
+kindex(remove-all-dups, completion style)
 item(tt(remove-all-dups))(
-The tt(_history_complete_word) bindable command uses this to decide if 
-all duplicate matches should be removed, rather than just consecutive
-duplicates.
-)
+The tt(_history_complete_word) bindable command and the tt(_history)
+completer use this to decide if all duplicate matches should be
+removed, rather than just consecutive duplicates.
+)
+kindex(select-prompt, completion style)
+item(tt(select-prompt))(
+If this is set for the tt(default) tag, its
+value will be displayed during menu selection (see the tt(menu) style
+above) when the completion list does not fit on the screen as a
+whole.  The same escapes as for the tt(list-prompt) style are
+understood, but give the number of the match or line the mark is
+on.  A default prompt is used when the value is the empty string.
+)
+kindex(select-scroll, completion style)
+item(tt(select-scroll))(
+This style is tested for the tt(default) tag and determines how a
+completion list is scrolled during a menu selection (see the tt(menu)
+style above) when the completion list does not fit on the screen as a
+whole.  Its value should be `tt(0)' (zero) to scroll by
+half-screenfuls, a positive integer to scroll by that many lines and a
+negative number to scroll by the number of lines of the screen minus
+that number (or plus the number, since it is negative).  The default is to
+scroll by single lines.
+)
+kindex(single-ignored, completion style)
 item(tt(single-ignored))(
-Using styles like tt(ignored-patterns) allows one to put some matches
-in the alternate set of matches which is only used if there are no
-`normal' matches. Having only one such normally ignored match is often 
-a special case because one probably doesn't want that match to be
-inserted immediatly. This style allows to configure what to do in such 
-a case. If its value is tt(show), the single match will only be shown, 
-not inserted. If the value is tt(menu), then the single match and the
-original string are both added as matches and menucompletion is
-started so that one can easily select either of them.
-)
+This is used by the tt(_ignored) completer.  It specifies what
+should be done if it can generate only one match, which is often a
+special case.  If its value is `tt(show)', the single match will be
+displayed but not inserted.  If the value is `tt(menu)', then the single
+match and the original string are both added as matches and menu completion
+is started so that one can easily select either of them.
+)
+kindex(sort, completion style)
 item(tt(sort))(
 If set to `true', completion functions that generate words from the
 history as possible matches sort these words alphabetically instead of
 keeping them in the order in which they appear in the history (from
 youngest to oldest).
 
-The completion function that generates filenames as possible matches
-uses this style with the tt(files) tag to determine in which order the 
-names should be listed and completed when using menucompletion. The
-value may be one of tt(size) to sort them by the size of the file,
-tt(links) to sort them by the number of links to the file,
-tt(modification) (or tt(time) or tt(date)) to sort them by the last
-modification time, tt(access) to sort them by the last access time, or 
-tt(inode) (or tt(change)) to sort them by the last inode change
-time. Any other value (or not setting this style at all) makes them be 
-sorted alphabetically by name. If the value contains the string
-tt(reverse), sorting is done in decreasing order.
-
-This is also used by the tt(_expand) completer. Here, if it is set to
-`true', the expansions generated will always be sorted. If it is set
-to tt(menu), then the expansions are only sorted when they are offered 
+This is also used by the tt(_expand) completer.  Here, if it is set to
+`true', the expansions generated will always be sorted.  If it is set
+to `tt(menu)', then the expansions are only sorted when they are offered 
 as single strings (not in the string containing all possible
 expansions).
 )
+kindex(special-dirs, completion style)
 item(tt(special-dirs))(
 Normally, the completion code will not produce the directory names
-tt(.) and tt(..) as possible completions. If this style is set to
-`true', it will add both `tt(.)' and `tt(..)' as possible completions,
-if it is set to tt(..), only `tt(..)' will be added.
+`tt(.)' and `tt(..)' as possible completions.  If this style is set to
+`true', it will add both `tt(.)' and `tt(..)' as possible completions;
+if it is set to `tt(..)', only `tt(..)' will be added.
 )
+kindex(squeeze-slashes, completion style)
 item(tt(squeeze-slashes))(
-If set to `true', sequences of slashes (like in `tt(foo//bar)') will be
-treated as if they were only one slash when completing pathnames.
+If set to `true', sequences of slashes (as in `tt(foo//bar)') will be
+treated as if they were only one slash when completing pathnames.  This
+is the usual behaviour of UNIX paths.  However, by default the file
+completion function behaves as if there were a `tt(*)' between
+the slashes.
 )
+kindex(stop, completion style)
 item(tt(stop))(
 If set to `true', the tt(_history_complete_word) bindable
-command will always insert matches as if menucompletion were started
-and it will stop when the last match is inserted. If this style is set
-to tt(verbose) a message will be displayed when the last match is reached.
-
-This style is also used by the tt(incremental-complete-word)
-widget. Here its value is used like the one for the tt(break)
-style. But all keys matching the pattern given as its value will stop
-incremental completion and will then execute their usual function.
-)
+command will stop once when reaching the beginning or end of the
+history.  Invoking tt(_history_complete_word) will then wrap around to 
+the opposite end of the history.  If this style is set to `false' (the 
+default), tt(_history_complete_word) will loop immediately as in a
+menu completion.
+)
+kindex(subst-globs-only, completion style)
+item(tt(subst-globs-only))(
+This is used by the tt(_expand) completer.  If it is set to `true',
+the expansion will only be used if it resulted from globbing; hence,
+if expansions resulted from the use of the tt(substitute) style
+described below, but these were not further changed by globbing, the
+expansions will be rejected.
+
+The default for this style is `false'.
+)
+kindex(substitute, completion style)
 item(tt(substitute))(
-If this is unset or set to the empty string, the tt(_expand) completer
-will first try to expand all substitutions in the string (such as
-`tt($LPAR()...RPAR())' and `tt(${...})'). If this is set to an
-non-empty string it should be an expression usable inside a `tt($((...)))'
-arithmetical expression. In this case, expansion of substitutions will
-be done if the expression evaluates to `tt(1)'. For example, with
-
-example(zstyle ':completion:*:expand:::' substitute '${NUMERIC:-1} != 1')
-
-substitution will be performed only if given an explicit numeric
-argument other than `tt(1)', as by typing `tt(ESC 2 TAB)'.
-)
+This boolean style controls whether the tt(_expand) completer will
+first try to expand all substitutions in the string (such as
+`tt($LPAR()...RPAR())' and `tt(${...})').
+
+The default is `true'.
+)
+kindex(suffix, completion style)
+item(tt(suffix))(
+This is used by the tt(_expand) completer if the word starts with a
+tilde or contains a parameter expansion. If it is set to `true', the word will
+only be expanded if it doesn't have a suffix, i.e. if it is something
+like `tt(~foo)' or `tt($foo)', but not if it is `tt(~foo/)' or
+`tt($foo/bar)', unless that suffix itself contains characters eligible
+for expansion.  The default for this style is `true'.
+)
+kindex(tag-order, completion style)
 item(tt(tag-order))(
 This provides a mechanism for sorting how the tags available in a
 particular context will be used.
 
 The values for the style are sets of space-separated lists of tags.
 The tags in each value will be tried at the same time; if no match is
-found, the next value is used.
+found, the next value is used.  (See the tt(file-patterns) style for
+an exception to this behavior.)
 
-For example (with the tt(file-patterns) style not set for tt(gunzip)),
+For example:
 
-example(zstyle ':completion:*:complete:gunzip:*' tag-order \ 
-    'globbed-files directories' all-files)
+example(zstyle ':completion:*:complete:-command-:*' tag-order \ 
+    'commands functions')
 
-specifies that, when completing arguments of the command tt(gunzip),
-files generated by patterns (in this case, those ending in tt(.gz)) and
-any directories will be presented first, and if that fails, any other files
-will be tried.  A string starting with an exclamation mark (`tt(!)')
-specifies names of tags that are not to be used -- the effect will be
-the same as if all other possible tags for the context had been
-listed.  If any string in the value consists of only a hyphen
-(`tt(-)'), then only the tags selected by the other strings will be
-generated.  Normally all tags not explicitly selected will be tried at
-the end if the selected tags did not generate any matches.  This means 
-that a value of only one hyphen turns off completion in a particular
-context.
+specifies that completion in command position should offer only
+completions for external commands and shell functions immediately.
+
+In addition to tag names, each string in the value may take one of the
+following forms:
 
+startitem()
+item(tt(-))(
+If any string in the value consists of only a hyphen,
+then em(only) the tags specified by the other strings in the value are
+generated.  Normally all tags not explicitly selected are tried last
+if the specified tags fail to generate any matches.  This means 
+that a value consisting only of a single hyphen turns off completion.
+)
+item(tt(!) var(tags)...)(
+A string starting with an exclamation mark
+specifies names of tags that are em(not) to be used.  The effect is
+the same as if all other possible tags for the context had been
+listed.
+)
+item(var(tag)tt(:)var(label) ...)(
 In strings not starting with an exclamation mark, it is also possible
-to specify tag aliases instead of only tags. These are of the form
-`var(tag)tt(:)var(alias)', where var(tag) is one of the tags offered
-by the completion function for the current context and var(alias) is a 
-name. For this, the completion function will generate matches in the
-same way as for the var(tag) but it will use the var(alias) in place
-of the tag in the context names used to look up styles. This can be
+to specify tag labels instead of only tags, where var(tag) is one of
+the tags offered
+by the completion function for the current context and var(label) is a 
+name.  For this, the completion function will generate matches in the
+same way as for the var(tag) but it will use the var(label) in place
+of the tag in the context names used to look up styles.  If the
+var(label) starts with a hyphen, the var(tag) is prepended to the
+var(label) to form the name used for lookup.  This can be
 used to make the completion system try a certain tag more than once,
-supplying different style settings for each attempt. For example,
-
-example(zstyle ':completion:*:*:-command-:*' tag-order 'functions:-non-comp'
-zstyle '*:-non-comp' ignored-patterns '_*')
-
-Makes completion in command position first try only names of shell
-functions that don't match the pattern `tt(_*)'. If that generates no
-matches, the default of trying all the other things that can be
-completed in command position is used, including the names of all
-shell functions. Note that the var(alias) used in this example
-`tt(-non-comp)' with the hyphen at the bginning is not in any way
-special to the completion system. But since no other tag starts with a 
-hyphen, using such a name allows to use a context pattern as short as
-the one in the second line without making it ambiguous.
-
-The var(alias) may optionally be followed by a second colon and a
-description. This description will then be used for the `tt(%d)' in
+supplying different style settings for each attempt, see below for an
+example.
+
+The var(label) may optionally be followed by a second colon and a
+description.  This description will then be used for the `tt(%d)' in
 the value of the tt(format) style instead of the default description
-supplied by the completion function. Spaces in the description have to 
+supplied by the completion function.  Spaces in the description have to 
 be quoted by preceding them with a backslash and a `tt(%d)' appearing
 in the description is replaced with the description given by the
 completion function.
+)
+enditem()
 
-Strings in the value may also be of the form `var(func)tt(())'. In
-this case the function var(func) will be called which can then define
-in which order tags are to be used based on additional context
-information. See the tt(_sort_tags) function below for a description
-of how such functions can be implemented. The return value of the
-function is used to decide if the following values for the style
-should be used. If it is zero, they are used and if it is non-zero,
-they are not used. For example:
-
-example(non-empty() { [[ -n $PREFIX ]] }
-zstyle ':completion:*:*:-command-:*' tag-order 'non-empty()')
-
-Makes completion in command position happen only if the string on the
-line is not empty (this is tested using the tt(PREFIX)
-parameter which is special in completion widgets, see
+In each of the cases above, the tag may also be a pattern or more than 
+one pattern inside braces and separated by commas.  In this
+case all of the offered tags matching the pattern(s) will be used except 
+for those that are given explicitly in the same string.  There are
+probably two main uses of this.  One is the case where one wants to try
+one of the tags more than once, setting other styles differently for
+each try, but still wants to use all the other tags without having to
+repeat them all.  For example, to make completion of function names in
+command position ignore all the completion functions starting with an
+underscore the first time completion is tried, one could do:
+
+example(zstyle ':completion:*:*:-command-:*' tag-order \ 
+    'functions:-non-comp *' functions
+zstyle ':completion:*:functions-non-comp' ignored-patterns '_*')
+
+Here, the completion system will first try all tags offered, but will
+use the tag label tt(functions-non-comp) when looking up styles for
+the function names completed.  For this, the tt(ignored-patterns) style 
+is set to exclude functions starting with an underscore from the set
+of possible matches.  If none of the generated matches match the string 
+on the line, the completion system will use the second value of the
+tt(tag-order) style and complete functions names again, but this time
+using the name tt(functions) to look up styles, so that the
+tt(ignored-patterns) style is not used and all function names
+are considered.
+
+Of course, this can also be used to split the matches for one tag into 
+different groups. For example:
+
+example(zstyle ':completion:*' tag-order \ 
+    'options:-long:long\ options
+     options:-short:short\ options
+     options:-single-letter:single\ letter\ options'
+
+zstyle ':completion:*:options-long' ignored-patterns '[-+](|-|[^-]*)'
+zstyle ':completion:*:options-short' ignored-patterns '--*' '[-+]?'
+zstyle ':completion:*:options-single-letter' ignored-patterns '???*')
+
+With the tt(group-names) style set, this makes options beginning with
+`tt(-)tt(-)', options beginning with a single `tt(-)' or `tt(+)' but
+containing multiple characters, and single-letter options be displayed
+in separate groups with different descriptions.
+
+The second interesting use of patterns is the case where one wants to
+try multiple match specifications one after another.  The
+tt(matcher-list) style offers something similar, but it is tested very
+early in the completion system and hence can't be set for single
+commands nor for more specific contexts.  Here is how to
+try normal completion without any match specification and, if that
+generates no matches, try again with case-insensitive matching, restricting
+the effect to arguments of the command tt(foo):
+example(zstyle ':completion:*:*:foo:*' tag-order '*' '*:-case'
+zstyle ':completion:*-case' matcher 'm:{a-z}={A-Z}')
+
+First, all the tags offered when completing after tt(foo) are tried using
+the normal tag name.  If that generates no matches, the second value of
+tt(tag-order) is used, which tries all tags again except that this time
+each has tt(-case) appended to its name for lookup of styles.  Hence this
+time the value for the tt(matcher) style from the second call to tt(zstyle)
+in the example is used to make completion case-insensitive.
+
+Using the tt(-e) option of the tt(zstyle) builtin command, it is
+possible to specify conditions saying when certain tags are to be
+used. For example:
+
+example(zstyle -e '*:-command-:*' tag-order '
+    if [[ -n $PREFIX ]]; then
+      reply=( )
+    else
+      reply=( - )
+    fi')
+
+Makes completion in command position happen only if the string on 
+the line is not empty.  This is tested using the tt(PREFIX)
+parameter which is special in completion widgets; see
 ifzman(zshcompwid)\
-ifnzman(the section noderef(Completion System))\
-)\
-for a description of these special parameters).
-
-If no style has been defined for a context, the strings tt(arguments
-values) and tt(options) plus all tags offered by the completion
-function will be used to provide a sensible default behavior. The tags 
-given used by the tt(_files) function (either the default tags
-tt(globbed-files), tt(directories) and tt(all-files) or the tags
-specified by the tt(file-patterns) style) will be added one-by-one so
-that the different patterns represented by them will be tried one
-after another.
+ifnzman(noderef(Completion Widgets))
+for a description of these special parameters.
+Setting tt(reply) to an empty array ensures that only the default
+behaviour of trying all tags at once is used and setting it to an
+array containing only a hyphen disables that default behaviour -- thus 
+keeping all tags from being tried.
+
+If no style has been defined for a context, the strings
+`tt((|*-)argument-* (|*-)option-* values)' and `tt(options)' plus all
+tags offered by the completion function will be used to provide a
+sensible default behavior that causes arguments (whether normal command
+arguments or arguments of options) to be completed before option names for
+most commands.
+)
+kindex(urls, completion style)
+item(tt(urls))(
+This is used together with the the tt(urls) tag by completion
+functions that generate URLs as possible matches.  If the value
+consists of more than one string or if the only string does not name a 
+file or directory, the strings are used as the URLs to complete.
+
+If the value contains only one string and that is the name of a normal 
+file, the URLs are taken from that file (where the URLs may be
+separated by white space or newlines).
+
+Finally, if the only string in the value names a directory, that
+should contain sub-directories named after the
+retrieval methods which occur as the first part of a URL, i.e.
+`tt(http)', `tt(ftp)', `tt(bookmark)', and so on.  These
+sub-directories should contain files and other sub-directories whose
+pathnames are possible completions after the initial `tt(http://)',
+`tt(ftp://)', etc. See the description in the file tt(_urls) in the
+tt(User) sub-directory of the completion system for more information.
+)
+kindex(use-cache, completion style)
+item(tt(use-cache))(
+If this is set, the completion caching layer is activated for any completions
+which use it (via the tt(_store_cache), tt(_retrieve_cache), and
+tt(_cache_invalid) functions).  The directory containing the cache
+files can be changed with the tt(cache-path) style.
 )
+kindex(use-compctl, completion style)
 item(tt(use-compctl))(
-If this style is set to a string not equal to tt(false), tt(0),
-tt(no), and tt(off), the completion system will use any completion
-specifications defined with the tt(compctl) builtin command. If the
-style is unset, this will only be done if the tt(zsh/compctl) module
-is loaded. The string may also contain the substring tt(first) to make
-the definition for tt(compctl -T) be used and the substring
-tt(default) to make the one for tt(compctl -D) be used.
+If this style is set to a string em(not) equal to tt(false), tt(0),
+tt(no), and tt(off), the completion system may use any completion
+specifications defined with the tt(compctl) builtin command.  If the
+style is unset, this is done only if the tt(zsh/compctl) module
+is loaded.  The string may also contain the substring `tt(first)' to
+make the definition for `tt(compctl -T)' be used, and the substring
+`tt(default)' to make the one for `tt(compctl -D)' be used.
 
 Note that this is only intended to smooth the transition from
 tt(compctl) to the new completion system and may disappear in the
 future.
 
 Note also that the definitions from tt(compctl) will only be used if
-there is no special completion function for the command completion is
-done upon.
+there is no specific completion function for the command in question.  For
+example, while completing arguments to the command tt(foo), if this was
+handled by a command function tt(_foo), tt(compctl) would never be tried,
+while if it was handled by tt(_default), tt(compctl) would be tried.
 )
+kindex(users, completion style)
 item(tt(users))(
 This may be set to a list of names that should be completed whenever 
 a username is needed. If it is not set or the string on the line
 doesn't match any of the strings in this list, all usernames will be
 completed.
 )
+kindex(users-hosts, completion style)
 item(tt(users-hosts))(
 The values of this style should be of the form
 `var(user)tt(@)var(host)' or `var(user)tt(:)var(host)'. It is used for
 commands that need pairs of
-user- and hostnames. For such commands, only the pairs from this style 
+user- and hostnames.  For such commands, only the pairs from this style 
 are used and if, for example, the username is already typed, then only 
 the hostnames for which there is a pair with that username is defined.
 
 If set for the tt(my-accounts) tag, this is used for commands such as
-tt(rlogin) and tt(ssh). I.e. the style should contain the names of the 
-user's own accounts. With the tt(other-accounts) tag this is used for
-commands such as tt(talk) and tt(finger) and should contain other
-people's accounts. Finally, this may also be used by some commands with
-the tt(accounts) tag.
-)
-item(tt(users-hosts-ports))(
-Like tt(users-hosts) but used for commands like tt(telnet) and
-containing strings of the form `var(user)tt(@)var(host)tt(:)var(port)'.
+tt(rlogin) and tt(ssh); in this case the style should contain the names of
+the user's own accounts on remote hosts.  If set for the tt(other-accounts)
+tag, it is used for commands such as tt(talk) and tt(finger) and should
+contain other people's accounts.  Finally, it may also be used by some
+commands with the tt(accounts) tag.
 )
+kindex(users-hosts-ports, completion style)
 item(tt(users-hosts-ports))(
 Like tt(users-hosts) but used for commands like tt(telnet) and
 containing strings of the form `var(user)tt(@)var(host)tt(:)var(port)'.
 )
+kindex(verbose, completion style)
 item(tt(verbose))(
 This is used in several contexts to decide if only a simple or a
 verbose list of matches should be generated. For example some commands 
@@ -1552,13 +2187,15 @@ show descriptions for option names if this style is `true'.
 
 The default value for this style is `true'.
 )
+kindex(word, completion style)
 item(tt(word))(
-To find out if listing should be performed on its own, the tt(_list)
-completer normally compares the contents of the line with the contents
-the line had at the time of the last invocation. If this style is set to
-`true', comparison is done using only the current word. In this case,
-attempting completion on a word equal to the one when completion was called
-the last time will not delay the generation of matches.
+This is used by the tt(_list) completer, which prevents the insertion of
+completions until a second completion attempt when the line has not
+changed.  The normal way of finding out if the line has changed is to
+compare its entire contents between the two occasions.  If this style is
+true, the comparison is instead performed only on the current word.
+Hence if completion is performed on another word with the same contents,
+completion will not be delayed.
 )
 enditem()
 
@@ -1568,33 +2205,134 @@ cindex(completion system, choosing completers)
 
 The initialization script tt(compinit) redefines all the widgets
 which perform completion to call the supplied widget function
-tt(_main_complete). This function acts as a wrapper calling the
-so-called `completer' functions that generate matches. If
+tt(_main_complete).  This function acts as a wrapper calling the
+so-called `completer' functions that generate matches.  If
 tt(_main_complete) is called with arguments, these are taken as the
 names of completer functions to be called in the order given.  If no
 arguments are given, the set of functions to try is taken from the
-tt(completer) style. For example, to use normal completion and
+tt(completer) style.  For example, to use normal completion and
 correction if that doesn't generate any matches:
 
 example(zstyle ':completion:*' completer _complete _correct)
 
-after calling tt(compinit). The default value for this style 
-is `tt(_complete)', i.e. normally only ordinary
-completion is tried. The tt(_main_complete) function uses the return
-value of the completer functions to decide if other completers should be
-called. If the return value is zero, no other completers are tried and the
-tt(_main_complete) function returns.
+after calling tt(compinit). The default value for this style is
+`tt(_complete _ignored)', i.e. normally only ordinary completion is tried,
+first with the effect of the tt(ignored-patterns) style and then without
+it.  The tt(_main_complete) function uses the return value of the completer
+functions to decide if other completers should be called.  If the return
+value is zero, no other completers are tried and the tt(_main_complete)
+function returns.
+
+If the first argument to tt(_main_complete) is a single hyphen, the
+arguments will not be taken as names of completers. Instead, the
+second argument gives a name to use in the var(completer) field of the 
+context and the other arguments give a command name and arguments to
+call to generate the matches.
 
 The following completer functions are contained in the distribution (users
 may write their own):
 
 cindex(completion system, completers)
 startitem()
+findex(_all_matches)
+item(tt(_all_matches))(
+This completer can be used to add a string consisting of all other
+matches.  To ensure, that this string is always added, this completer
+has to be used as the first completer in the list.  The
+tt(avoid-completer) style is used to decide if the string should be
+added.  This will only be done if the matches were generated by a
+completer not named by one of the values of the style.
+
+This function also uses the style tt(old-matches).  If it is set to
+`true' or to the string `tt(only)' and there is a list of matches from 
+a previous completion, those matches will be inserted in the command
+line.  If it is set to the the string `tt(only)', it will only insert
+an old list and won't add the string for all matches of the list
+currently being generated.
+
+With the tt(old-matches) style set, this completer should probably not 
+be called unconditionally.  Instead one could use the tt(-e) option of 
+the tt(zstyle) builtin command to add a condition to the tt(completer) 
+or to the tt(old-matches) style.  Alternatively, one could use the
+tt(_generic) function to bind tt(_all_matches) to a separate key
+binding, for example:
+
+example(zle -C all-matches complete-word _generic
+bindkey '^Xa' all-matches
+zstyle ':completion:all-matches:*' old-matches only
+zstyle ':completion:all-matches:*' completer _all_matches)
+)
+findex(_approximate)
+item(tt(_approximate))(
+This completer function uses the tt(_complete) completer to generate
+a list of strings for the context the cursor is currently in, allowing 
+you to specify a maximum number of errors:  see the description of
+approximate matching in
+ifzman(\
+zmanref(zshexpn)
+)\
+ifnzman(\
+noderef(Filename Generation)
+)\
+for how errors are counted.  The resulting list of corrected and completed
+strings is then presented to the user.  The intended use of this completer
+function is to try after the normal tt(_complete) completer by setting:
+
+example(zstyle ':completion:*' completer _complete _approximate)
+
+This will give correcting completion if and only if
+normal completion yields no possible completions.  When
+corrected completions are found, the completer will normally start
+menu completion allowing you to cycle through these strings.
+
+This completer uses the tags tt(corrections) and tt(original) when
+generating the possible corrections and the original string.  The
+tt(format) style for the former may contain the additional sequences
+`tt(%e)' and `tt(%o)' which will be replaced by the number of errors
+accepted to generate the corrections and the original string,
+respectively.
+
+As with all completers, tt(_approximate) uses its name without the
+underscore in the var(completer) field of the context name.  Once it
+has started trying to generate matches, it will append a minus sign
+and the number of errors accepted to its name.  tt(_approximate) will
+first look for completions with one error, then two, and on so up to the
+limit on the number of errors set by the tt(max-errors) style.
+Hence on the first try the completer field of the context contains
+`tt(approximate-1)', on the second try `tt(approximate-2)', and so on.
+
+When tt(_approximate) is called from another function, the number of
+errors to accept may be given with the tt(-a) option.  Its argument
+should be the same as the value of the tt(max-errors) style, all in one
+string.
+
+Note that this completer (and the tt(_correct) completer mentioned
+below) can be quite expensive to call, especially when a large number
+of errors are allowed.  One way to avoid this is to set up the
+tt(completer) style using the tt(-e) option to zstyle so that some
+completers are only used when completion is attempted a second time on 
+the same string, e.g.:
+
+example(zstyle ':completion:*' completer '
+  if [[ $_last_try != "$HISTNO$BUFFER$CURSOR" ]]; then
+    _last_try="$HISTNO$BUFFER$CURSOR"
+    reply=(_complete _match _prefix)
+  else
+    reply=(_ignored _correct _approximate)
+  fi')
+
+This uses the tt(HISTNO) parameter and the tt(BUFFER) and tt(CURSOR)
+special parameters that are available inside zle and completion
+widgets to find out if the command line hasn't changed since the last
+time completion was tried.  Only then are the tt(_ignored),
+tt(_correct) and tt(_approximate) completers called.
+)
 findex(_complete)
 item(tt(_complete))(
 This completer generates all possible completions in a context-sensitive
 manner, i.e. using the settings defined with the tt(compdef) function
 explained above and the current settings of all special parameters.
+This gives the normal completion behaviour.
 
 To complete arguments of commands, tt(_complete) uses the utility function
 tt(_normal), which is in turn responsible for finding the particular
@@ -1603,40 +2341,33 @@ tt(-)var(context)tt(-), as mentioned above for the tt(#compdef) tag, are
 handled specially.  These are:
 
 startitem()
-item(tt(-equal-))(
-for completion after an equal sign, other than one occurring in a
-shell-variable assignment.
-)
-item(tt(-tilde-))(
-for completion after a tilde (`tt(~)') character, but before a slash.
-)
-item(tt(-redirect-))(
-for completion after a redirection operator.
-)
-item(tt(-math-))(
-for completion inside mathematical contexts, such as
-`tt(LPAR()LPAR())...tt(RPAR()RPAR())'.
-)
-item(tt(-subscript-))(
-for completion inside subscripts.
-)
-item(tt(-value-))(
-for completion on the right hand side of an assignment.
-)
+kindex(-array-value-, completion context)
 item(tt(-array-value-))(
 for completion on the right hand side of an array-assignment
 (`tt(foo=LPAR()...RPAR())').
 )
+kindex(-brace-parameter-, completion context)
+item(tt(-brace-parameter-))(
+for completing the name of a parameter expansion within braces
+(`tt(${...})').
+)
+kindex(-command-, completion context)
+item(tt(-command-))(
+for completing in a command position.
+)
+kindex(-condition-, completion context)
 item(tt(-condition-))(
 for completion inside conditions (`tt([[...]])').
 )
-item(tt(-parameter-))(
-for completing the name of a parameter expansion (`tt($...)').
+kindex(-default-, completion context)
+item(tt(-default-))(
+for generating completions when no special completion function is used.
 )
-item(tt(-brace-parameter-))(
-for completing the name of a parameter expansion within braces
-(`tt(${...})').
+kindex(-equal-, completion context)
+item(tt(-equal-))(
+for completion of words beginning with an equals sign
 )
+kindex(-first-, completion context)
 item(tt(-first-))(
 for adding completions before any other completion functions are
 tried; if this
@@ -1647,11 +2378,30 @@ will be called, and if it is set to a string containing tt(default)
 the function for the `tt(-default-)' context will not be called, but
 functions defined for commands will.
 )
-item(tt(-default-))(
-for generating completions when no special completion function is used.
+kindex(-math-, completion context)
+item(tt(-math-))(
+for completion inside mathematical contexts, such as
+`tt(LPAR()LPAR())...tt(RPAR()RPAR())'.
 )
-item(tt(-command-))(
-for completing in a command position.
+kindex(-parameter-, completion context)
+item(tt(-parameter-))(
+for completing the name of a parameter expansion (`tt($...)').
+)
+kindex(-redirect-, completion context)
+item(tt(-redirect-))(
+for completion after a redirection operator.
+)
+kindex(-subscript-, completion context)
+item(tt(-subscript-))(
+for completion inside subscripts.
+)
+kindex(-tilde-, completion context)
+item(tt(-tilde-))(
+for completion after a tilde (`tt(~)') character, but before a slash.
+)
+kindex(-value-, completion context)
+item(tt(-value-))(
+for completion on the right hand side of an assignment.
 )
 enditem()
 
@@ -1661,112 +2411,71 @@ contexts, in most cases named after the context itself
 named `tt(_tilde)').
 
 Before trying to find a function for a specific context, tt(_complete) 
-checks if the parameter `tt(compcontext)' is set to a non-empty
-value. If it is, the value is taken as the name of the context to use
-and the function defined for that context will be called.
-)
-findex(_approximate)
-item(tt(_approximate))(
-This completer function uses the tt(_complete) completer to generate
-a list of strings for the context the cursor is currently in, allowing 
-you to specify a maximum number of errors:  see the description of
-approximate matching in
-ifzman(\
-zmanref(zshexpn)
-)\
-ifnzman(\
-noderef(Filename Generation)
-)\
-for how errors are
-counted. The resulting list of corrected and completed strings is then
-presented to the user. The intended use of this completer function is to
-try after the normal tt(_complete) completer by setting:
-
-example(zstyle ':completion:*' completer _complete _approximate)
-
-This will give correcting completion if and only if
-normal completion doesn't yield any possible completions. When
-corrected completions are found, the completer will normally start
-menucompletion allowing you to cycle through these strings.
-
-This completer uses the tags tt(corrections) and tt(original) when
-generating the possible coprrections and the original string. The
-tt(format) style for the former may contain the additional sequences
-`tt(%e)' and `tt(%o)' which will be replaced by the number of errors
-accepted to generate the corrections and the original string,
-respectively.
-
-Like all completers tt(_approximate) uses its name without the
-undersccore in the var(completer) field of the context name. Once it
-has started trying to generate matches, it will append a minus sign
-and the number of errors accepted in this attempt to its name. So on the
-first try the field contains `tt(approximate-1)', on the
-second try `tt(approximate-2)', and so on.
+checks if the parameter `tt(compcontext)' is set.  If it is set to an
+array, the elements are taken to be the possible matches which will be
+completed using the tag `tt(values)' and the description
+`tt(value)'.   If it is set to an associative array, the keys are used
+as the possible completions and the values (if non-empty) are used as
+descriptions for the matches.  If `tt(compcontext)' is set to a string
+containing colons, it should be of
+the form `var(tag)tt(:)var(descr)tt(:)var(action)'.  In this case the
+var(tag) and var(descr) give the tag and description to use and the
+var(action) says what should be completed in one of the forms
+described for the tt(_arguments) utility function below.
+
+Finally, if `tt(compcontext)' is set to a string without colons, the
+value is taken as the name of the context to use and the function
+defined for that context will be called.  For this purpose, there is a
+special context named tt(-command-line-) that completes whole command
+lines (commands and their arguments) and is not used by the completion
+system itself, but has a function handling completion for it.
 )
 findex(_correct)
 item(tt(_correct))(
-Generate corrections (but not completions) for the current word; this is
-similar to spell-checking.  This calls tt(_approximate) but uses a
+Generate corrections, but not completions, for the current word; this is
+similar to tt(_approximate) but will not allow any number of extra
+characters at the cursor as that completer does, hence this is
+similar to spell-checking.  It calls tt(_approximate) but uses a
 different var(completer) field in the context name.
 
 For example, with:
 
 example(zstyle ':completion:::::' completer _complete _correct _approximate
-zstyle ':completion:*:correct:::' accept 2 not-numeric
-zstyle ':completion:*:approximate:::' accept 3 numeric)
+zstyle ':completion:*:correct:::' max-errors 2 not-numeric
+zstyle ':completion:*:approximate:::' max-errors 3 numeric)
 
-correction will accept up to two errors. If a numeric argument is
+correction will accept up to two errors.  If a numeric argument is
 given, correction will not be performed, but correcting completion
 will be, and will accept as many errors as given by the numeric
-argument. Without a numeric argument, first correction and then
+argument.  Without a numeric argument, first correction and then
 correcting completion will be tried, with the first one accepting two
-errors  and the second one accepting three errors.
+errors and the second one accepting three errors.
+
+When tt(_correct) is called as a function, the number of errors to accept
+may be given following the tt(-a) option.  The argument should be the same
+as the value of the tt(accept) style, all in one string.
 
 This completer function is intended to be used without the
 tt(_approximate) completer or, as in the example, just before
-it. Using it after the tt(_approximate) completer is useless since
+it.  Using it after the tt(_approximate) completer is useless since
 tt(_approximate) will at least generate the corrected strings
 generated by the tt(_correct) completer -- and probably more.
 )
-findex(_match)
-item(tt(_match))(
-This completer is intended to be used after the tt(_complete)
-completer. It allows one to give patterns on the command line and
-to complete all strings matching these patterns from the set of
-possible completions for the context the cursor is in, without having
-to set the tt(GLOB_COMPLETE) option.
-
-Normally this will be done by taking the pattern from the line,
-inserting a `tt(*)' at the cursor position and comparing the resulting
-pattern with the possible completions generated. However, if the
-tt(match-original) style has a value of tt(only), no `tt(*)' will be
-inserted. If tt(match-original) has any other non-empty string as its
-value, this completer will first try to generate matches without, then
-with a `tt(*)' inserted at the cursor position.
-
-The generated matches will be offered in a menucompletion unless the
-tt(insert-unambiguous) style is set to `true'. In
-this case menucompletion will only be started if no unambiguous string
-could be generated that is at least as long as the original string.
-
-Note that the matcher specifications defined globally or used by the
-completion functions will not be used.
-)
 findex(_expand)
 item(tt(_expand))(
 This completer function does not really do completion, but instead
 checks if the word on the command line is eligible for expansion and,
-if it is, gives detailed control over how this expansion is done. When 
+if it is, gives detailed control over how this expansion is done.  When
 using this, one should not use the tt(expand-or-complete) widget, but
-instead use tt(complete-word), as otherwise tt(expand-or-complete)
+instead use tt(complete-word), as tt(expand-or-complete)
 will expand the string on the line before the completion widget is
-called. Also, this completer should be called before the tt(_complete) 
+called.  Also, this completer should be called before the tt(_complete) 
 completer function.
 
 The tags used when generating expansions are tt(all-expansions) for
 the string containing all possible expansions, tt(expansions) when
 adding the possible expansions as single matches and tt(original) when 
-adding the original string from the line. In which order these strings 
+adding the original string from the line.  In which order these strings 
 are generated and which of these strings are generated at all can be
 controlled by using the tt(group-order) style and by modifying the
 tt(tag-order) style, as usual.
@@ -1775,29 +2484,106 @@ The format string for tt(all-expansions) and for tt(expansions) may
 contain the sequence `tt(%o)' which will be replaced by the original
 string from the line.
 
-Which kind of expansion is tried is controlled by the tt(substitute)
-nad tt(glob) styles. Note that neither of these has a default value so 
-that they have to be set to make tt(_expand) generate any expansions
-at all.
+Which kind of expansion is tried is controlled by the tt(substitute),
+tt(glob) and tt(subst-globs-only) styles.
+
+When tt(_expand) is called as a function, the different modes may be
+selected with options.  The tt(-s) to tt(substitute), tt(-g) to
+tt(glob) and tt(-o) to tt(subst-globs-only).
+)
+findex(_expand_alias)
+item(tt(_expand_alias))(
+If the word the cursor is on is an alias, it is expanded and no other
+completers are called.  The types of aliases which are to be expanded can
+be controlled with the tt(regular), tt(global) and tt(disabled)
+styles.
+
+This function is also a bindable command, see
+ifzman(the section `Bindable Commands' below)\
+ifnzman(noderef(Bindable Commands)).
+)
+findex(_history)
+item(tt(_history))(
+Complete words from the shell's command  history.  This completer 
+uses the tt(remove-all-dups), and tt(sort) styles also used by the
+tt(_history_complete_word) bindable command, see
+ifzman(the section `Bindable Commands' below)\
+ifnzman(noderef(Bindable Commands))
+and
+ifzman(the section `Completion System Configuration' above)\
+ifnzman(noderef(Completion System Configuration)).
+)
+findex(_ignored)
+item(tt(_ignored))(
+The tt(ignored-patterns) style can be set to a list of patterns which are
+compared against possible completions; matching ones are removed.
+With this completer those matches can be reinstated, as
+if no tt(ignored-patterns) style were set.  The completer actually
+generates its own list of matches; which completers are used
+for this is determined in the same way as for the tt(_prefix)
+completer.
 
-In a different mode selected by the tt(completions) style, all
-em(completions) generated for the string on the line are inserted.
+The tt(single-ignored) style is used if only one
+match could be generated.  It can be set to tt(show) to prevent that match 
+from being displayed or inserted into the line, or it can be set to
+tt(menu), in which case the single match and the original string from the
+line will be offered in a menu completion.
 )
 findex(_list)
 item(tt(_list))(
 This completer allows one to delay the insertion of matches until
 completion is attempted a second time without the word on the line
-being changed. On the first attempt, only the list of matches will be
-shown. Styles used are tt(condition) and tt(word), see
+being changed.  On the first attempt, only the list of matches will be
+shown.  It is affected by the styles tt(condition) and tt(word), see
 ifzman(the section `Completion System Configuration' above)\
 ifnzman(noderef(Completion System Configuration)).
 )
+findex(_match)
+item(tt(_match))(
+This completer is intended to be used after the tt(_complete)
+completer. It allows one to give patterns on the command line and
+to complete all strings matching these patterns from the set of
+possible completions for the context the cursor is in, without having
+to set the tt(GLOB_COMPLETE) option.
+
+Normally this will be done by taking the pattern from the line,
+inserting a `tt(*)' at the cursor position and comparing the resulting
+pattern with the possible completions generated.  However, if the
+tt(match-original) style has a value of tt(only), no `tt(*)' will be
+inserted.  If tt(match-original) has any other non-empty string as its
+value, this completer will first try to generate matches without, then
+with a `tt(*)' inserted at the cursor position.
+
+The generated matches will be offered in a menu completion unless the
+tt(insert-unambiguous) style is set to `true'.  In
+this case menu completion will only be started if no unambiguous string
+could be generated that is at least as long as the original string.
+The style may also be set to the string `tt(pattern)'.  This will keep 
+the pattern on the line intact as long as there isn't an unambiguous
+completion with which it could be replaced.
+
+Note that the matcher specifications defined globally or used by the
+completion functions will not be used.
+)
+findex(_menu)
+item(tt(_menu))(
+This completer is a simple example function implemented to show how
+menu completion can be done in shell code.  It should be used as the
+first completer and has the effect of making the code perform
+menu completion.  Note that this is independent of the setting of the
+tt(MENU_COMPLETE) option and does not work with the other
+menu completion widgets such as tt(reverse-menu-complete), or
+tt(accept-and-menu-complete).
+)
 findex(_oldlist)
 item(tt(_oldlist))(
 This completer controls how the standard completion widgets behave
 when there is an existing list of completions which may have been
 generated by a special completion (i.e. a separately-bound completion
-command).  It should appear in the list of completers before any of
+command).  It allows the ordinary completion keys to continue to use the
+list of completions thus generated, instead of producing a new list of
+ordinary contextual completions.
+It should appear in the list of completers before any of
 the widgets which generate matches.  It uses two styles: tt(old-list) and
 tt(old-menu), see
 ifzman(the section `Completion System Configuration' above)\
@@ -1805,51 +2591,41 @@ ifnzman(noderef(Completion System Configuration)).
 )
 findex(_prefix)
 item(tt(_prefix))(
-This completer can be used to try completion with the suffix after the 
-cursor ignored. I.e. the suffix will not be considered to be part of
-the word to complete and hence does not need to be matched. It uses
-the tt(completer) style to decide which other completers to call to
-try to generate matches. If this style is unset, the completers
-currently used by the whole completion are used -- except, of course,
-the tt(_prefix) completer itself. Also, if this completer appears more
-than once in the list of completers only those completers not
+This completer can be used to try completion with the suffix (everything
+after the cursor) ignored.  In other words, the suffix will not be
+considered to be
+part of the word to complete and hence does not need to be matched.  It
+uses the tt(completer) style to decide which other completers to call to
+try to generate matches.  If this style is unset, the list of completers
+set for the current context is used -- except, of course,
+the tt(_prefix) completer itself.  Furthermore, if this completer appears
+more than once in the list of completers only those completers not
 already tried by the last invocation of tt(_prefix) will be
-called. The completer field used to look up styles contains the string 
-`tt(prefix-)var(n)', where `var(n)' is the number of the call to
-tt(_prefix).
+called.
 
 For example, consider this global tt(completer) style:
 
-example(zstyle ':completion:*' completer _complete _prefix _correct _prefix)
+example(zstyle ':completion:*' completer \ 
+    _complete _prefix _correct _prefix:foo)
 
-This makes the tt(_prefix) completer try normal completion with the
-suffix ignored. If that doesn't generate any matches and neither does
-the call to the tt(_correct) completer after it, then tt(_prefix) will 
-be called a second time and will now only try correction with the
-suffix ignored. If you want to use tt(_prefix) as the last resort and
-want it to try only normal completion, you need to call:
+Here, the tt(_prefix) completer tries normal completion but ignoring the
+suffix.  If that doesn't generate any matches, and neither does
+the call to the tt(_correct) completer after it, tt(_prefix) will 
+be called a second time and, now only trying correction with the
+suffix ignored.  If you want to use tt(_prefix) as the last resort and
+try only normal completion, you can use:
 
 example(zstyle ':completion:*' completer _complete ... _prefix
-zstyle ':completion::prefix-1:*' completer _complete)
+zstyle ':completion::prefix:*' completer _complete)
 
-The tt(add-space) style is used, too. If it is set to `true' then
+The tt(add-space) style is also used.  If it is set to `true' then
 tt(_prefix) will insert a space between the matches generated (if any) 
 and the suffix.
 
-Note that using this completer will only work if the
-tt(COMPLETE_IN_WORD) option is set. Because otherwise the cursor will
-be set after the word before the completion code is called and hence
-there will be no suffix.
-)
-findex(_menu)
-item(tt(_menu))(
-This completer is a simple example function implemented to show how
-menucompletion can be done in shell code. It should be used as the
-first completer and has the effect of making the code perform
-menucompletion. Note that this is independent of the setting of the
-tt(MENU_COMPLETE) option and does not work with the other
-menucompletion widgets such as tt(reverse-menu-complete), or
-tt(accept-and-menu-complete).
+Note that this completer is only useful if the
+tt(COMPLETE_IN_WORD) option is set; otherwise, the cursor will
+be moved to the end of the current word before the completion code is
+called and hence there will be no suffix.
 )
 enditem()
 
@@ -1870,7 +2646,7 @@ tt(_bash_list-choices).  It exists to provide compatibility with
 completion bindings in bash.  The last character of the binding determines
 what is completed: `tt(!)', command names; `tt($)', environment variables;
 `tt(@)', host names; `tt(/)', file names; `tt(~)' user names.  In bash, the
-binding preceeded by `tt(\e)' gives completion, and preceeded by `tt(^X)'
+binding preceded by `tt(\e)' gives completion, and preceded by `tt(^X)'
 lists options.  As some of these bindings clash with standard zsh
 bindings, only `tt(\e~)' and `tt(^X~)' are bound by default.  To add the
 rest, the following should be added to tt(.zshrc) after tt(compinit) has
@@ -1898,13 +2674,41 @@ completions as possible choices. This stores the string
 `tt(correct-word)' in the var(function) field of the context name and
 then calls the tt(_correct) completer.
 )
+findex(_expand_alias (^Xa))
+item(tt(_expand_alias (^Xa)))(
+This function can be used as a completer and as a bindable command.
+It expands the word the cursor is on if it is an alias.  The types of
+aliases expanded can be controlled with the tt(regular), tt(global) and
+tt(disabled) styles.
+
+When used as a bindable command there is one additional feature that
+can be selected by setting the tt(complete) style to `true'.  In this
+case, if the word isn't the name of an alias, tt(_expand_alias) tries
+to complete the word to a full alias name without expanding it (but
+leaving the cursor directly after the completed word so that invoking
+tt(_expand_alias) once more will expand the now-complete alias name).
+)
 findex(_expand_word (^Xe))
 item(tt(_expand_word (^Xe)))(
 Performs expansion on the current word:  equivalent to the standard
-tt(expand-word) command, but using the tt(_expand) completer. Before
+tt(expand-word) command, but using the tt(_expand) completer.  Before
 calling it, the var(function) field is set to `tt(expand-word)'.
 )
-findex(_history_complete_word) (\e/)
+findex(_generic)
+item(tt(_generic))(
+This function is not defined as a widget and not bound by
+default. However, it can be used to define a widget and will then
+store the name of the widget in the var(function) field of the context 
+and call the completion system. This allows custom completion widgets
+with their own set of style settings to be easily defined. For example, 
+to define a widget that does normal completion and starts
+menu selection, one could do:
+
+example(zle -C foo complete-word _generic
+bindkey '...' foo
+zstyle ':completion:foo:*' menu yes select=1)
+)
+findex(_history_complete_word) (\e/))
 item(tt(_history_complete_word) (\e/))(
 Complete words from the shell's command history. This uses the
 tt(list), tt(remove-all-dups), tt(sort), and tt(stop) styles.
@@ -1916,23 +2720,13 @@ on the command line (which may be blank).  If given a numeric argument
 var(N), complete the var(N)th most recently modified file.  Note the
 completion, if any, is always unique.
 )
-findex(_next_tags)
-item(tt(_next_tags))(
-This allows to complete types of matches that are not immediately
-offered because of the setting of the tt(tag-order) style. After a
-normal completion was tried, invoking this command makes the matches
-for the next tag (or set of tags) be used. Repeatedly invoking this
-command makes the following tags be used. To be able to complete the
-matches selected by tt(_next_tags), the tt(completer) style should
-contain tt(_next_tags) as its first string. With that, the normal key
-binding (normally tt(TAB)) can be used to complete the matches shown
-after the call to tt(_next_tags).
-
-Normally, this command is not bound to a key. To invoke it with, say
-`tt(^Xn)', one would use:
-
-example(zle -C _next_tags complete-word _next_tags
-bindkey '^Xn' _next_tags)
+findex(_next_tags (^Xn))
+item(tt(_next_tags) (^Xn))(
+This command alters the set of matches used to that for the next tag, or
+set of tags, either as given by the tt(tag-order) style or as set by
+default; these matches would otherwise not be available.
+Successive invocations of the command cycle through all possible sets of
+tags.
 )
 findex(_read_comp (^X^R))
 item(tt(_read_comp (^X^R)))(
@@ -1944,7 +2738,7 @@ completions.  Unambiguous parts of the function name will be completed
 automatically (normal completion is not available at this point) until a
 space is typed.
 
-Any other string will be passed as a set of arguments to
+Second, any other string will be passed as a set of arguments to
 tt(compadd) and should hence be an expression specifying what should
 be completed.
 
@@ -1958,11 +2752,36 @@ Once a string has been read, the next call to tt(_read_comp) will use the
 existing string instead of reading a new one.  To force a new string to be
 read, call tt(_read_comp) with a numeric argument.
 )
+findex(_complete_debug (^X?))
+item(tt(_complete_debug (^X?)))(
+This widget performs ordinary completion, but captures in a temporary file
+a trace of the shell commands executed by the completion system.  Each
+completion attempt gets its own file.  A command to view each of these
+files is pushed onto the editor buffer stack.
+)
 findex(_complete_help (^Xh))
 item(tt(_complete_help (^Xh)))(
-This widget displays information about the context names, including
+This widget displays information about the context names, 
 the tags, and the completion functions used 
-when completing at the current cursor position.
+when completing at the current cursor position. If given a numeric
+argument other than tt(1) (as in `tt(ESC-2 ^Xh)'), then the styles
+used and the contexts for which they are used will be shown, too.
+
+Note that the information about styles may be incomplete; it depends on the
+information available from the completion functions called, which in turn
+is determined by the user's own styles and other settings.
+)
+findex(_complete_tag (^Xt))
+item(tt(_complete_tag (^Xt)))(
+This widget completes symbol tags created by the tt(etags) or tt(ctags)
+programmes (note there is no connection with the completion system's tags)
+stored in a file tt(TAGS), in the format used by tt(etags), or tt(tags), in the
+format created by tt(ctags).  It will look back up the path hierarchy for
+the first occurrence of either file; if both exist, the file tt(TAGS) is
+preferred.  You can specify the full path to a tt(TAGS) or tt(tags) file by
+setting the parameter tt($TAGSFILE) or tt($tagsfile) respectively.
+The corresponding completion tags used are tt(etags) and tt(vtags), after
+emacs and vi respectively.
 )
 enditem()
 
@@ -1972,7 +2791,7 @@ cindex(completion system, utility functions)
 
 Descriptions follow for utility functions that may be
 useful when writing completion functions.  Most of these reside in the
-tt(Core) subdirectory except where noted. Like the example 
+tt(Base) subdirectory. Like the example 
 functions for commands in the distribution, the utility functions
 generating matches all follow the convention of returning zero if they
 generated completions and non-zero if no matching completions could be 
@@ -1984,279 +2803,61 @@ offered by the tt(_main_complete) function. The arrays
 tt(compprefuncs) and tt(comppostfuncs) may be set to contain names of
 functions that are to be called immediately before or after completion 
 has been tried. The functions will only be called once, unless they
-put themselves into the array again.
+put themselves into the arrays again.
 
 startitem()
-findex(_funcall)
-item(tt(_funcall) var(return) var(name) [ var(args) ... ])(
-If a function var(name) exists, it is called with the arguments
-var(args). Unless it is the empty string or a single hyphen,
-var(return) is taken as the name of a parameter and the return status
-from the called function is stored in it.
-The return value of tt(_funcall) itself is zero if the function
-var(name) exists and was called and non-zero otherwise.
-)
-findex(_compalso)
-item(tt(_compalso) var(names) ...)(
-This function looks up the definitions for the context and command
-names given as arguments and calls the handler functions for them if
-there is a definition (given with the tt(compdef) function). For
-example, the function completing inside subscripts might use
-`tt(_compalso -math-)' to include the completions generated for
-mathematical environments.
-)
-findex(_call)
-item(tt(_call) var(tag) var(string) ...)(
-This function is used in places where a command is called and the user 
-should have the possibility to override the default for calling this
-command. It looks up the tt(command) style with the supplied
-var(tag). If the style is set, its value is used as the command to
-execute.
-
-In any case, the var(strings) from the call to tt(_call) or from the
-style are concatenated with spaces between them and the resulting
-string is evaluated. The return value is the return value of the
-command called.
-)
-findex(_normal)
-item(tt(_normal))(
-This function is used for normal command completion.  If
-completion is attempted on the first word, command names are
-completed. Otherwise, the arguments are completed by calling the
-functions defined for this command, including those functions defined
-for patterns matching the command name. This function can also be
-called by other completion functions if they have to complete a range
-of words as a separate command. For example, the function to complete after
-the pre-command specifiers such as tt(nohup) removes the first word from
-the tt(words) array, decrements the tt(CURRENT) parameter, then calls this
-function.
-
-When calling a function defined for a pattern, this function also
-checks if the parameter tt(_compskip) is set and uses the value in the 
-same way it is used after calling the completion function for the
-tt(-first-) context. With this 
-one can write a pattern completion function that keeps other functions 
-from being tried simply by setting this parameter to any value.
-)
-findex(_description)
-item(tt(_description) [ tt(-12VJ) ] var(tag) var(name) var(descr) [ var(specs) ... ])(
-This function tests some styles for the var(tag) and and stores
-options usable for tt(compadd) in the array with the given var(name)
-which guarantee that the matches are generated as requested by the
-user. The styles tested are: tt(format) (which is first tested for the
-given tag and then for the tt(descriptions) tag if that isn't
-defined), tt(hidden) and tt(group-name) (the last two are tested only
-for the tag given as the first argument). This function also calls the
-tt(_setup) function which tests some more styles.
-
-The format string from the style (if any) will be modified so that the 
-sequence `tt(%d)' is replaced by the var(descr) given as the third
-argument. If tt(_description) is called with more than three
-arguments, these var(specs) should be of the form
-`var(char)tt(:)var(str)' and every appearance of `tt(%)var(char)' in
-the format string will be replaced by var(string).
-
-The options placed in the array will also make sure that the matches
-are placed in a separate group, depending on the value of the
-tt(group-name) style. Normally a sorted group will be used for this
-(with the `tt(-J)' option), but if a option starting with `tt(-V)',
-`tt(-J)', `tt(-1)', or `tt(-2)' is given, that option will be included
-in the array, so that it is possible to make the group unsorted by
-giving the option `tt(-V)', `tt(-1V)', or `tt(-2V)'. 
-
-In most cases, this function will be used like this:
-
-example(local expl
-_description expl files file
-compadd "$expl[@]" - "$files[@]")
-)
-findex(_message)
-item(tt(_message) [ -r ] var(descr))(
-The var(descr) is used like the third
-argument to the tt(_description) function. However, the resulting
-string will always be shown whether or not matches were
-generated. This is useful to display help texts in places where no
-completions can be generated automatically.
-
-This function also uses the tt(format) style for the tt(messages) tag in
-preference to the tt(format) style for the tt(descriptions) tag. The
-latter is used only if the former is unset.
-
-If the tt(-r) option is given, no style is used and the var(descr) is
-used literally as the string to display. This is only used in cases
-where that string is taken from some pre-processed argument list
-containing an expanded description.
-)
-findex(_setup)
-item(tt(_setup) var(tag))(
-This function expects a tag as its argument and sets up the special
-parameters used by the completion system appropriately for the tag,
-using styles such as tt(list-colors) and tt(last-prompt).
-
-Note that this function is called automatically from tt(_description)
-so that one normally doesn't have to call it explicitly.
-)
-findex(_tags)
-item(tt(_tags) [ tt(-C) var(name) [ var(tags) ... ] ])(
-If called with arguments, these are taken as the names of the tags for 
-the types of matches the calling completion function can generate in
-the current context. These tags are stored internally and sorted by
-using the tt(tag-order) style. Following calls to this function
-without arguments from the same function will then select the first,
-second, etc. set of tags requested by the user. To test if a certain
-tag should be tried, the tt(_requested) function has to be called (see 
-below).
-
-The return value is zero if at least one of the tags is requested and
-non-zero otherwise. 
-
-This function also accepts the tt(-C) option followed by a
-var(name). This name is temporarily (i.e. not visible outside
-tt(_tags)) stored in the argument field of the context name in the
-tt(curcontext) parameter. This allows to make tt(_tags) use a more
-specific context name without having to change and reset the
-tt(curcontext) parameter (which would otherwise have the same effect).
-)
-findex(_try)
-item(tt(_try) [ tt(-12VJ) ] var(tag) var(name) var(descr) [ var(options) ... ])(
-This function should be called repeatedly to generate the tag
-aliases. On each call it will check if another tag alias is to be used 
-and, if there is at least one, zero is returned. If no more tag
-aliases are to be used, a non-zero status is returned.
-
-The tt(-12JV) options and the first three arguments are given to the
-tt(_desciption) function using the alias tag instead of the first
-argument is appropriate. The var(options) given after the var(descr)
-should be other options to be used for tt(compadd) or whatever
-function is to be called to add the matches. tt(_try) will store these 
-var(options) in the parameter whose var(name) is given as the second
-argument. This is done in such a way that the description given by the 
-user to the tt(tag-order) style is prefered over the one given to
-tt(_try).
-
-Note that this function must not be called without a previous call to
-tt(_tags), tt(_wanted) or tt(_requested) because it uses the alias
-tags for the current tag found by these functions.
-
-A normal use of this function for the alias tags for the tag tt(foo)
-looks like this:
-
-example(local expl ret=1
-...
-_wanted foo || return 1
-...
-while _try foo expl '...'; do
-  compadd "$expl[@]" ... && ret=0
-done
-...
-return ret
-)
-)
-findex(_loop)
-item(tt(_loop) [ tt(-12VJ) ] var(tag) var(name) var(descr) [ var(command) var(args) ... ])(
-This is a convenient interface to the tt(_try) function, implementing
-the loop shown in the example above. The var(command) is the one that
-should be called to generate the matches. The options stored in the
-parameter var(name) will automatically be inserted into the var(args)
-given to the var(command). Normally, they are put directly after the
-var(command), but if one of the var(args) is a single hyphen, they are 
-inserted directly before that. If the hyphen is the last argument,
-that will be removed from the argument list before the var(command) is 
-called. This allows to use tt(_loop) in almost all cases where the
-matches can be generated by a single call to the tt(compadd) builtin
-command or by a call to one of the utility functions.
+findex(_all_labels)
+item(tt(_all_labels) [ tt(-12VJ) ] var(tag) var(name) var(descr) [ var(command) var(args) ... ])(
+This is a convenient interface to the tt(_next_label) function below,
+implementing the loop shown in the tt(_next_label) example.  The
+var(command) is the one that should be called to generate the matches. The
+options stored in the parameter var(name) will automatically be inserted
+into the var(args) given to the var(command).  Normally, they are put
+directly after the var(command), but if one of the var(args) is a single
+hyphen, they are inserted directly before that. If the hyphen is the last
+argument, that will be removed from the argument list before the
+var(command) is called. This allows tt(_all_labels) to be used in almost all
+cases where the matches can be generated by a single call to the
+tt(compadd) builtin command or by a call to one of the utility functions.
 
 For example:
 
 example(local expl
 ...
-_wanted foo || return 1
-...
-_loop foo expl '...' compadd ... - $matches)
+if _requested foo; then
+  ...
+  _all_labels foo expl '...' compadd ... - $matches
+fi)
 
 Will complete the strings from the tt(matches) parameter, using
 tt(compadd) with additional options which will take precedence over
-those generated by tt(_loop).
-)
-findex(_requested)
-item(tt(_requested) [ tt(-12VJ) ] var(tag) [ var(name) var(descr) [ var(command) var(args) ... ] ])(
-A function that uses tt(_tags) to register tags and then calls it to
-loop over the requested sets of tags should call this function to
-check if a certain tag is currently requested. This normally has to be 
-done in a loop such as:
-
-example(_tags foo bar baz
-while _tags; do
-  if _requested foo; then
-    ...
-  fi
-  ... # test other tags
-  ... # exit loop if matches were generated
-done)
-
-So, the first argument for tt(_requested) is used as the name of a tag 
-and if that tag is currently requested, the return value is zero (and
-non-zero otherwise).
-
-If the var(name) and the var(descr) are given, tt(_requested) calls the
-tt(_description) function with these arguments, including the options.
-
-If the var(command) is given, the tt(_loop) function will be called
-immediatly with the same arguments.
-
-This is often useful to do both the testing of the tag,
-getting the description for the matches and adding the matches at
-once. E.g.:
-
-example(local expl ret=1
-_tags foo bar baz
-while _tags; do
-  _requested foo expl 'description' \
-      compadd foobar foobaz && ret=0
-  ...
-  (( ret )) || break
-done)
-)
-findex(_wanted)
-item(tt(_wanted) [ tt(-12VJ) ] var(tag) var(name) var(descr) [ var(specs) ... ])(
-In many contexts only one type of matches can be generated but even
-then it should be tested if the tag representing those matches is
-requested by the user. This function makes that easier.
-
-Like tt(_requested) it gets arguments as for tt(_description).
-With the var(tag) it calls tt(_tags) and if that returns zero 
-(i.e. the var(tag) is requested by the user) it calls tt(_description). So, 
-if you want to offer only one tag and immediatly want to use the
-description built, you can just do:
-
-example(_wanted tag expl 'description' \
-    compadd matches...)
+those generated by tt(_all_labels).
 )
 findex(_alternative)
 item(tt(_alternative) [ tt(-C) var(name) ] var(specs) ...)(
-This function is useful if you offer multiple tags and building the
-matches for them is easy enough. It basically implements a loop like
-the one described for the tt(_tags) function above above.
-
-The tags to use and what to do if the tags are requested are described 
-using the var(specs) which are of the form:
-`var(tag)tt(:)var(descr)tt(:)var(action)'. The var(tag)s are offered
-using tt(_tags) and if the tag is requested, the var(action) is
-executed with the given var(descr) (description). The var(action)s
-supported are those used by the tt(_arguments) function (described
-below), without the `tt(->)var(state)' form.
+This function is useful in simple cases where multiple tags are available.
+Essentially, it implements a loop like the one described for the tt(_tags)
+function above.
+
+The tags to use and the action to perform if a tag is requested are
+described using the var(specs) which are of the form:
+`var(tag)tt(:)var(descr)tt(:)var(action)'. The var(tag)s are offered using
+tt(_tags) and if the tag is requested, the var(action) is executed with the
+given description var(descr).  The var(action)s supported are those used
+by the tt(_arguments) function (described below), without the
+`tt(->)var(state)' and `tt(=)var(...)' forms.
 
 For example, the var(action) may be a simple function call. With that
 one could do:
 
-example(_alternative \
-    'users:user:_users' \
+example(_alternative \ 
+    'users:user:_users' \ 
     'hosts:host:_hosts')
 
 to offer usernames and hostnames as possible matches (which are
 generated by the tt(_users) and tt(_hosts) functions respectively).
 
-Note that, like tt(_arguments) this will also use tt(_loop) to execute 
+Note that, like tt(_arguments) this will also use tt(_all_labels) to execute 
 the actions, so one doesn't need to call that explicitly unless
 another tag is to be used, for example in a function called from
 tt(_alternative).
@@ -2264,262 +2865,256 @@ tt(_alternative).
 Like tt(_tags) this function supports the tt(-C) option to give a
 different name for the argument context field.
 )
-findex(_describe)
-item(tt(_describe) var(descr) var(name1) [ var(name2) ] var(opts) ... tt(-)tt(-) ...)(
-This function can be used to add options or values with descriptions
-as matches. The var(descr) is taken as a string to display above
-the matches if the tt(format) style for the tt(descriptions) tag is set.
-
-After this one or two names of arrays followed by options to give
-to tt(compadd) must be given. The first array contains the possible
-completions with their descriptions (with the description separated
-by a colon from the completion string). If the second array is given,
-it should have the same number of elements as the first one and these
-elements are added as possible completions instead of the strings from 
-the first array. In any case, however, the completion list will show
-the strings from the first array.
-
-Any number of array/option sequences may be given separated by
-`tt(-)tt(-)'. This allows one to display matches together that need
-to be added with different options for tt(compadd).
-
-Before the first argument, the option `tt(-o)' may be given. It says
-that the matches added are option names. This will make tt(_describe)
-use the tt(prefix-hidden), tt(prefix-needed) and tt(verbose) styles
-to find out if the strings should be added at all and if the
-descriptions should be shown. Without the `tt(-o)' option, only the
-tt(verbose) style is used.
-
-tt(_describe) uses the tt(_loop) function to generate the matches, so
-that one doesn't need to put it into a loop over the tag aliases.
-)
-findex(_multi_parts)
-item(tt(_multi_parts) var(sep) var(array))(
-This function gets two arguments: a separator character and an
-array.  As usual, the var(array) may be either the
-name of an array parameter or a literal array in the form
-`tt(LPAR()foo bar)tt(RPAR())' (i.e. a list of words separated by white 
-space in parentheses). With these arguments, this function will
-complete to strings from the array where the parts separated by the
-separator character are completed independently. For example, the
-tt(_tar) function from the distribution caches the pathnames from the
-tar file in an array and then calls this function to complete these
-names in the way normal filenames are completed by the
-tt(_path_files) function.
-
-If given the tt(-i) option a single match left will be accepted
-immediatly even if that means that additional parts for which no
-separators were on the line are to be inserted. When completing from a 
-fixed set of possible completions which are really words, this is
-often the expected behaviour. But if tt(_multi_parts) should behave
-like completing pathnames, the tt(-i) option should not be used.
-
-Like other utility functions, this function accepts the `tt(-V)',
-`tt(-J)', `tt(-1)', `tt(-2)', `tt(-n)', `tt(-f)', `tt(-X)', `tt(-M)', `tt(-P)',
-`tt(-S)', `tt(-r)', `tt(-R)', and `tt(-q)' options and passes them to
-the tt(compadd) builtin.
-)
-findex(_sep_parts)
-item(tt(_sep_parts))(
-This function gets as arguments alternating arrays and separators.
-The arrays specify completions for parts of strings to be separated by the
-separators. The arrays may be the names of array parameters or
-a quoted list of words in parentheses. For example, with the array
-`tt(hosts=(ftp news))' the call `tt(_sep_parts '(foo bar)' @ hosts)' will
-complete the string  `tt(f)' to `tt(foo)' and the string `tt(b@n)' to
-`tt(bar@news)'.
-
-This function passes the `tt(-V)', `tt(-J)', `tt(-1)', `tt(-2)',
-`tt(-n)', `tt(-X)', `tt(-M)', `tt(-P)', `tt(-S)', `tt(-r)', `tt(-R)',
-and `tt(-q)' options and their arguments to the tt(compadd) builtin
-used to add the matches.
-)
-findex(_path_files)
-findex(_files)
-item(tt(_path_files) and tt(_files))(
-The function tt(_path_files) is used throughout the shell code
-to complete filenames. It allows completion of partial paths. For
-example, the string `tt(/u/i/s/sig)' may be completed to
-`tt(/usr/include/sys/signal.h)'.  The option `tt(-/)' specifies that
-only directories should be completed. The option `tt(-g) var(pattern)' 
-says that only files matching the var(pattern) should be completed,
-and the `tt(-f)' option, which is the default, completes all
-filenames. The option `tt(-W) var(paths)' may be used to specify path
-prefixes that are to be prepended to the string from the line to
-generate the filenames but that should not be inserted in the line or
-shown in a completion listing. The var(paths) may be the name of an
-array parameter, a literal list of paths enclosed in parentheses or
-an absolute pathname.
-Additionally, the `tt(-F)'
-option from the tt(compadd) builtin is supported, giving direct control
-over which filenames should be ignored. If no such option is given,
-the tt(ignored-suffixes) style is used.
-
-The function tt(_files) uses the tt(file-patterns) style and calls
-tt(_path_files) with all the arguments it was passed except for tt(-g) 
-and tt(-/). These two options are used depending on the setting of the 
-tt(file-patterns) style.
-
-These functions also accept the `tt(-J)', `tt(-V)', `tt(-1)',
-`tt(-2)', `tt(-n)', `tt(-X)', `tt(-M)', `tt(-P)', `tt(-S)', `tt(-q)',
-`tt(-r)', and `tt(-R)' options from the tt(compadd) builtin.
-
-Finally, the tt(_path_files) function  uses the styles tt(expand),
-tt(cursor) and tt(special-dirs) with the tt(paths) tag.
-)
-findex(_parameters)
-item(tt(_parameters))(
-This should be used to complete parameter names. All arguments are
-passed unchanged to the tt(compadd) builtin.
-)
-findex(_options)
-item(tt(_options))(
-This can be used to complete option names. It uses a matching
-specification that ignores a leading `tt(no)', ignores underscores and 
-allows the user to type upper-case letters, making them match their
-lower-case counterparts. All arguments passed to this function are
-propagated unchanged to the tt(compadd) builtin.
-)
-findex(_set_options)
-findex(_unset_options)
-item(tt(_set_options) and tt(_unset_options))(
-These functions complete only set or unset options, with the same
-matching specification used in the tt(_options) function.
-
-Note that you need to uncomment a few lines in the tt(_main_complete)
-function for these functions to work properly. The lines in question
-are used to store the option settings in effect before the completion
-widget locally sets the options it needs.
-)
 findex(_arguments)
-item(tt(_arguments) var(specs) ...)(
-This function resides in the tt(Base) subdirectory of the example
-completion system because it is not used by the core system.
-
-This function can be used to complete words on the line by simply
-describing the arguments the command on the line gets. The description 
-is given as arguments to this function, with each var(spec) describing
-one option or normal argument of the command. The descriptions
-understood are:
+item(tt(_arguments) var(spec) ...)(
+This function can be used to complete words on the line by describing the
+options and arguments which may be passed to the command for which
+completion is being performed.  The description is given as arguments to
+this function, with each var(spec) describing one option or normal
+argument of the command.  The forms of var(spec) understood are:
 
 startitem()
-item(var(n)tt(:)var(message)tt(:)var(action))(
-This describes the var(n)'th normal argument. The var(message) will be 
+xitem(var(n)tt(:)var(message)tt(:)var(action))
+item(var(n)tt(::)var(message)tt(:)var(action))(
+This describes the var(n)'th normal argument.  The var(message) will be 
 printed above the matches generated and the var(action) says what can
-be completed in this position (see below). If there are two colons
-before the var(message), this describes an optional argument.
+be completed in this position (see below).  If there are two colons
+before the var(message), this describes an optional argument.  If the
+var(message) contains only white space, nothing will be printed above
+the matches unless the action adds an explanation string itself.
 )
-item(tt(:)var(message)tt(:)var(action))(
+xitem(tt(:)var(message)tt(:)var(action))
+item(tt(::)var(message)tt(:)var(action))(
 Like the previous one, but describing the em(next) argument. I.e. if
 you want to describe all arguments a command can get, you can leave
 out the numbers in the description and just use this form to describe
 them one after another in the order they have to appear on the line.
 )
-item(tt(*:)var(message)tt(:)var(action))(
-This describes how arguments are to be completed for which no
-description with one of the first two forms was given. This also means 
-that any number of arguments can be completed.
-
-If there are two colons before the var(message) (as in
-`tt(*::)var(message)tt(:)var(action)') the tt(words) special array and 
-the tt(CURRENT) special parameter will be restricted to only the
-normal arguments when the var(action) is executed or evaluated. With
-three colons before the var(message) they will be restricted to only
+xitem(tt(*:)var(message)tt(:)var(action))
+xitem(tt(*::)var(message)tt(:)var(action))
+item(tt(*:::)var(message)tt(:)var(action))(
+This describes how arguments (usually non-option arguments, those not
+beginning with tt(-) or tt(+)) are to be completed when no description
+with one of the first two forms was given. This also means that any number
+of arguments can be completed.
+
+With two colons before the var(message), the tt(words) special array and
+the tt(CURRENT) special parameter are modified to refer only to the
+normal arguments when the var(action) is executed or evaluated.  With
+three colons before the var(message) they are modified to refer only to
 the normal arguments covered by this description.
 )
-item(var(opt-spec)[var(description) ...])(
-This describes an option and (if at least one var(description) is
-given) the arguments that have to come after the option. If no
-var(description) is given, this will only be used to offer the option
-name as a possible completion in the right places. Each
-var(description) has to be of the form
-`tt(:)var(message)tt(:)var(action)' or
-`tt(::)var(message)tt(:)var(action)', where the second form describes
-an optional argument and the first one describes a mandatory argument.
-The last description may also be of the form
-`tt(:*:)var(message)tt(:)var(action)' or
-`tt(:*)var(pattern)tt(:)var(message)tt(:)var(action)'. These describe
-multiple arguments. In the first form all following words on the line
-are to be completed as described by the var(action), in the second
-form all words up to a word matching the given var(pattern) are to be
-completed using the var(action). The `tt(*)' or the var(pattern) may
-also be separated from the var(message) by two or three colons. With
-two colons the tt(words) special array and the tt(CURRENT) special
-parameter are modified to refer only to the words after the option
-(with two colons) or to the words covered by this description (with
-three colons) during the execution or evaluation of the
-var(action). Note that only one such `tt(:*)'-specification is useful
-and no other argument specification may be given after it.
+item(var(optspec)[var(description) ...])(
+This describes an option and (if var(description) is given) the arguments
+that have to come after the option.  If no var(description) is given, this
+means to offer only the option name as a possible completion in the right
+places.  (Note that the brackets, above, around var(description), indicate
+that zero or more var(description)s may appear; but the brackets are not
+themselves part of this format.  If brackets are used, they are part of
+the var(optspec); see below.)
+
+In the descriptions below, the option names represented by var(optname)
+are normally taken to be multi-character names, and a word from the line
+is considered to contain only one option (or none).  By giving the tt(-s)
+option to tt(_arguments) before the first var(spec), each var(optname) is
+considered to be a single character and each word from the line may
+contain more than one such option letter.  However, words beginning with
+two hyphens (like `tt(-)tt(-prefix)') are still considered to contain only
+one option name.  This allows the use of the `tt(-s)' option to describe
+single-letter options together with such long option names.
+
+The tt(-s) option may be combined with the option tt(-w) to say that more
+option characters are to be expected even after an option that takes an
+argument.  For example, if a command takes the options `tt(a)' and `tt(b)',
+where `tt(a)' takes an argument in the next word, tt(_arguments) would
+normally not complete the other option directly after `tt(-a)', but it would
+allow that if given the tt(-w) option.
+
+Similarly, the option tt(-W) may be given together with tt(-s) to force
+completion of single-letter options even after options that get an
+argument in the same word.  For example, if a command takes the options
+`tt(a)' and `tt(b)', where `tt(a)' needs an argument in the same word,
+directly after the option character, tt(_arguments) would normally only
+execute the action for that argument and not offer other single-letter
+options as possible completions.  If given the tt(-W) option, it will
+offer other options as possible completions after executing the action
+for the argument.  Note that, depending on the action, this may mean
+that the other options can't really be completed, but at least they will
+be listed.  For more control, use an utility function like tt(_guard) in
+the argument's action.
+
+The forms of var(optspec) are:
+
+startitem()
+item(tt(*)var(optspec))(
+If the option may be given more than once, a star (`tt(*)') must be
+added in front of one of the following forms of var(optspec).  Otherwise,
+if the option is already on the line and to the left of the cursor, it
+is not offered as a possible completion again.
+)
+xitem(tt(-)var(optname))
+item(tt(+)var(optname))(
+In the simplest form the var(optspec) is just the option name beginning
+with a minus or a plus sign, such as `tt(-foo)'.  The first argument for
+the option (if any) must follow as a em(separate) word directly after the
+option.
+
+If the command accepts the option with either a leading minus or a leading
+plus sign, use either `tt(-+)var(optname)' or `tt(+-)var(optname)' to
+define both variants at once.
+
+In all the following forms, the leading `tt(-)' may be replaced or paired
+with `tt(+)' in this way.
+)
+item(tt(-)var(optname)tt(-))(
+The first argument of the option must come directly after the option name
+em(in the same word), as in `tt(-foo-:)var(...)'.
+)
+item(tt(-)var(optname)tt(+))(
+The first argument may appear immediately after var(optname) in the same
+word, or may instead appear as a separate word after the option.
+)
+item(tt(-)var(optname)tt(=))(
+The argument may appear as the next word, or in same word as the option
+name provided that it is separated from it by an equals sign.
+)
+item(tt(-)var(optname)tt(=-))(
+The argument to the option must appear after an equals sign in the same
+word, and may not be given in the next argument.
+)
+item(var(optspec)tt([)var(explanation)tt(]))(
+An explanation string may be appended to any of the preceding forms of
+var(optspec) by enclosing it in brackets, as in `tt(-q[query operation])'.
+
+The tt(verbose) style is used to decide if these explanation strings
+should be displayed with the option in a completion listing.
+
+If no bracketed explanation string is given but the tt(auto-description)
+style is set and only one argument is described for this var(optspec), the
+value of the style is displayed, with any appearance of the sequence
+`tt(%d)' in it replaced by the var(message) of the first var(description)
+that follows the var(optspec); see below.
+)
+enditem()
 
-In the simplest form the var(opt-spec) is just the option name
-beginning with a minus or a plus sign, such as `tt(-foo)'. If the
-command accepts the option both with a leading minus and a plus sign,
-one can use either tt(-+foo) or tt(+-foo) to define both options at
-once. In this
-case, the first argument for the option (if any) has to come as a
-separate word directly after the option and the option may appear only 
-once on the line (and if it is already on the line, the option name
-will not be offered as a possible completion again). If the first
-argument for the option has to come directly after the option name
-em(in the same word), a minus sign should be added to the end of the
-var(opt-spec), as in `tt(-foo-)'. If the first argument may be given
-in one string with the option name, but may also be given as a
-separate argument after the option, a plus sign should be used
-instead. If the argument may be given as the next string or in same
-string as the option name but separated from it by an equal sign, a
-`tt(=)' should be used instead of the minus or plus sign.
-
-Note that this and the shortcut syntax with a leading tt(-+) or tt(+-) 
-means that for options like tt(-+) the second character has to be
-quoted with a backslash.
-
-If the option may be given more than once, a star
-(`tt(*)') has to be added in front of the var(opt-spec).
-
-Finally, the var(opt-spec) may contain a explanation string. This is
-given in brackets at the end, as in `tt(-q[query operation])'. The
-tt(verbose) style is used to decide if these
-explanation strings should be printed when options are listed. If no
-explanation string is given but the tt(auto-describe) style is
-set and only one argument is described for this var(opt-spec), the
-option will be described by the value of the style with any appearance
-of the sequence `tt(%d)' in it replaced by the description for the
-first argument.
+Note that the special meaning of a leading or trailing tt(-) or tt(+) in
+var(optspec) means that when the command to be completed accepts options
+like `tt(-+)' or `tt(-=)', the second character has to be quoted with a
+backslash, as in `tt(-\+)'.
+
+Each var(description) following an var(optspec) must take one of the
+following forms:
+
+startitem()
+xitem(tt(:)var(message)tt(:)var(action))
+item(tt(::)var(message)tt(:)var(action))(
+Describes a mandatory argument with one colon, or an optional argument
+with two colons.  As in other forms of var(spec), the var(message) will be
+printed above the matches generated (unless it contains only white
+space, see above) and the var(action) says what can be
+completed in this position.
+)
+xitem(tt(:*)var(pattern)tt(:)var(message)tt(:)var(action))
+xitem(tt(:*)var(pattern)tt(::)var(message)tt(:)var(action))
+item(tt(:*)var(pattern)tt(:::)var(message)tt(:)var(action))(
+This describes multiple arguments.  Only the em(last) description may be
+given in this form.  If the var(pattern) is empty (i.e., tt(:*:)), all
+following words on the line are to be completed as described by the
+var(action); otherwise, all words up to a word matching the var(pattern)
+are to be completed using the var(action).
+
+When the var(message) is preceded by two colons, the tt(words) special
+array and the tt(CURRENT) special parameter are modified during the
+execution or evaluation of the var(action) to refer only to the words
+after the option.  When preceded by three colons, they are modified to
+refer only to the words covered by this description.
+
+Note that only one such `tt(:*)'-specification is useful
+and no other argument specification may be given after it.
 )
 enditem()
+)
+enditem()
+
+To include a colon in any var(optname), var(message), or var(action)
+anywhere above, it has to be preceded by a backslash, as `tt(\:)'.
 
-Every var(spec) may also contain a list of option names and argument
-numbers with which the option or argument described is mutually
-exclusive. Such a list is given in parentheses at the beginning, as in
-`tt((-two -three 1)-one:...)' or `tt((-foo):...)'. In the first
+Each of the six forms of var(spec) (yes, there are six, keep track of
+the nestings) may be preceded by a list
+of option names and argument numbers with which the option or argument
+described is mutually exclusive.  This list is given in parentheses, as
+in `tt((-two -three 1)-one:...)' or `tt((-foo):...)'.  In the first
 example, the options `tt(-two)' and `tt(-three)' and the first
 argument will not be offered as possible completions if the option
-`tt(-one)' is on the line. Also, the list may contain a single star as
-one of its elements to specify that the description for the rest
-arguments should not be used and it may contain a colon to specify
-that the descriptions for all normal (non-option-) arguments should
-not be used.
-
-In each of the cases above, the var(action) says how the possible
-completions should be generated. In cases where only one of a fixed
-set of strings can be completed, these strings can directly be given as 
-a list in parentheses, as in `tt(:foo:(foo bar baz))'. Such a list in
-doubled parentheses, as in `tt(:foo:((a\:bar b\:baz)))' should contain 
-strings consisting of the string to complete followed by a colon
-(which needs to be preceded by a backslash) and a description. The
-matches will be listed together with their descriptions if the
+`tt(-one)' is on the line before the cursor, and in the second example
+the option `tt(-foo)' will not be offered if the argument described by
+the specification is on the line.
+
+The list may also contain a single star (tt(*)) as one of its elements to
+specify that the description for the rest arguments (i.e. a specification
+of the form `tt(*:...)') should not be used, a colon (tt(:)) to specify
+that the descriptions for all normal (non-option-) arguments should not be
+used and a hyphen (tt(-)) to specify that the descriptions for all options
+should not be used.  This paragraph desperately needs rewriting.
+
+To simplify writing writing functions that call tt(_arguments) more
+than once, the var(specs) may also start with the character `tt(!)'
+(exclamation mark) to make the spec em(not) be completed.  However, if
+this is used with one of the forms describing options, the option (and 
+its arguments, if it takes any) will be understood and skipped if they 
+appear on the command line.  It's just that the option itself will not
+be completed. This is intended to be used with an array containing the 
+options used in the first call to tt(arguments).  The second call can
+then use `tt(\!${^global_options})' to ignore those options and
+complete only the ones understood in the current context.
+
+In every case above, the var(action) determines how the possible
+completions should be generated.  In places where no sensible matches can
+be generated, the action should consist of only a space. This will make
+the var(message) be displayed but no possible completions listed. Note
+that even in this case the colon at the end of the var(message) is
+needed. The only case where it can be left is when neither a var(message),
+nor a var(action) is given.
+
+Except for the `tt(->)var(string)' form below, the var(action) will be
+executed by calling the tt(_all_labels) function to process all tag labels,
+so one doesn't need to call that explicitly unless another tag is to
+be used, for example in a function called in the var(action).
+
+When only one of a fixed set of strings can be completed, the var(action)
+can consist of these strings as a list in parentheses, as in:
+
+example(tt(:foo:LPAR()foo bar baz)tt(RPAR()))
+
+Such a list in doubled parentheses should contain strings consisting of
+the string to complete followed by `tt(\:)' and a description, as in:
+
+example(tt(:foo:LPAR()LPAR()a\:bar b\:baz)tt(RPAR()RPAR()))
+
+The matches will be listed together with their descriptions if the
 tt(description) style for the tt(values) tag is set.
 
+vindex(context, use of)
+vindex(line, use of)
+vindex(opt_args, use of)
 An var(action) of the form `tt(->)var(string)' is used by functions
-that implement a state machine. In this case, the `var(string)' (with
-all leading and trailing spaces and tabs removed) will be stored in
-the global parameter tt(state) and the function returns with a return
+that implement a state machine. In this case, the `var(string)'s (with
+all leading and trailing spaces and tabs removed) of all actions that
+have to be used will be stored in the global array tt(state).  The
+function returns with a non-zero return value if the cursor is not in
+a position where options can be completed or if the current word could 
+not be completed to an option.  But if the tt(-R) option is given to
+tt(_arguments), the function will instead return with a return
 value of 300 (to make it distinguishable from other return values)
 after setting the global `tt(context)', `tt(line)' and `tt(opt_args)'
-parameters as described below and without resetting any changes made
-to the special parameters such as tt(PREFIX) and tt(words). Note that
-this means that a function calling tt(_arguments) with at least one
-action containing such a `tt(->)var(string)' has to declare
+parameters as described below, and without resetting any changes made
+to the special parameters such as tt(PREFIX) and tt(words).  This
+enables wrapper functions around tt(_arguments) to be able to find out
+if they have to make sure that the special completion parameters are
+not reset when they return.
+
+Note that this means that a function calling tt(_arguments) with at least
+one action containing such a `tt(->)var(string)' has to declare
 appropriate local parameters as in:
 
 example(local context state line
@@ -2528,33 +3123,35 @@ typeset -A opt_args)
 This will ensure that tt(_arguments) does not create unused global
 parameters.
 
-A string in
-braces will be evaluated to generate the matches and if the
+vindex(expl, use of)
+A string in braces is evaluated to generate the matches and if the
 var(action) does not begin with an opening parentheses or brace, it
-will be split into separate words and executed. If the var(action)
+is also split into separate words and executed. If the var(action)
 starts with a space, this list of words will be invoked unchanged,
 otherwise it will be invoked with some extra strings placed after the
 first word which can be given as arguments to the tt(compadd) builtin
 command and which make sure that the var(message) given
 in the description will be shown above the matches. These arguments
-are taken from the array parameter tt(expl) which will be set up
+are taken from the array parameter `tt(expl)' which will be set up
 before executing the var(action) and hence may be used in it (normally 
 in an expansion like `tt($expl[@])').
 
-Except for the `tt(->)var(string)' form, the var(action) will be
-executed by calling the tt(_loop) function to process all tag aliases,
-so one doesn't need to call that explicitly unless another tag is to
-be used, for example in a function called in the var(action).
-
-In places where no sensible matches can be generated, the action
-should consist of only a space. This will make the var(message) be
-displayed but no possible completions listed. Note that even in this
-case the colon at the end of the var(message) is needed. The only case 
-where it can be left is when neither a var(message), nor a var(action) 
-is given.
-
-To include a colon in the option name, the var(message) or the
-var(action), it has to be preceded by a backslash.
+If the var(action) starts with `tt(= )' (an equals sign followed by a
+space), tt(_arguments) will insert the contents of the var(argument)
+field of the current context as the new first element in the tt(words) 
+special array and increments the value of the tt(CURRENT) special
+parameter. In other words, it inserts a dummy element in the tt(words) 
+array and makes tt(CURRENT) still point to the word in that array
+where the cursor is. This is only really useful when used with one of
+the forms that make tt(_arguments) modify the tt(words) array to
+contain only some of the words from the line, i.e. one of the argument 
+description forms where the var(message) is preceded by two or three
+colons. For example, when the function called in the action for such
+an argument itself uses tt(_arguments), the dummy element is needed to 
+make that second call to tt(_arguments) use all words from the
+restricted range for argument parsing. Without the inserted dummy
+element, the first word in the range would be taken (by the second
+tt(_arguments)) to be the command name and hence ignored.
 
 During the evaluation or execution of the action the array `tt(line)'
 will be set to the command name and normal arguments from the command
@@ -2563,28 +3160,79 @@ and their arguments. These are stored in the associative array
 `tt(opt_args)', using the option names as keys and their arguments as
 the values. For options that have more than one argument these are
 given as one string, separated by colons. All colons in the original
-arguments are preceded with backslashes. The parameter `tt(context)'
-will be set to the automatically created context name. This is either
-a string of the form `var(-opt)tt(-)var(n)' for the var(n)'th argument 
-of the option var(-opt), or a string of the form `tt(argument-)var(n)' 
-for the var(n)'th argument (for rest arguments the var(n) is the
-string `tt(rest)'). For example, when completing the argument of the tt(-o)
-option, the name is `tt(-o-1)' and for the second normal (non-option-)
-argument it is `tt(argument-2)'.
+arguments are preceded with backslashes.
+
+The parameter `tt(context)' (set only in the calling function when
+using an action of the form `tt(->)var(string)', not during the
+evaluation of other var(action)s) is set to the automatically
+created context names. These are either strings of the form
+`tt(option)var(-opt)tt(-)var(n)' for the var(n)'th argument of the
+option var(-opt), or strings of the form `tt(argument-)var(n)' for
+the var(n)'th argument (for rest arguments the var(n) is the string
+`tt(rest)'). For example, when completing the argument of the tt(-o)
+option, the name is `tt(option-o-1)' and for the second normal
+(non-option-) argument it is `tt(argument-2)'.
 
 Also, during the evaluation of the var(action), the context name in
-the tt(curcontext) parameter will be changed by appending the same
+the tt(curcontext) parameter is changed by appending the same
 string that is stored in the tt(context) parameter.
 
-Normally the option names are taken as multi-character names and a
-word from the line is considered to contain only one option (or
-none). By giving the tt(-s) option to this function (before the first
-description), options are considered to be one-character options and the
-strings from the line may contain more than one such option
-letter. However, strings beginning with two hyphens (like
-`tt(-)tt(-prefix)') are still considered to contain only one option
-name. This allows the use of the `tt(-s)' option to describe
-single-letter options together with such long option names.
+It is also possible to specify multiple sets of options and
+arguments with the sets separated by single hyphens.  The specifications
+before the first hyphen are shared by all sets given after the first
+hyphen.  The first word in every other set gives the name of the
+set. This name may appear in exclusion lists in the specifications,
+either alone or before one of the possible values described above
+(with a `tt(-)' between the name and the rest).
+
+For example:
+
+example(_arguments \ 
+    -a \ 
+  - set1 \ 
+    -c \ 
+  - set2 \ 
+    -d \ 
+    ':arg:(x2 y2)')
+
+This defines two sets. When the command line contains the option
+`tt(-c)', the `tt(-d)' option and the argument will not be considered
+possible completions. When it contains `tt(-d)' or an argument, the
+option `tt(-c)' will not be completed any more, but if `tt(-a)' is
+given, both sets will still be considered valid, because it appears
+before the first hyphen, so both sets contain this option.
+
+If the name-string is of the form `tt(LPAR())var(name)tt(RPAR())' then 
+all specifications in the set have an implicit exclusion list
+containing the name of the set, i.e. all specifications are mutual
+exclusive with all other specifications in the same set. This is
+useful for defining multiple sets of options which are mutually
+exclusive and in which the options are aliases for each other. E.g.:
+
+example(_arguments \ 
+    -a -b \ 
+  - '(compress)' \ 
+    {-c,--compress}'[compress]' \ 
+  - '(uncompress)' \ 
+    {-d,--decompress}'[decompress]')
+
+Note that using multiple sets will be slower than using only one set
+because the completion code has to parse the command line once for
+every set. So more than one set should only be used if the command
+syntax is too complicated. Note also that an option specification with
+rest-arguments (as in `tt(-foo:*:...)') often allows the use of
+multiple sets to be avoided.
+
+To simplify the specifications for commands with standard option
+parsing, the options tt(-S) and tt(-A) may be given.  With tt(-S), no
+option will be completed after a `tt(-)tt(-)' on the line and this
+argument will otherwise be ignored. With tt(-A), no options will be
+completed after the first non-option argument on the line.  The tt(-A) 
+has to be followed by a pattern matching all strings which are not to
+be taken as arguments. For example, to make tt(_arguments) stop
+completing options after the first normal argument, but ignoring all
+strings starting with a hyphen even if they are not described by one
+of the var(optspec)s, one would use: `tt(-A "-*")'.
 
 Another option supported is `tt(-O) var(name)'. The var(name) will be
 taken as the name of an array and its elements will be given to
@@ -2598,7 +3246,7 @@ when completing option names and values instead of the default
 `tt(r:|[_-]=* r:|=*)'. 
 
 Finally, the option tt(-C) can be given to make tt(_arguments) modify
-the tt(curcontext) parameter when a action of the form
+the tt(curcontext) parameter when an action of the form
 `tt(->)var(state)' is used. This parameter is used to keep track of
 the current context and in this case it (and not the parameter
 tt(context) as explained above) has to be made local to make sure that 
@@ -2617,7 +3265,7 @@ possible option names. Note that this means that you should be careful
 to make sure that this feature is not used for a command that does not
 support this option.
 
-For such automatically found options that get an argument after a
+For such automatically found options that get an argument after an
 `tt(=)', the function also tries
 to automatically find out what should be completed as the argument.
 The possible completions for option-arguments can be described with
@@ -2648,6 +3296,11 @@ argument for an option is optional. If it fails to automatically
 detect this, the colon before the var(message) can be doubled to tell
 it about this as described for the normal option descriptions above.
 
+If the var(pattern) ends in `tt((-))', this will removed from the
+pattern and the var(action) will be used only directly after the
+`tt(=)', not in the next word. I.e., this is like a normal
+specification as described above using `tt(=-)'.
+
 The option `tt(-i) var(patterns)' (which must be given after the
 `tt(-)tt(-)') can be used to give patterns for options which should not be
 completed. The patterns can be given as the name of an array parameter
@@ -2666,7 +3319,7 @@ Example:
 example(_arguments '-l+:left border:' \ 
            '-format:paper size:(letter A4)' \ 
            '*-copy:output file:_files::resolution:(300 600)' \ 
-           ':postscript file:_files -g *.(ps|eps)' \ 
+           ':postscript file:_files -g \*.\(ps\|eps\)' \ 
            '*:page number:')
 
 This describes three options: `tt(-l)', `tt(-format)', and
@@ -2689,88 +3342,405 @@ arguments. The first one describes the first argument as a
 be completed. The last description says that all other arguments are
 `var(page numbers)' but does not give possible completions.
 )
-findex(_values)
-item(tt(_values) var(specs) ...)(
-This is used to complete values (strings) and their arguments or
-lists of such values.
+findex(_cache_invalid)
+item(tt(_cache_invalid) var(cache_identifier))(
+This function returns 0 if the completions cache corresponding to the
+given cache identifier needs rebuilding.  It determines this by
+looking up the tt(cache-policy) style for the current context, and
+if it exists, runs the function of the same name, supplying the full
+path to the relevant cache file as the only argument.
 
-If the first argument is the option `tt(-O) var(name)', this will be
-used in the same way as by the tt(_arguments) function. I.e. the
-elements of the var(name) array will be given to calls to tt(compadd)
-and when executing an action.
+Example:
 
-Otherwise, if the first argument (or the first argument after the
-`tt(-O) var(name)' option if that is used) is the option `tt(-s)', the
-next argument is used as the character that separates multiple values.
+example(_example_caching_policy () {
+    # rebuild if cache is more than a week old
+    oldp=( "$1"(Nmw+1) )
+    (( $#oldp ))
+})
+)
+findex(_call_function)
+item(tt(_call_function) var(return) var(name) [ var(args) ... ])(
+If a function var(name) exists, it is called with the arguments
+var(args). Unless it is the empty string or a single hyphen,
+var(return) is taken as the name of a parameter and the return status
+from the called function is stored in it.
+The return value of tt(_call_function) itself is zero if the function
+var(name) exists and was called and non-zero otherwise.
+)
+findex(_call_program)
+item(tt(_call_program) var(tag) var(string) ...)(
+This function is used in places where a command is called, making it
+possible for the user to override the default command call.  It looks up
+the tt(command) style with the supplied var(tag).  If the style is set, its
+value is used as the command to execute.
 
-The first argument (after the options and separator character if they
-are given) is used as a string to print as a description before
-listing the values.
+In any case, the var(string)s from the call to tt(_call_program) or from the
+style are concatenated with spaces between them and the resulting
+string is evaluated.  The return value is the return value of the
+command called.
+)
+findex(_combination)
+item(tt(_combination) [ tt(-s) var(pattern) ] var(tag) var(style) var(specs) ... var(field) var(opts) ...)(
+This function is used to complete combinations of values such as pairs 
+of hostnames and usernames.  The possible values will be taken from the 
+var(style) whose name is given as the second argument.  The first argument
+is the var(tag) to use to do the lookup.
 
-All other arguments describe the possible values and their
-arguments in the same format used for the description of options by
-the tt(_arguments) function (see above). The only difference is that
-there is no required minus or plus sign at the beginning and that
-values can have only one argument.
+The style name should consist of multiple parts separated by
+hyphens which are then used as field names.  Known values for such
+fields can be given after the second argument in arguments of the form 
+`var(field)tt(=)var(pattern)'.  The first argument without an equals sign 
+is taken as the name of the field for which completions should be
+generated.
 
-Example:
+The matches generated will be taken from the value of the style.  These 
+values should contain the possible values for the combinations where
+the values for the different fields are separated by colons or
+characters matching the pattern given after the tt(-s) option to
+tt(_combination); normally this is used to define character classes
+like the `tt(-s "[:@]")' used for the tt(users-hosts) style.
 
-example(_values -s , 'description' \ 
-        '*foo[bar]' \
-        '(two)*one[number]:first count:' \ 
-        'two[another number]::second count:(1 2 3)')
+Only the values for the requested fields for which the patterns given
+in the `var(field)tt(=)var(pattern)' match the respective fields in
+the strings from the style value are generated as possible matches.
 
-This describes three possible values: `tt(foo)', `tt(one)', and
-`tt(two)'. The first one is described as `tt(bar)', gets no argument 
-and may appear more than once. The second one is described as
-`tt(number)', may appear more than once, and gets one mandatory
-argument described as `tt(first count)' for which no action is
-specified so that it will not be completed automatically. The
-`tt((two))' at the beginning says that if the value `tt(one)' is on
-the line, the value `tt(two)' will not be  considered to be a possible
-completion anymore. Finally, the last value (`tt(two)') is described
-as `tt(another number)' and gets an optional argument decribed as
-`tt(second count)' which will be completed from the strings `tt(1)',
-`tt(2)', and `tt(3)'. The tt(_values) function will complete lists of
-these values separated by commas.
+If no style with the given name is defined for the given tag but a
+function named with the name of the requested field preceded by an
+underscore is defined, that function will be called to generate the
+matches.  This is also done if none of the strings in the value of the
+style match all the patterns given as arguments.
 
-Like tt(_arguments) this function temporarily adds another context
-name component to the current context name while executing the
-var(action). Here this name is just the name of the value for which
-the argument is completed.
+If the same name is used for more than one field, in both the
+`var(field)tt(=)var(pattern)' and the argument that gives the field
+name to complete for, the number of the field (starting with one) may
+be given after the fieldname, separated from it by a colon.
 
-To decide if the descriptions for the values (not those for the
-arguments) should be printed, the tt(verbose) is used.
+All arguments after the requested field name are passed to
+tt(compadd) when generating matches from the style value, or to 
+the functions for the fields if they are called.
+)
+findex(_contexts)
+item(tt(_contexts) var(names) ...)(
+This function looks up the definitions for the context and command
+names given as arguments and calls the handler functions for them if
+there is a definition (given with the tt(compdef) function).  For
+example, the function completing inside subscripts might use
+`tt(_contexts -math-)' to include the completions generated for
+mathematical environments.
+)
+findex(_describe)
+item(tt(_describe) [ tt(-o) ] var(descr) var(name1) [ var(name2) ] var(opts) ... tt(-)tt(-) ...)(
+This function is useful for preparing a list of command options or
+arguments, together with their descriptions var(descr), as matches.
+Multiple groups separated by tt(-)tt(-) can be supplied, potentially with
+different completion options var(opts).
+
+The var(descr) is taken as a string to display above the matches if the
+tt(format) style for the tt(descriptions) tag is set.  After this come one
+or two names of arrays followed by options to pass to tt(compadd).  The
+first array contains the possible completions with their descriptions in
+the form `var(completion)tt(:)var(description)'.  If a second array is
+given, it should have the same number of elements as the first one and the
+corresponding elements are added as possible completions instead of the
+var(completion) strings from the first array.  The completion list will
+retain the descriptions from the first array.  Finally, a set of completion
+options can appear.
+
+If the option `tt(-o)' appears before the first argument, the matches added
+will be treated as option names (typically following a `tt(-)',
+`tt(-)tt(-)' or `tt(+)' on the command line).  This makes tt(_describe) use
+the tt(prefix-hidden), tt(prefix-needed) and tt(verbose) styles to find out
+if the strings should be added at all and if the descriptions should be
+shown.  Without the `tt(-o)' option, only the tt(verbose) style is used.
+
+tt(_describe) uses the tt(_all_labels) function to generate the matches, so
+it does not need to appear inside a loop over tag labels.
+)
+findex(_description)
+item(tt(_description) [ tt(-12VJ) ] var(tag) var(name) var(descr) [ var(specs) ... ])(
+This function is called before completions are added (typically by a call
+to tt(compadd)); it tests various styles and arranges for any necessary
+options to be passed on to tt(compadd).  The styles are tested in the
+current context using the given var(tag); options are put into the array
+called var(name) for passing on to tt(compadd); the description for the
+current set of matches is passed in var(descr).  The styles tested are:
+tt(format) (which is first tested for the given var(tag) and then for the
+tt(descriptions) tag if that isn't defined), tt(hidden), tt(matcher),
+tt(ignored-patterns) and tt(group-name) (the last are tested only for the
+tag given as the first argument).  This function also calls the tt(_setup)
+function which tests some more styles.
+
+The string returned by the tt(format) style (if any) will be modified so
+that the sequence `tt(%d)' is replaced by the var(descr) given as the third
+argument without any leading or trailing white space.  If, after
+removing the white space, the var(descr) is the empty string, the format
+style will not be used and the options put into the var(name) array will
+not contain an explanation string to be displayed above the matches.  If
+tt(_description) is called with more than three arguments,
+the additional var(specs) should be of the form `var(char)tt(:)var(str)'
+and every appearance of `tt(%)var(char)' in the format string will be
+replaced by var(string).
 
-One last difference to tt(_arguments) is that this function uses the
-associative array
-tt(val_args) to report values and their arguments (but otherwise this
-is the same as the tt(opt_args) association used by
-tt(_arguments)). This also means that the function calling tt(_values) 
-should declare the tt(state), tt(line), tt(context) and tt(val_args)
-parameters as in:
+The options placed in the array will also make sure that the matches
+are placed in a separate group, depending on the value of the
+tt(group-name) style.  Normally a sorted group will be used for this
+(with the `tt(-J)' option), but if an option starting with `tt(-V)',
+`tt(-J)', `tt(-1)', or `tt(-2)' is given, that option will be included
+in the array, so that it is possible to make the group unsorted by
+giving the option `tt(-V)', `tt(-1V)', or `tt(-2V)'. 
 
-example(local context state line
-typeset -A val_args)
+In most cases, the function will be used like this:
 
-when using an action of the form `tt(->)var(string)'. With this
-function the tt(context) parameter will be set to the name of the
-value whose argument is to be completed.
+example(local expl
+_description files expl file
+compadd "$expl[@]" - "$files[@]")
 
-Like tt(_arguments), tt(_values) also supports the tt(-C) option in
-which case you have to make the parameter tt(curcontext) local instead 
-of tt(context) (as described above).
+Note the use of the parameter tt(expl), the hyphen, and the list of
+matches.  Almost all calls to tt(compadd) within the completion system use
+a similar format; this ensures that user-specified styles are correctly
+passed down to the builtins which implement the internals of completion.
+)
+findex(_files)
+item(tt(_files))(
+The function tt(_files) uses the tt(file-patterns) style and calls
+tt(_path_files) with all the arguments it was passed except for tt(-g) 
+and tt(-/).  These two options are used depending on the setting of the 
+tt(file-patterns) style.
+
+See tt(_path_files) below for a description of the full set of options
+accepted by tt(_files).
+)
+findex(_gnu_generic)
+item(tt(_gnu_generic))(
+This function is a simple wrapper around the tt(_arguments) function
+described above.  It can be used to automatically complete long
+options for commands that understand the `tt(-)tt(-help)' option.
+It is not intended to be used from completion functions but as a
+top-level completion function in its own right.  For example, to
+enable option completion for the commands tt(foo) and tt(bar), one
+would call:
+
+example(compdef _gnu_generic foo bar)
+
+in one of the initialization files after the call to tt(compinit).
+
+The default installation uses this function only to generate
+completions for some GNU-commands because to complete the options, the 
+command has to be called and hence it shouldn't be used if one can't
+be sure that the command understands the `tt(-)tt(-help)' option.
+)
+findex(_guard)
+item(tt(_guard) [ var(options) ] var(pattern) [ var(descr) ])(
+This function is intended to be used in an action of functions like
+tt(_arguments).  It returns immediately with a non-zero return value if
+the string to be completed does not match the var(pattern).  If the
+pattern matches, the var(descr) is displayed and the function returns
+zero if the word to complete is not empty and non-zero otherwise.
+
+The var(pattern) may be preceded by those options understood by
+tt(compadd) that are passed down from tt(_description), namely tt(-M),
+tt(-J), tt(-V), tt(-1), tt(-2), tt(-n), tt(-F) and tt(-X).  All of these
+options, except tt(-X), will be ignored.  If the tt(-X) option appears,
+the description following it will be used as the string to display if
+the var(pattern) matches, unless the option var(descr) is given to
+tt(_guard) itself, which will then take precedence.
+
+As an example, consider a command taking the options tt(-n) and
+tt(-none), where tt(-n) has to be followed by a numeric value in the
+same word.  By using either of:
+
+example(_argument '-n-:numeric value:_guard "[0-9]#"' '-none')
+
+or
+
+example(_argument '-n-: :_guard "[0-9]#" "numeric value"' '-none')
+
+tt(_arguments) can be made to both display the message `tt(numeric
+value)' and complete options after `tt(-n<TAB>)'.  If the `tt(-n)' is
+already followed by one or more digits (matching the pattern given to
+tt(_guard)), only the message will be displayed and if the `tt(-n)' is
+followed by another character, only options are completed.
+)
+findex(_message)
+item(tt(_message) [ -r ] var(descr))(
+The var(descr) is used like the third
+argument to the tt(_description) function. However, the resulting
+string will always be shown whether or not matches were
+generated. This is useful to display help texts in places where no
+completions can be generated automatically.
+
+This function also uses the tt(format) style for the tt(messages) tag in
+preference to the tt(format) style for the tt(descriptions) tag. The
+latter is used only if the former is unset.
+
+If the tt(-r) option is given, no style is used and the var(descr) is
+used literally as the string to display. This is only used in cases
+where that string is taken from some pre-processed argument list
+containing an expanded description.
+)
+findex(_multi_parts)
+item(tt(_multi_parts) var(sep) var(array))(
+This function receives two arguments: a separator character and an
+array.  As usual, the var(array) may be either the
+name of an array parameter or a literal array in the form
+`tt(LPAR()foo bar)tt(RPAR())' (i.e. a list of words separated by white 
+space in parentheses).  With these arguments, this function will
+complete to strings from the array where the parts separated by the
+separator character are completed independently.  For example, the
+tt(_tar) function from the distribution caches the pathnames from the
+tar file in an array, and then calls this function to complete these
+names in the way normal filenames are completed by the
+tt(_path_files) function, by using `tt(_multi_parts) tt(/)
+var(patharray)'.
+
+If the tt(-i) option is present, then any time there is a unique match it
+will immediately be inserted even if that requires additional separators to
+be inserted as well.  When completing from a fixed set of possible
+completions which are really words, this is often the expected behaviour;
+however, if tt(_multi_parts) should behave like completing pathnames, the
+tt(-i) option should not be used.
+
+Like other utility functions, this function accepts the `tt(-V)',
+`tt(-J)', `tt(-1)', `tt(-2)', `tt(-n)', `tt(-f)', `tt(-X)', `tt(-M)',
+`tt(-P)', `tt(-S)', `tt(-r)', `tt(-R)', and `tt(-q)' options and passes
+them to the tt(compadd) builtin.
+)
+findex(_next_label)
+item(tt(_next_label) [ tt(-12VJ) ] var(tag) var(name) var(descr) [ var(options) ... ])(
+This function should be called repeatedly to generate the tag
+labels. On each call it will check if another tag label is to be used 
+and, if there is at least one, zero is returned. If no more tag
+labels are to be used, a non-zero status is returned.
+
+The tt(-12JV) options and the first three arguments are given to the
+tt(_description) function using the tag label instead of the first
+argument as appropriate. The var(options) given after the var(descr)
+should be other options to be used for tt(compadd) or whatever
+function is to be called to add the matches. tt(_next_label) will store these 
+var(options) in the parameter whose var(name) is given as the second
+argument. This is done in such a way that the description given by the 
+user to the tt(tag-order) style is preferred over the one given to
+tt(_next_label).
+
+Note that this function must not be called without a previous call to
+tt(_tags) or tt(_requested) because it uses the tag label
+for the current tag found by these functions.
+
+A normal use of this function for the tag labels of the tag tt(foo)
+looks like this:
+
+example(local expl ret=1
+...
+if _requested foo; then
+  ...
+  while _next_label foo expl '...'; do
+    compadd "$expl[@]" ... && ret=0
+  done
+  ...
+fi
+return ret
+)
+)
+findex(_normal)
+item(tt(_normal))(
+This function is used for normal command completion.  It has two tasks:
+completing the first word on the command line as the name of a command, and
+completing the arguments to this command.  In the second case, the name of
+the command is looked up to see if special completions exists, including
+completions defined for patterns which match the name.  If none is found,
+completion is performed for the context tt(-default-).
+
+The function can also be called by other completion functions which need to
+treat a range of words as a command line.  For example, the function to
+complete after the pre-command specifiers such as tt(nohup) removes the
+first word from the tt(words) array, decrements the tt(CURRENT) parameter,
+then calls tt(_normal) again, with the effect that `tt(nohup) var(cmd ...)'
+is treated the same way was `var(cmd ...)'.
+
+If the command name matches a pattern, the parameter tt(_compskip) is
+checked after the call to the corresponding completion function.  This has
+the same effect here as in the tt(-first-) context: if it is set, no more
+completion functions are called even if there are no matches so far.
+)
+findex(_options)
+item(tt(_options))(
+This can be used to complete option names.  It uses a matching
+specification that ignores a leading `tt(no)', ignores underscores and 
+allows the user to type upper-case letters which will match their
+lower-case counterparts.  All arguments passed to this function are
+propagated unchanged to the tt(compadd) builtin.
+)
+findex(_options_set)
+findex(_options_unset)
+item(tt(_options_set) and tt(_options_unset))(
+These functions complete only set or unset options, with the same
+matching specification used in the tt(_options) function.
+
+Note that you need to uncomment a few lines in the tt(_main_complete)
+function for these functions to work properly.  The lines in question
+are used to store the option settings in effect before the completion
+widget locally sets the options it needs.  Hence these options are not
+generally used by the completion system.
+)
+findex(_parameters)
+item(tt(_parameters))(
+This should be used to complete parameter names.  tt(_parameters) can
+take a tt(-g var(pattern)) option which specifies that only parameters
+whose type matches the var(pattern) should be completed.  Strings of
+the same form as those returned by the tt(t) parameter expansion flag
+are used here when matching the type.  All other arguments are passed
+unchanged to the tt(compadd) builtin.
+)
+findex(_path_files)
+item(tt(_path_files))(
+The function tt(_path_files) is used throughout the completion system
+to complete filenames.  It allows completion of partial paths.  For
+example, the string `tt(/u/i/s/sig)' may be completed to
+`tt(/usr/include/sys/signal.h)'.
+
+The options accepted by both tt(_path_files) and tt(_files) are:
+
+startitem()
+item(tt(-f))(
+Complete all filenames.  This is the default.
+)
+item(tt(-/))(
+Specifies that only directories should be completed.
+)
+item(tt(-g) var(pattern))(
+Specifies that only files matching the var(pattern) should be completed.
+)
+item(tt(-W) var(paths))(
+Specifies path prefixes that are to be prepended to the string from the
+line to generate the filenames but that should not be inserted in the line
+or shown in a completion listing.  Here, var(paths) may be the name of an
+array parameter, a literal list of paths enclosed in parentheses or an
+absolute pathname.
+)
+item(tt(-F))(
+This option from the tt(compadd) builtin gives direct control over which
+filenames should be ignored.  If the option is not present, the
+tt(ignored-patterns) style is used.
+)
+enditem()
+
+These functions also accept the `tt(-J)', `tt(-V)', `tt(-1)',
+`tt(-2)', `tt(-n)', `tt(-X)', `tt(-M)', `tt(-P)', `tt(-S)', `tt(-q)',
+`tt(-r)', and `tt(-R)' options from the tt(compadd) builtin.
+
+Finally, the tt(_path_files) function  uses the styles tt(expand),
+tt(ambiguous), tt(special-dirs), tt(list-suffixes) and tt(file-sort).
 )
 findex(_regex_arguments)
 item(tt(_regex_arguments) var(name) var(specs) ...)(
 This function is a compiler to generate a completion function.  The
-first argument specifies the name of a generated function while the
+first argument specifies the name of the generated function while the
 remaining arguments specify a completion as a set of regular
 expressions with actions.  The generated function has the structure of a
-finite-state machine whose state corresponds to the state (i.e. the
+finite-state machine whose states correspond to the state (i.e. the
 context) of the completion. This state machine uses a command line,
-which comes from concatentating the tt(words) array up to the current
-cursor position using null characters as a separator with no extra
+which comes from the concatenation of the tt(words) array up to the
+current cursor position using null characters as separators with no extra
 quotation.  This is analysed and at the end the appropriate action is
 executed.
 
@@ -2779,197 +3749,303 @@ metacharacters such as `tt(LPAR())', `tt(RPAR())', `tt(#)' and `tt(|)'
 should be quoted.
 
 startitem()
-item(tt(/)var(pattern)tt(/) [tt(%)var(lookahead)tt(%)] [tt(-)var(guard)] [tt(:)var(action)])(
+item(tt(/)var(pattern)tt(/) [tt(%)var(lookahead)tt(%)] [tt(-)var(guard)] [tt(:)var(tag)tt(:)var(descr)tt(:)var(action)])(
 This is a primitive element, corresponding to one
-state of the compiled state machine.  The state is entered if the pattern
+state of the compiled state machine.  The state is entered if
 `tt((#b)LPAR()(#B))var(pattern)tt(RPAR()(#B))var(lookahead)tt(*)' matches
-the command line string.  If it is matched, `var(guard)' is evaluated and
+the command line string.  If it matches, `var(guard)' is evaluated and
 its return status is examined; if this is successful, the state is entered,
-else the test fails and other candidates are tried.  The var(pattern)
+otherwise the test fails and other candidates are tried.  The var(pattern)
 string `tt([])' is guaranteed never to match.
 
 If the test succeeds and the state is entered, the left part of the
-command line string matched as `var(pattern)' is removed and the 
+command line string matched as var(pattern) is removed and the 
 next state is tried, proceeding from inside to outside and from left to
 right.
 
 If no test succeeds and the remaining command line string contains no null
 character, the completion target is restricted to the remainder of the
-command line string and `var(action)'s for the target are evaluated.
+command line string and var(action)s for the target are executed.
 In this case, nothing is actually removed from the command line string
-so that any previous or neighbouring state may also have `var(actions)'s.
-)
-item(tt(/)var(pattern)tt(/+) [tt(%)var(lookahead)tt(%)] [tt(-)var(guard)] [tt(:)var(action)])(
-This is similar to `tt(/)var(pattern)tt(/) ...' but the left part of
+so that any previous or neighbouring state may also have var(actions)s.
+var(actions)s evaluation are ordered by the tt(tag-order) style and specified
+var(tag) by tt(_alternative).  So, the various formats supported by
+tt(_alternative) can be used in var(action).  var(descr) is used for
+setting up the array parameter tt(expl).
+)
+item(tt(/)var(pattern)tt(/+) [tt(%)var(lookahead)tt(%)] [tt(-)var(guard)] [tt(:)var(tag)tt(:)var(descr)tt(:)var(action)])(
+This is similar to `tt(/)var(pattern)tt(/) ...' but the left part of the
 command line string is also considered as part of the completion target.
 )
-item(tt(/)var(pattern)tt(/-) [tt(%)var(lookahead)tt(%)] [tt(-)var(guard)] [tt(:)var(action)])(
-This is similar to `tt(/)var(pattern)tt(/) ...' but `var(action)'s of the
+item(tt(/)var(pattern)tt(/-) [tt(%)var(lookahead)tt(%)] [tt(-)var(guard)] [tt(:)var(tag)tt(:)var(descr)tt(:)var(action)])(
+This is similar to `tt(/)var(pattern)tt(/) ...' but the var(action)s of the
 current and previous states are ignored even if the following state's
 `var(pattern)' matches the empty string.
 )
 item(tt(LPAR()) var(spec) tt(RPAR()))(
-This groups `var(spec)'.
+This groups var(spec)s.
 )
 item(var(spec) tt(#))(
-This allows any number of repetitions of `var(spec)'.
+This allows any number of repetitions of var(spec).
 )
 item(var(spec) var(spec))(
-This represents the concatenation of two `var(spec)'s.
+This represents the concatenation of two var(spec)s.
 )
 item(var(spec) tt(|) var(spec))(
-Either of two `var(spec)'s can be matched.
+Either of the two var(spec)s can be matched.
 )
 enditem()
 )
-findex(_combination)
-item(tt(_combination) [ tt(-s) var(pattern) ] var(tag) var(style) var(specs) ... var(field) var(opts) ...)(
-This function is used to complete combinations of values such as pairs 
-of hostnames and usernames. The possible values will be taken from the 
-var(style) whose name is given as the second argument. The first argument
-is the var(tag) to use to do the lookup.
+findex(_requested)
+item(tt(_requested) [ tt(-12VJ) ] var(tag) [ var(name) var(descr) [ var(command) var(args) ... ] ])(
+This function is called to decide whether a tag already registered by a
+call to tt(_tags) (see below) is requested and hence completion should be
+performed for it; it returns status zero if the tag is requested and
+non-zero otherwise.  This will usually be done in a loop such as the
+following:
 
-The style name should consist of multiple parts separated by
-hyphens which are then used as fieldnames. Known values for such
-fields can be given after the second argument in arguments of the form 
-`var(field)tt(=)var(pattern)'. The first argument without a equal sign 
-is taken as the name of the field for which completions should be
-generated.
+example(_tags foo bar baz
+while _tags; do
+  if _requested foo; then
+    ... # perform completion for foo
+  fi
+  ... # test the tags bar and baz in the same way
+  ... # exit loop if matches were generated
+done)
 
-The matches generated will be taken from the value of the style. These 
-values should contain the possible values for the combinations where
-the values for the different fields are separated by colons or
-characters matching the pattern given after the tt(-s) option to
-tt(_combination) (normally this is used to define character classes
-like the `tt(-s "[:@]")' used for the tt(users-hosts) style).
+Note that the test for whether matches were generated is not performed
+until the end of the tt(_tags) loop.  This is so that the user can specify
+a set of tags to be tested at the same time in the tt(tag-order)
+parameter.
 
-Only the values for the requested fields for which the patterns given
-in the `var(field)tt(=)var(pattern)' match the respective fields in
-the strings from the style value are generated as possible matches.
+If the var(name) and the var(descr) are given, tt(_requested) calls the
+tt(_description) function with these arguments, including the options.
 
-If no style with the given name is defined for the given tag but a
-function named with the name of the requested field preceded by an
-underscore is defined, that function will be called to generate the
-matches. This is also done if none of the strings in the value of the
-style match all the patterns given as arguments.
+If the var(command) is given, the tt(_all_labels) function will be called
+immediately with the same arguments.  This is often useful to do both the
+testing of the tag, getting the description for the matches and adding the
+matches at once.  For example:
 
-If the same name is used for more than one field, in both the
-`var(field)tt(=)var(pattern)' and the argument that gives the field
-name to complete for, the number of the field (starting with one) may
-be given after the fieldname, separated from it by a colon.
+example(local expl ret=1
+_tags foo bar baz
+while _tags; do
+  _requested foo expl 'description' \ 
+      compadd foobar foobaz && ret=0
+  ...
+  (( ret )) || break
+done)
 
-All arguments after the requested fieldname are given to the
-tt(compadd) used (when generating matches from the style value) and to 
-the functions for the fields if they are called.
+Note that this means that the var(command) has to accept the options
+that have to be passed down to tt(compadd).
 )
-findex(_sort_tags)
-item(tt(_sort_tags) var(tag) ...)(
-As described above for the tt(tag-order) style, this is only provided
-to show how functions that sort tags can be implemented.
-
-Inside such functions the name of the current context can
-be accessed using the tt(curcontext) parameter. For example, the
-function generating file names (called tt(_files)) in the completion
-system is often called to generate only filenames matching a given
-glob pattern, in which case it uses the tags tt(globbed-files),
-tt(directories), and tt(all-files).  This means that the function
-offers to generate filenames matching the pattern, names of
-directories or all filenames as possible matches. Example:
-
-example(_sort_tags() {
-  case $curcontext in
-  (*::dvips:*)
-    comptry globbed-files directories
-    comptry all-files
-    ;;
-  (*)
-    comptry globbed-files
-    comptry directories
-    comptry all-files
-    ;;
-  esac
-})
+findex(_retrieve_cache)
+item(tt(_retrieve_cache) var(cache_identifier))(
+This function retrieves completion information from the file given by
+var(cache_identifier), stored in a directory specified by the
+tt(cache-path) style (defaults to tt(~/.zsh/cache)).  The return value
+is zero if retrieval was successful.  It will only attempt retrieval
+if the tt(use-cache) style is set, so you can call this function
+without worrying about whether the user wanted to use the caching
+layer.
 
-Every call to the tt(comptry) function (actually a builtin
-command defined by the tt(zsh/computil) module) gives a
-set of tags to use; as soon as tt(comptry) produces some matches,
-subsequent calls have no effect.  Hence in the example
-this means that for the tt(dvips) command on the first attempt the
-names of DVI files and directories will be generated (first call to
-tt(comptry)). If none of those names match the string from the command
-line the completion function will generate all filenames as
-possible matches (second call to tt(comptry)).
-
-For all other context names the second case-pattern matches, so that
-normally the completion functions will only try the filenames matching 
-the glob pattern (if any glob pattern is used). If that doesn't yield
-any matches, names of directories are generated, and if that doesn't
-yield any matching names either, all filenames will be generated.
-
-In every context the function may call tt(comptry) as
-often as it wants. Also, every string may be given as argument, even
-if no tag with such a name was offered by the completion
-function. This allows one to give a preferred ordering for some common 
-tag sets without having to worry about sensible patterns for context
-names. For example, many completion functions can generate both
-arguments and option names for commands. These functions normally use
-the tags tt(arguments) and tt(options). Depending on your preference
-you may write in your sorting function:
-
-example(_sort_tags() {
-  comptry arguments options
-  case $curcontext in
-  ...
-  esac
-})
+See tt(_store_cache) below for more details.
+)
+findex(_sep_parts)
+item(tt(_sep_parts))(
+This function is passed alternating arrays and separators as arguments.
+The arrays specify completions for parts of strings to be separated by the
+separators.  The arrays may be the names of array parameters or
+a quoted list of words in parentheses.  For example, with the array
+`tt(hosts=(ftp news))' the call `tt(_sep_parts '(foo bar)' @ hosts)' will
+complete the string  `tt(f)' to `tt(foo)' and the string `tt(b@n)' to
+`tt(bar@news)'.
 
-or
+This function passes the `tt(-V)', `tt(-J)', `tt(-1)', `tt(-2)',
+`tt(-n)', `tt(-X)', `tt(-M)', `tt(-P)', `tt(-S)', `tt(-r)', `tt(-R)',
+and `tt(-q)' options and their arguments to the tt(compadd) builtin
+used to add the matches.
+)
+findex(_setup)
+item(tt(_setup) var(tag) [ var(group) ])(
+This function expects a tag as its argument and sets up the special
+parameters used by the completion system appropriately for the tag,
+using styles such as tt(list-colors) and tt(last-prompt).
 
-example(_sort_tags() {
-  comptry arguments
-  comptry options
-  case $curcontext in
-  ...
-  esac
-})
+The optional var(group) gives the name of the group in which the
+matches will be placed. If it is not given, the var(tag) is used as
+the group name.
 
-The former always adds both the matches for the argument and the
-option names as possible matches. The latter forces matches for the
-arguments to be preferred. In this case option names are only generated
-as matches if the string on the line matches no possible completion
-for the argument, which normally means that you have to type the
-hyphen the option names start with yourself to see the list of option
-names that can be completed.
-
-Since the completion functions are free to choose the tag names they
-use, there can't be a complete list. So to make sure that all types of 
-matches are eventually tried as completions, one should  use a call to 
-tt(comptry) with all arguments at the end of the sorting function. For
-those contexts where one really wants to make sure that certain tags are
-never used one can then use a call to tt(return) to circumvent that
-last tt(comptry). For example:
-
-example(_sort_tags() {
-  ...
-  case $curcontext in
-  (*::kill:*)
-    comptry processes
-    return
-    ;;
-  esac
-  comptry "$@"
-})
+Note that this function is called automatically from tt(_description)
+so that one normally doesn't have to call it explicitly.
+)
+findex(_store_cache)
+item(tt(_store_cache) var(cache_identifier) var(vars) ...)(
+This function, when combined with tt(_retrieve_cache) and
+tt(_cache_invalid), makes it easy to implement a caching layer for
+your completion functions.  If a completion function needs to perform
+a costly operation in order to generate data which is used to
+calculate completions, you can store that data in variables, and use
+this function to dump the values of those variables to a file.  Then,
+if they are needed in subsequent shell invocations, they can be
+retrieved quickly from that file via tt(_retrieve_cache), avoiding the
+needly for repeating the costly operation.
+
+The var(cache_identifier) specifies the file which the data should be
+dumped to, and is stored in a directory specified by the
+tt(cache-path) style (defaults to tt(~/.zsh/cache)).  The remaining
+var(vars) arguments are the variables to dump to the file.
+
+The return value is zero if storage was successful.  The function will
+only attempt storage if the tt(use-cache) style is set, so you can
+call this function without worrying about whether the user wanted to
+use the caching layer.
+
+If your completion function avoids calling _retrieve_cache when it
+already has the completion data in the environment, it should probably
+at least call tt(_cache_invalid) to check whether this data and the
+data cached on disk is still valid.
+
+See the _perl_modules completion function for a simple example of
+usage of this caching layer.
+)
+findex(_tags)
+item(tt(_tags) [ tt(-C) var(name) [ var(tags) ... ] ])(
+If called with arguments, these are taken as the names of the tags for 
+the types of matches the calling completion function can generate in
+the current context.  These tags are stored internally and sorted by
+using the tt(tag-order) style.  Following calls to this function
+without arguments from the same function will then select the first,
+second, etc. set of tags requested by the user.  To test if a certain
+tag should be tried, the tt(_requested) function has to be called (see 
+above).
+
+The return value is zero if at least one of the tags is requested and
+non-zero otherwise. 
+
+This function also accepts the tt(-C) option followed by a
+var(name). This name is temporarily (i.e. not visible outside
+tt(_tags)) stored in the argument field of the context name in the
+tt(curcontext) parameter. This allows tt(_tags) to be made to use a more
+specific context name without having to change and reset the
+tt(curcontext) parameter (which would otherwise have the same effect).
+)
+findex(_values)
+item(tt(_values) var(specs) ...)(
+This is used to complete values (strings) and their arguments or
+lists of such values.  It can be used in two ways.
+
+If the first argument is the option `tt(-O) var(name)', this will be used
+in the same way as by the tt(_arguments) function, in other words the
+elements of the var(name) array will be given to calls to tt(compadd)
+and when executing an action.
+
+Otherwise, if the first argument (or the first argument after the
+`tt(-O) var(name)' option if that is used) is the option `tt(-s)', the
+next argument is used as the character that separates multiple values.
+Thus the values completed appear in the same word on the command line,
+unlike completion using tt(_arguments).
+
+The first argument (after the options and separator character if they
+are given) is used as a string to print as a description before
+listing the values.
+
+All other arguments describe the possible values and their
+arguments in the same format used for the description of options by
+the tt(_arguments) function (see above).  The only differences are that
+no minus or plus sign is required at the beginning, that
+values can have only one argument and that those forms of actions
+beginning with an equal sign are not supported.
+
+The character separating a value from its argument can be set using the
+option tt(-S) (like tt(-s), followed by the character to use as the
+separator in the next argument).  If this option is not used, the equal
+sign will be used as the separator.
+
+Example:
+
+example(_values -s , 'description' \ 
+        '*foo[bar]' \ 
+        '(two)*one[number]:first count:' \ 
+        'two[another number]::second count:(1 2 3)')
+
+This describes three possible values: `tt(foo)', `tt(one)', and
+`tt(two)'.  The first is described as `tt(bar)', takes no argument 
+and may appear more than once.  The second is described as
+`tt(number)', may appear more than once, and takes one mandatory
+argument described as `tt(first count)' for which no action is
+specified so that it will not be completed automatically.  The
+`tt((two))' at the beginning says that if the value `tt(one)' is on
+the line, the value `tt(two)' will not be considered to be a possible
+completion anymore.  Finally, the last value (`tt(two)') is described
+as `tt(another number)' and takes an optional argument described as
+`tt(second count)' which will be completed from the strings `tt(1)',
+`tt(2)', and `tt(3)'. The tt(_values) function will complete lists of
+these values separated by commas.
+
+Like tt(_arguments) this function temporarily adds another context
+name component to the current context name while executing the
+var(action).  Here this name is just the name of the value for which
+the argument is completed.
 
-The completion function for the tt(kill) builtin command offers the
-tags tt(jobs) and tt(processes) which represent job references
-(e.g. `tt(%1)') and process identifiers respectively. The function
-above makes sure that for this builtin command only process
-identifiers are generated as possible matches by using only the
-tt(processes) tag in a call to tt(comptry). The immediate call to
-tt(return) then makes sure that the default tt(comptry) at the end is
-not executed.
+To decide if the descriptions for the values (not those for the
+arguments) should be printed, the style tt(verbose) is used.
+
+One last difference from tt(_arguments) is that this function uses the
+associative array
+tt(val_args) to report values and their arguments, although otherwise this
+is the same as the tt(opt_args) association used by
+tt(_arguments).  This also means that the function calling tt(_values) 
+should declare the tt(state), tt(line), tt(context) and tt(val_args)
+parameters as in:
+
+example(local context state line
+typeset -A val_args)
+
+when using an action of the form `tt(->)var(string)'.  With this
+function the tt(context) parameter will be set to the name of the
+value whose argument is to be completed.
+
+Note also that tt(_values) normally adds the character used as the
+separator between values as a auto-removable suffix so that users don't
+have to type it themselves.  But when using a `tt(->)var(string)' action
+tt(_values) can't do that because the matches for the argument will be
+generated by the calling function.  To get the usual behaviour, the
+implementor of the calling function has to add the suffix directly by
+passing the options `tt(-qS) var(x)' (where var(x) is the separator
+character specified with the tt(-s) option of tt(_values)) to the
+function generating the matches or to the tt(compadd) builtin.
+
+Like tt(_arguments), tt(_values) supports the tt(-C) option in
+which case you have to make the parameter tt(curcontext) local instead 
+of tt(context) (as described above).
 )
+findex(_wanted)
+item(tt(_wanted) [ tt(-C) var(name) ]  [ tt(-12VJ) ] var(tag) var(name) var(descr) var(command) var(args) ...)(
+In many contexts, completion will generate one particular set of
+matches (usually corresponding to a single tag); however, it is
+still necessary to decide whether the user requires matches of this type.
+This function is useful in such a case.
+
+Like tt(_requested), it should be passed arguments as for tt(_description).
+It calls tt(_tags) with the given var(tag) and if that returns zero 
+(so that the var(tag) is requested by the user) it calls
+tt(_description).  Hence to offer only one tag and immediately
+use the description generated:
+
+example(_wanted tag expl 'description' \ 
+    compadd matches...)
 
+Unlike tt(_requested), however, tt(_wanted) cannot be called without
+the var(command).  This is because tt(_wanted) also implements the loop
+over the tags, not just the one for the labels; conversely, it should not
+be called in the middle of a tt(_tags) loop.
+
+Note that, as for tt(_requested), the var(command) has to accept the options
+that have to be passed down to tt(compadd).
+
+Like tt(_tags) this function supports the tt(-C) option to give a
+different name for the argument context field.
+)
 enditem()
 
 texinode(Completion Directories)()(Completion Functions)(Completion System)
@@ -2985,26 +4061,26 @@ it to some directory which appears earlier in your tt(fpath) than the
 standard directory where it appears.
 
 startitem()
-item(tt(Core))(
-The core scripts and functions.  You will certainly need these, though will
-probably not need to alter them.  Many of these are documented above.
-)
 item(tt(Base))(
-Other functions you will almost certainly want if you are going to use
-any of the standard completion functions.  You may want to edit some of
-these files.
+The core functions and special completion widgets automatically bound
+to keys.  You will certainly need most of these, though will
+probably not need to alter them.  Many of these are documented above.
 )
-item(tt(Builtins))(
+item(tt(Zsh))(
 Functions for completing arguments of shell builtin commands and
-utility functions for this (which are also used by functions from the
-tt(User) directory).
+utility functions for this.  Some of these are also used by functions from
+the tt(Unix) directory.
 )
-item(tt(User))(
+item(tt(Unix))(
 Functions for completing arguments of external commands and suites of
-commands.  They may need modifying for your system.
-)
-item(tt(Commands))(
-Functions which implement special types of completion to be bound to
-keystrokes rather than called by context.
+commands.  They may need modifying for your system, although in many cases
+some attempt is made to decide which version of a command is present.  For
+example, completion for the tt(mount) command tries to determine the system
+it is running on, while completion for many other utilities try to decide
+whether the GNU version of the command is in use, and hence whether the
+tt(--help) option is supported..
+)
+item(tt(X), tt(AIX), tt(BSD), ...)(
+Completion and utility function for commands available only on some systems.
 )
 enditem()