No tab completion with asterisk *

I am not able to tab complete from the command line in gnome-terminal when I have an asterisk in the command line. Default shell is bash, using gnome-terminal. For example,

This works to copy a single file into a dir using tab-completion on the ~/files/ directory:

cp ~/file1 ~/files/

However this does not work using tab completion on the directory when I want to copy multiple files into a dir (I have to manually type out or paste ~/files/):

cp ~/file* ~/files/

(Assuming there exist the files file1, file2, file3 & file4)

And this does tab complete the directory (and works as I would expect regex to work, copying all of those files into ~/files/):

cp ~/file?* ~/files/

So I do have a workaround. But I know I have had this working before without having to use the ? and I'm not exactly sure how or when I lost it. As a heavy command line user I've been living with it, but it's been relatively annoying lately.

EDIT1+:

Output of $ compopt cp

compopt +o bashdefault +o default +o dirnames +o filenames +o nospace +o plusdirs cp

Output of $ set -x then $ cp ~/file* ~/file<tab>

+ (( COMP_CWORD += 1 ))
+ COMP_WORDS=(cp -i ${COMP_WORDS[@]:1})
+ (( COMP_POINT -= 17 ))
+ COMP_LINE='cp -i ./file* ./file'
+ (( COMP_POINT += 20 ))
+ _longopt
+ local cur prev words cword split
+ _init_completion -s
+ local exclude= flag outx errx inx OPTIND=1
+ getopts n:e:o:i:s flag -s
+ case $flag in
+ split=false
+ exclude+==
+ getopts n:e:o:i:s flag -s
+ COMPREPLY=()
+ local 'redir=@(?([0-9])<|?([0-9&])>?(>)|>&)'
+ _get_comp_words_by_ref -n '=<>&' cur prev words cword
+ local exclude flag i OPTIND=1
+ words=()
+ local cur cword words
+ upargs=()
+ upvars=()
+ local upargs upvars vcur vcword vprev vwords
+ getopts c:i:n:p:w: flag -n '=<>&' cur prev words cword
+ case $flag in
+ exclude='=<>&'
+ getopts c:i:n:p:w: flag -n '=<>&' cur prev words cword
+ [[ 6 -ge 3 ]]
+ case ${!OPTIND} in
+ vcur=cur
+ let 'OPTIND += 1'
+ [[ 6 -ge 4 ]]
+ case ${!OPTIND} in
+ vprev=prev
+ let 'OPTIND += 1'
+ [[ 6 -ge 5 ]]
+ case ${!OPTIND} in
+ vwords=words
+ let 'OPTIND += 1'
+ [[ 6 -ge 6 ]]
+ case ${!OPTIND} in
+ vcword=cword
+ let 'OPTIND += 1'
+ [[ 6 -ge 7 ]]
+ __get_cword_at_cursor_by_ref '=<>&' words cword cur
+ words=()
+ local cword words
+ __reassemble_comp_words_by_ref '=<>&' words cword
+ local exclude i j line ref
+ [[ -n =<>& ]]
+ exclude='=<>&'
+ eval cword=3
++ cword=3
+ [[ -n =<>& ]]
+ line='cp -i ./file* ./file'
+ (( i=0, j=0 ))
+ (( i < 8 ))
+ [[ 0 -gt 0 ]]
+ ref='words[0]'
+ eval 'words[0]=${!ref}${COMP_WORDS[i]}'
++ words[0]=cp
+ line=' -i ./file* ./file'
+ [[ 0 == 3 ]]
+ (( i++, j++ ))
+ (( i < 8 ))
+ [[ 1 -gt 0 ]]
+ [[ -i == +([=<>&]) ]]
+ ref='words[1]'
+ eval 'words[1]=${!ref}${COMP_WORDS[i]}'
++ words[1]=-i
+ line=' ./file* ./file'
+ [[ 1 == 3 ]]
+ (( i++, j++ ))
+ (( i < 8 ))
+ [[ 2 -gt 0 ]]
+ [[ ./file1 == +([=<>&]) ]]
+ ref='words[2]'
+ eval 'words[2]=${!ref}${COMP_WORDS[i]}'
++ words[2]=./file1
+ line=' ./file* ./file'
+ [[ 2 == 3 ]]
+ (( i++, j++ ))
+ (( i < 8 ))
+ [[ 3 -gt 0 ]]
+ [[ ./file2 == +([=<>&]) ]]
+ ref='words[3]'
+ eval 'words[3]=${!ref}${COMP_WORDS[i]}'
++ words[3]=./file2
+ line=' ./file* ./file'
+ [[ 3 == 3 ]]
+ eval cword=3
++ cword=3
+ (( i++, j++ ))
+ (( i < 8 ))
+ [[ 4 -gt 0 ]]
+ [[ ./file3 == +([=<>&]) ]]
+ ref='words[4]'
+ eval 'words[4]=${!ref}${COMP_WORDS[i]}'
++ words[4]=./file3
+ line=' ./file* ./file'
+ [[ 4 == 3 ]]
+ (( i++, j++ ))
+ (( i < 8 ))
+ [[ 5 -gt 0 ]]
+ [[ ./file4 == +([=<>&]) ]]
+ ref='words[5]'
+ eval 'words[5]=${!ref}${COMP_WORDS[i]}'
++ words[5]=./file4
+ line=' ./file* ./file'
+ [[ 5 == 3 ]]
+ (( i++, j++ ))
+ (( i < 8 ))
+ [[ 6 -gt 0 ]]
+ [[ ./files == +([=<>&]) ]]
+ ref='words[6]'
+ eval 'words[6]=${!ref}${COMP_WORDS[i]}'
++ words[6]=./files
+ line=' ./file* ./file'
+ [[ 6 == 3 ]]
+ (( i++, j++ ))
+ (( i < 8 ))
+ [[ 7 -gt 0 ]]
+ [[ ./file == +([=<>&]) ]]
+ ref='words[7]'
+ eval 'words[7]=${!ref}${COMP_WORDS[i]}'
++ words[7]=./file
+ line='* ./file'
+ [[ 7 == 3 ]]
+ (( i++, j++ ))
+ (( i < 8 ))
+ [[ 8 == 3 ]]
+ local i cur index=20 'lead=cp -i ./file* ./file'
+ [[ 20 -gt 0 ]]
+ [[ -n cp -i ./file* ./file ]]
+ [[ -n cp-i./file*./file ]]
+ cur='cp -i ./file* ./file'
+ (( i = 0 ))
+ (( i <= cword ))
+ [[ 20 -ge 2 ]]
+ [[ cp != \c\p ]]
+ [[ 0 -lt 3 ]]
+ local old_size=20
+ cur=' -i ./file* ./file'
+ local new_size=18
+ index=18
+ (( ++i ))
+ (( i <= cword ))
+ [[ 18 -ge 2 ]]
+ [[ - != \-\i ]]
+ cur='-i ./file* ./file'
+ (( index-- ))
+ [[ 17 -ge 2 ]]
+ [[ -i != \-\i ]]
+ [[ 1 -lt 3 ]]
+ local old_size=17
+ cur=' ./file* ./file'
+ local new_size=15
+ index=15
+ (( ++i ))
+ (( i <= cword ))
+ [[ 15 -ge 7 ]]
+ [[ ./file != \.\/\f\i\l\e\1 ]]
+ cur='./file* ./file'
+ (( index-- ))
+ [[ 14 -ge 7 ]]
+ [[ ./file* != \.\/\f\i\l\e\1 ]]
+ cur='/file* ./file'
+ (( index-- ))
+ [[ 13 -ge 7 ]]
+ [[ /file* != \.\/\f\i\l\e\1 ]]
+ cur='file* ./file'
+ (( index-- ))
+ [[ 12 -ge 7 ]]
+ [[ file* . != \.\/\f\i\l\e\1 ]]
+ cur='ile* ./file'
+ (( index-- ))
+ [[ 11 -ge 7 ]]
+ [[ ile* ./ != \.\/\f\i\l\e\1 ]]
+ cur='le* ./file'
+ (( index-- ))
+ [[ 10 -ge 7 ]]
+ [[ le* ./f != \.\/\f\i\l\e\1 ]]
+ cur='e* ./file'
+ (( index-- ))
+ [[ 9 -ge 7 ]]
+ [[ e* ./fi != \.\/\f\i\l\e\1 ]]
+ cur='* ./file'
+ (( index-- ))
+ [[ 8 -ge 7 ]]
+ [[ * ./fil != \.\/\f\i\l\e\1 ]]
+ cur=' ./file'
+ (( index-- ))
+ [[ 7 -ge 7 ]]
+ [[ ./file != \.\/\f\i\l\e\1 ]]
+ cur=./file
+ (( index-- ))
+ [[ 6 -ge 7 ]]
+ [[ 2 -lt 3 ]]
+ local old_size=6
+ cur=./file
+ local new_size=6
+ index=6
+ (( ++i ))
+ (( i <= cword ))
+ [[ 6 -ge 7 ]]
+ [[ 3 -lt 3 ]]
+ (( ++i ))
+ (( i <= cword ))
+ [[ -n ./file ]]
+ [[ ! -n ./file ]]
+ [[ 6 -lt 0 ]]
+ local words cword cur
+ _upvars -a8 words cp -i ./file1 ./file2 ./file3 ./file4 ./files ./file -v cword 3 -v cur ./file
+ (( 16 ))
+ (( 16 ))
+ case $1 in
+ [[ -n 8 ]]
+ printf %d 8
+ [[ -n words ]]
+ unset -v words
+ eval 'words=("${@:3:8}")'
++ words=("${@:3:8}")
+ shift 10
+ (( 6 ))
+ case $1 in
+ [[ -n cword ]]
+ unset -v cword
+ eval 'cword="$3"'
++ cword=3
+ shift 3
+ (( 3 ))
+ case $1 in
+ [[ -n cur ]]
+ unset -v cur
+ eval 'cur="$3"'
++ cur=./file
+ shift 3
+ (( 0 ))
+ [[ -n cur ]]
+ upvars+=("$vcur")
+ upargs+=(-v $vcur "$cur")
+ [[ -n cword ]]
+ upvars+=("$vcword")
+ upargs+=(-v $vcword "$cword")
+ [[ -n prev ]]
+ [[ 3 -ge 1 ]]
+ upvars+=("$vprev")
+ upargs+=(-v $vprev "${words[cword - 1]}")
+ [[ -n words ]]
+ upvars+=("$vwords")
+ upargs+=(-a${#words[@]} $vwords "${words[@]}")
+ (( 4 ))
+ local cur cword prev words
+ _upvars -v cur ./file -v cword 3 -v prev ./file1 -a8 words cp -i ./file1 ./file2 ./file3 ./file4 ./files ./file
+ (( 19 ))
+ (( 19 ))
+ case $1 in
+ [[ -n cur ]]
+ unset -v cur
+ eval 'cur="$3"'
++ cur=./file
+ shift 3
+ (( 16 ))
+ case $1 in
+ [[ -n cword ]]
+ unset -v cword
+ eval 'cword="$3"'
++ cword=3
+ shift 3
+ (( 13 ))
+ case $1 in
+ [[ -n prev ]]
+ unset -v prev
+ eval 'prev="$3"'
++ prev=./file1
+ shift 3
+ (( 10 ))
+ case $1 in
+ [[ -n 8 ]]
+ printf %d 8
+ [[ -n words ]]
+ unset -v words
+ eval 'words=("${@:3:8}")'
++ words=("${@:3:8}")
+ shift 10
+ (( 0 ))
+ _variables
+ [[ ./file =~ ^(\$\{?)([A-Za-z0-9_]*)$ ]]
+ return 1
+ [[ ./file == @(?([0-9])<|?([0-9&])>?(>)|>&)* ]]
+ [[ ./file1 == @(?([0-9])<|?([0-9&])>?(>)|>&) ]]
+ local i skip
+ (( i=1 ))
+ (( i < 8 ))
+ [[ -i == @(?([0-9])<|?([0-9&])>?(>)|>&)* ]]
+ i=2
+ (( 1 ))
+ (( i < 8 ))
+ [[ ./file1 == @(?([0-9])<|?([0-9&])>?(>)|>&)* ]]
+ i=3
+ (( 1 ))
+ (( i < 8 ))
+ [[ ./file2 == @(?([0-9])<|?([0-9&])>?(>)|>&)* ]]
+ i=4
+ (( 1 ))
+ (( i < 8 ))
+ [[ ./file3 == @(?([0-9])<|?([0-9&])>?(>)|>&)* ]]
+ i=5
+ (( 1 ))
+ (( i < 8 ))
+ [[ ./file4 == @(?([0-9])<|?([0-9&])>?(>)|>&)* ]]
+ i=6
+ (( 1 ))
+ (( i < 8 ))
+ [[ ./files == @(?([0-9])<|?([0-9&])>?(>)|>&)* ]]
+ i=7
+ (( 1 ))
+ (( i < 8 ))
+ [[ ./file == @(?([0-9])<|?([0-9&])>?(>)|>&)* ]]
+ i=8
+ (( 1 ))
+ (( i < 8 ))
+ [[ 3 -le 0 ]]
+ prev=./file1
+ [[ -n false ]]
+ _split_longopt
+ [[ ./file == --?*=* ]]
+ return 1
+ return 0
+ case "${prev,,}" in
+ false
+ [[ ./file == -* ]]
+ [[ '' == @(mk|rm)dir ]]
+ _filedir
+ local i 'IFS=
' xspec
+ _tilde ./file
+ local result=0
+ [[ ./file == \~* ]]
+ return 0
+ local -a toks
+ local quoted x tmp
+ _quote_readline_by_ref ./file quoted
+ '[' -z ./file ']'
+ [[ ./file == \'* ]]
+ [[ ./file == \~* ]]
+ printf -v quoted %q ./file
+ [[ ./file == *\\* ]]
+ [[ ./file == \$* ]]
++ compgen -d -- ./file
+ x=./files
+ read -r tmp
+ toks+=("$tmp")
+ read -r tmp
+ [[ '' != -d ]]
+ xspec=
++ compgen -f -X '' -- ./file
+ x='./file2
./file3
./files
./file1
./file4'
+ read -r tmp
+ toks+=("$tmp")
+ read -r tmp
+ toks+=("$tmp")
+ read -r tmp
+ toks+=("$tmp")
+ read -r tmp
+ toks+=("$tmp")
+ read -r tmp
+ toks+=("$tmp")
+ read -r tmp
+ [[ -n '' ]]
+ [[ 6 -ne 0 ]]
+ compopt -o filenames
+ COMPREPLY+=("${toks[@]}")

END EDIT1-

I have not changed my /etc/inputrc or added an ~/.inputrc.

The package bash-completion is installed.

I have uncommented in my .bashrc the section that enables tab-completion quite a long time ago (it works well in all other instances and this problem I now have WAS working before).

It does not work in any of the terminals I have installed in my system (Ubuntu 14.04). And in case someone is thinking this, no it's not a valid solution to re-install Ubuntu. :)

1 Answer

The solution was to comment out a function I had added to my ~/.bashrc. The function was used to do some funky tab-completion regarding alias's. (Found it on the interwebs, I won't get into it here)

I used justsomeguy's suggestion to do env -i bash --noprofile --norc. And completions worked normally.

I then did env -i bash --norc -- completions still normal.

Then did env -i bash and the completions were failing again. So I concluded that the problem was in my ~/.bashrc and troubleshot from there.

Thanks for the help!