Emacs: auto-complete-mode on but no auto-suggestions showing (Emacs lisp mode)

Question

I'm puzzled as to why nothing pops up (in Emacs lisp mode) when I begin typing a function name. For example, after typing (def on a new line, I would assume that auto-complete should be showing me a alist of options which includes defun. Am not sure how long the default delay is, but I waited for a few seconds and nothing happened. Any suggestions?

Details regarding my installation process:

• Installed using package-install via Melpa

• Added the following two lines to my init.el file:

  (require 'auto-complete-config) (ac-config-default)

• Confirmed that load-path includes the folder containing the .el files associated with auto-complete. (I have it set-up to recursively add all folders under path/to/my/.emacs.d/.)

• Confirmed (via describe-variable) that ac-dictionary-directories includes the correct directories when Emacs starts up. As reference, it includes the following two directories:

  ac-dictionary-directories is a variable defined in 'auto-complete.el'. Its value is ("/home/dchaudh/Dropbox/dchaudhUbuntu/emacs/.emacs.d/elpa/auto-complete-20140824.1658/dict")

• Confirmed that auto-complete-mode is on when I open my init.el file, which obviously triggers emacs-lisp-mode (I can see Emacs Lisp in my mode line). The following is included in the summary of active modes (i.e., via describe-mode):

  Global-Auto-Complete minor mode (no indicator) Toggle Auto-Complete mode in all buffers. With prefix ARG, enable Global-Auto-Complete mode if ARG is positive; otherwise, disable it. If called from Lisp, enable the mode if ARG is omitted or nil.

Answer 1

In my experience, other modes (e.g. flyspell) can interfere with auto-complete operation. (There is a workaround for slyspell built into auto-complete but you have to activate it in your. emacs file.)

I'd suggest trying it with an empty. emacs and then gradually adding parts of your configuration back in. You should be able to find the problem that way.

Answer 2

Not a direct answer, but company works fine out of the box in emacs-lisp-mode, so you might want to try that one.