How to open files out of long directory trees using helm-find-files?

Question

Helm features buffer navigation that is more powerful than ido but apparently has a bit of a learning curve. Say I want to open a file in

java/com/example/apple/banana/cat/dog/elephant/fig/grape/Hello.java

And my mini buffer currently reads

Find files or Url: ~/java/com

The helm buffer list will not let me <TAB> for completion like in ido. <RETURN> will open the buffer list, which is also not what I want. However to select the directory I must hit the right arrow key which requires leaving the home keys on my keyboard and is therefore very slow.

Per answer below C-j or C-z is the answer I'm looking for. However at that point it's still very hard to navigate, as Helm will default to ./ as the directory listed, i.e.:

1. Go to helm-find-files
2. Pick any directory
3. After you are taken to the next file list, the entry highlighted in "green" will be the_directory/.

This means if you type C-j again it will "take" you to exactly where you are. This contrasts with ido, where hitting <RETURN> a few times will auto-complete out using logic (I think just "last picked directory") to determine which directory should be default.

Therefore I must always type C-n twice or type the first letter of the directory. It certainly doesn't "fly" like ido-mode does, so this is still too unusable for me. Is there a hack for this as well?

Answer 1

C-c ? is your friend when it comes to Helm for context dependent help. So hit that when you're in helm-find-files, and it will tell you that C-j will expand to a file (or directory) name. When the candidate directory you want is highlighted, hit C-j and continue your travels from that directory, like you woud with return in ido.

Further, C-l will remove the current directory/file name, allowing for new input.

Answer 2

I found two solutions to this problem:

• Use helm-find instead, which, as in unix find, will search recursively.
• Use helm-projectile with projectile instead.

Answer 3

It might not be the "Helm" way, but I will argue that executing the first action with TAB instead of C-z is easier for my brain and hands. This is more evident when I want to traverse long directory structures.

As such, I recommend rebinding C-z to Tab and viceversa. I have this in my config:

(define-key helm-map (kbd "<tab>") 'helm-execute-persistent-action) ; rebind tab to do persistent action
(define-key helm-map (kbd "C-i") 'helm-execute-persistent-action) ; make TAB works in terminal
(define-key helm-map (kbd "C-z")  'helm-select-action) ; list actions using C-z