VSCode Snippet trigger with text before?

Question

I want to create a snippet in VSCode that display the PHP arrow. When I press the key "²" then TAB I want the PHP arrow "->".

Here is my snippet code

"PHP arrow": {
    "prefix": "²",
    "body": "->$0",
    "description": "PHP Arrow ->"
},

It works fine when there is nothing around the "²" char but when I write some code like

$this²

the snippet is not triggered

What can I do ?

Thank you and have a nice day :)

PS: The ² char is oem_7 in VSCode

Answer 1

I don't know what keystrokes you are using to insert the superscript ². But if you are trying to use it as a snippet at the end of a word try making a keybinding instead.

VSCode has no way of knowing whether that ² is intended to be part of a word or not.

Try this in your keybindings.json - not in a snippet file:

{
  "key": "2",
  "command": "editor.action.insertSnippet",
  "when": "resourceExtname == .php",
  "args": {
    "snippet": "->$0"
  }
}

Typing $this2 yields $this->:

Obviously you will have to replace the 2 key above with whatever you want to use. Now you can use the snippet as part of a word or at the end of a word without any necessary word boundary.