Welcome to the README for the Clarion Extension project!
The Clarion Extension enhances the functionality of the Fushnisoft Clarion Extension. It provides snippets, code folding, and other productivity tools for Clarion development in VS Code.
For a quick reference, check out the Cheat Sheet.
A special thanks to Mark Goldberg for his contributions to code folding and Allen Zhu for Document Outline support.
This extension is still considered beta quality. If you encounter any issues, please report them at:
GitHub Issues
This release is very much a work in progress, and your feedback is invaluable.
If you encounter any issues, please report them here:
👉 GitHub Issues
We've turned on the server component of the Language Server Protocol (LSP).
- Document outlining and breadcrumbs should now be working again.
- This should improve navigation within large Clarion files.
This release introduces an experimental folding provider! 🎉
To enable folding, we first built a Clarion tokenizer.
- This tokenizer breaks down Clarion code into meaningful components, allowing us to analyze structures more effectively.
- In future updates, having a tokenizer will enable additional features, such as:
- Code formatting
- Syntax-aware auto-completion
- Improved diagnostics and error checking
Clarion’s structure often requires an explicit END keyword. However, based on discussions and references (📖 Clarion Language: Statements that Require Matching END), we have decided to work with . as an implicit END operator where applicable.
- This allows more natural folding for short inline conditionals and single-line procedures.
This is the first iteration of folding, and there may be cases where folding is incorrect.
- If you notice unexpected behavior, please report it.
- Providing a code example that breaks folding will help tremendously!
A planned feature is user-defined folding preferences.
- Users will be able to choose which items to fold, customizing folding behavior based on their needs.
- This will be added when folding is stable enough for general use.
🔗 As always, your feedback helps make the extension better!
Report issues & suggestions here: 👉 GitHub Issues
- Substantial bug fixes to redirection parsing, ensuring improved accuracy when locating files.
- Ctrl+P now respects redirection files by searching both project-specific redirection files and the global redirection file specified in
ClarionProperties.xml. - Build Configuration Support:
- Added the ability to switch between Release and Debug builds using the new command:
Clarion: Set Configuration (accessible via Ctrl+Shift+P). - This setting is obeyed in redirection parsing, ensuring the correct configuration is used when resolving paths.
- Default configuration: Release.
- Added the ability to switch between Release and Debug builds using the new command:
- Solution Explorer Icons:
- The Solution View now includes icons for better visual organization and navigation.
Since version 0.4.0, the process of opening a Clarion solution in Visual Studio Code has been streamlined.
-
Open the Solution Folder
- In Visual Studio Code, open the root folder where your Clarion solution (.sln) file is located.
-
Select the Clarion Properties File
- Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P).
- Search for "Clarion: Open Solution" and select it.
- Choose the
ClarionProperties.xmlfile from:
%appdata%\SoftVelocity\ClarionVersion\ClarionProperties.xml
-
Select the Clarion Version
- After selecting the properties file, choose the Clarion version used for generation and compilation.
- This ensures the correct redirection files and build settings are applied.
-
(Optional) Save the Workspace
- Once the solution is loaded in VS Code, saving the workspace allows for quick reloading in the future.
Once a solution is opened, the extension:
- Parses the solution file to detect all projects.
- Reads redirection files (including local redirection files).
- Builds an internal map of search paths for Go To Definition, Hover Previews, and the Solution Explorer View.
- Provides an Explorer Panel view of the Clarion solution.
- Displays projects and source files in a structured tree.
- Now includes icons for better organization.
- Supports INCLUDE and MODULE statements.
- Automatically detects files via redirection paths and libsrc paths.
- Ctrl+Click or Ctrl+F12 opens the referenced file.
- Hovering over an INCLUDE or MODULE statement shows a preview of the file’s content.
- Change between Release and Debug builds using:
"Clarion: Set Configuration" from Ctrl+Shift+P. - Redirection parsing now respects the selected build configuration. npm
✔ Automatic solution structure detection.
✔ Solution Explorer View with icons.
✔ Go To Definition for INCLUDE & MODULE.
✔ Hover Preview for referenced files.
✔ Redirection-aware Ctrl+P searches.
✔ Configurable Release/Debug builds.
With these enhancements, VS Code becomes an even more powerful Clarion development environment. 🚀
To maximize the benefits of this extension:
- Ensure you have the Fushnisoft Clarion Extension installed from the Marketplace.
- Follow the Opening a Clarion Solution instructions to configure your workspace.
This project is actively evolving, and we welcome feedback! If you encounter issues or have suggestions, please contribute on GitHub.
This extension builds upon the work of:
- Mark Goldberg – Code folding.
- Allen Zhu – Document Outline support.
- Brahn Partridge (1974-2021) – Early work on textmate language definition, which laid the foundation for this extension.
📚 Cheat Sheet – Quick reference for features and usage.
Thank you for using Clarion Extension! 🎉