API

It is possible to write VS Code extensions that are based on Code for IBM i. That means your extension can use the connection that the user creates in your extension. This is not an extension tutorial, but an intro on how to access the APIs available within Code for IBM i.

For example, you might be a vendor that produces lists or HTML that you’d like to be accessible from within Visual Studio Code.

Exports

As well as the basic VS Code command API, you can get access to the Code for IBM i API with the VS Code getExtension API.

const { instance } = vscode.extensions.getExtension(`halcyontechltd.code-for-ibmi`).exports;

Typings

We provide TS type definitions to make using the Code for IBM i API easier. They can be installed via npm:

terminal

npm i @halcyontech/vscode-ibmi-types

It can then be imported and used in combination with getExtension:

import type { CodeForIBMi } from '@halcyontech/vscode-ibmi-types';

//...

const ext = vscode.extensions.getExtension<CodeForIBMi>('halcyontechltd.code-for-ibmi');

As Code for IBM i updates, the API may change. It is recommended you always keep the types packaged updated as the extension updates, incase the API interfaces change. We plan to make the VS Code command API interfaces stable so they will not break as often after they have been released.

Example import

This example can be used as a simple way to access the Code for IBM i instance.

import { CodeForIBMi } from "@halcyontech/vscode-ibmi-types";
import Instance from "@halcyontech/vscode-ibmi-types/api/Instance";
import { Extension, extensions } from "vscode";

let baseExtension: Extension<CodeForIBMi>|undefined;

/**
 * This should be used on your extension activation.
 */
export function loadBase(): CodeForIBMi|undefined {
  if (!baseExtension) {
    baseExtension = (extensions ? extensions.getExtension(`halcyontechltd.code-for-ibmi`) : undefined);
  }

  return (baseExtension && baseExtension.isActive && baseExtension.exports ? baseExtension.exports : undefined);
}

/**
 * Used when you want to fetch the extension 'instance' (the connection)
 */
export function getInstance(): Instance|undefined {
  return (baseExtension && baseExtension.isActive && baseExtension.exports ? baseExtension.exports.instance : undefined);
}

Outside of VS Code

This is not production ready.

Click to expand

On the main branch of vscode-ibmi, the IBM i API is written so it is can be portable and used outside of the VS Code namespace (this is how the vitest tests work). Until we publish the API as a standalone package, you will need to manually import the API.

After using npm i github:codefori/vscode-ibmi, you will need to cleanup/remove everything but the src/api directory.

//#webpack.config.js

function prepareIbmiApi() {
  const ibmiApi = path.join(__dirname, `node_modules`, `vscode-ibmi`, `src`, `api`);
  const ibmiPackage = path.join(__dirname, `node_modules`, `vscode-ibmi`, `src`);

  const checkDirectory = (dir) => {
    if (fs.existsSync(dir)) {
      const files = fs.readdirSync(dir);
      files.forEach(file => {
        const filePath = path.join(dir, file);
        const stat = fs.lstatSync(filePath);
        const canDelete = !ibmiApi.startsWith(filePath) && !filePath.startsWith(ibmiApi);
        if (stat.isDirectory()) {
          // If the directory is not the api directory, delete it
          if (canDelete) {
            fs.rmdirSync(filePath, { recursive: true });
            // console.log(`Deleted directory: ${filePath}`);
          } else {
            checkDirectory(filePath);
          }
        } else if (stat.isFile()) {
          if (canDelete) {
            fs.unlinkSync(filePath);
            // console.log(`Deleted file: ${filePath}`);
          }
        }
      });
    }
  }

  checkDirectory(ibmiPackage);
}

You will also need to enable allowTsInNodeModules: true with ts-loader in webpack.