I tend to try use Visual Studio Code for tasks and languages I don't currently use on a day to day basis. Over the last few weeks that has included Java and Delphi. Then today I was trying to launch my blog from VS Code and ran into an issue because Pretzel listens for a console key. The only fix I could find for this was to launch a new Powershell window. I thought this as good a time as any to post a few of these tasks.

Tasks

Tasks in VS Code allow you to run commands that execute and usually feedback some status. Tasks are configured in the file /.vscode/tasks.json from the workspace root. Hit Ctrl+Shift+P and type Tasks:C and hit enter or click 'Tasks: Configure Task Runner'. If the file does not exist it will be created.

Compiling a Java application

This command uses javac to compile the Java application and will report on compile errors. Note that this uses a single task (others in the post have multiple tasks in the file). It assumes javac is on your PATH. I also have the Language Support for Java extension from Red Hat installed in VS Code.

{
    "version": "0.1.0",
    "command": "javac",
    "showOutput": "silent",
    "isShellCommand": true,
    "args": ["-d","${workspaceRoot}\\bin","${workspaceRoot}\\src\\*.java"],
    "problemMatcher": {
        "owner": "external",
        "fileLocation": ["absolute"],
        "pattern": [
        {
            "regexp": "^(.+\\.java):(\\d):(?:\\s+(error)):(?:\\s+(.*))$",
            "file": 1,
            "location": 2,
            "severity": 3,
            "message": 4
        }]
    }
}

Control Maven for a Java project

These control different Maven phases. Note that on the exec task you need to change the me.devonburriss.App to the entrypoint of your application. It assumes mvn is on your PATH. Not needed for this but note that I have the Language Support for Java extension from Red Hat installed.

{
    "version": "0.1.0",
    "command": "mvn",
    "isShellCommand": true,
    "showOutput": "always",
    "suppressTaskName": true,
    "echoCommand": true,
    "tasks": [
        {
            "taskName": "verify",
            "args": ["-B", "verify"],
            "isBuildCommand": true
        },
        {
            "taskName": "test",
            "args": ["-B", "test"],
            "isTestCommand": true
        },
        {
            "taskName": "clean install",
            "args": ["clean install -U"]
        },
        {
            "taskName": "exec",
            "args": ["-B", "exec:java", "-D", "exec.mainClass=\"me.devonburriss.App\""]
        }
    ]
}

Delphi (Free Pascal) Build

This is using the Free Pascal compiler to compile Delphi code. It assumes that fpc is on your PATH. You can get it here.
This only compiles a single unit, not a complete project. Not needed for this to work but for syntax highlighting I have the OmniPascal extension installed.

{
    "version": "0.1.0",
    "command": "fpc",
    "isShellCommand": true,
    "showOutput": "always",
    "suppressTaskName": true,
    "echoCommand": true,
    "tasks": [
        {
            "taskName": "Compile Unit",
            "args": ["-Sd", "${file}"],
            "isBuildCommand": true
        }
    ]
}

Powershell, Cake, Pretzel blog Build

This is one I use to call PS, which executes my Cake build and and run this blog locally. The targets for that are Bake and Taste (from Pretzel). See this post for details on that.

I use a run.ps1 file because I needed to launch a new Powershell window so Pretzel can wait and watch for changes.

{
    "version": "0.1.0",
    "tasks": [
        {
            "taskName": "Build",
            "command": "powershell",
            "isShellCommand": true,
            "args": [".\\pretzel.ps1"],
            "showOutput": "always",
            "isBuildCommand": true
        },
        {
            "taskName": "Run",
            "command": "powershell",
            "isShellCommand": false,
            "args": [".\\run.ps1"],
            "showOutput": "always",
            "isTestCommand": true
        }
    ]    
}

Just a note that I have the Powershell extension from Microsoft for VS Code installed. Not needed for the task to run but it gives nice support for ps1 files.

Extra: F5 Launch of Pretzel Blog

If you want to use F5 to run the blog you can press Ctrl+Shift+P and type launch. If it doesn't exist a launch.json file will be created.

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "type": "PowerShell",
            "request": "launch",
            "name": "PowerShell Launch (Script)",
            "script": "${workspaceRoot}/run.ps1",
            "args": [],
            "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}"        
        }
    ]
}

Where my run.ps1 looks like this:

Start-Process powershell ".\pretzel.ps1 -target Taste -Wait" 

Conclusion

Visual Studio Code is a great editor and has plenty of extension points. If you have any great tips I would love to hear about them in the comments.

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