BrightScript Extension for VSCode

A VSCode extension to support Roku's BrightScript language.

Features

Syntax highlighting
BrightScript and BrighterScript code formatting (provided by brighterscript-formatter)
Debugging support - Set breakpoints, launch and debug your source code running on the Roku device all from within VSCode
- Conditional breakpoints
- logpoints
- hit count breakpoints
Automatic Rendezvous tracking when logrendezvous is enabled on the Roku. See here for information on how to enable rendezvous logging your Roku.
Injection of the Roku Advanced Layout Editor(RALE) task from a single user managed version
- This helps avoid committing the tracker to you repo and also lets you manage what version you want installed rather then other users on the project
- See (Extension Settings and RALE Support for more information)
Publish directly to a roku device from VSCode (provided by roku-deploy)
- Also supports zipping and static file hosting for Component Libraries (click here for more information)
Basic symbol navigation for document and workspace ("APPLE/Ctrl + SHIFT + O" for document, "APPLE/Ctrl + T" for workspace)
Goto definition (F12)
Peek definition (Alt+F12)
Find usages (Shift+F12)
XML goto definition support which navigates to xml component, code behind function, or brs script import (F12)
Method signature help (open bracket, or APPLE/Ctrl + SHIFT + SPACE)
Roku remote control from keyboard (click here for more information)
Brightscript output log (which is searchable and can be colorized with a plugin like IBM.output-colorizer
Navigate to source files (by clicking while holding alt key) referenced as pkg:/ paths from output log, with various output formats.
- Configure brightscript.output.hyperlinkFormat as follows:
  - Full pkg:/components/KeyLogTester.brs(24:0)
  - FilenameAndFunction KeyLogTester.DoSomething(24:0)
  - Filename KeyLogTester.brs(24)
  - Short #1
  - Hidden ``
Marking the output log (CTRL+L)
Clearing the output log (CTRL+K), which also clears the mark indexes - be sure to use the extension's command for clearing, or you may find that your hyperlinks and filters get out of sync
Filtering the output log - 3 filters are available:
- LogLevel (example ^\[(info|warn|debug\])
- Include (example NameOfSomeInterestingComponent)
- Exclude (example NameOfSomeNoisyComponent)
Variable bs_const values using the launch.json (see the BS_Const section for more information)

Requirements

Your project must be structured in the way that Roku expects, which looks something like this:

manifest
components/
- HomeScene.brs
- HomeScene.xml
source/
- main.brs

Here is a sample launch configuration

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "type": "brightscript",
            "request": "launch",
            "name": "BrightScript Debug: Launch",
            "host": "192.168.1.17",
            "password": "password",
            "rootDir": "${workspaceFolder}",
            "stopOnEntry": false
        }
    ]
}

If your BrightScript project is located in a subdirectory of the workspace, you will need to update the launch configuration property called 'rootDir' to point to the root folder containing the manifest file.

For example, if you have this structure:

Root Workspace Folder/
- Images/
- Roku App/
  - manifest
  - components/
    - HomeScene.brs
    - HomeScene.xml
  - source/
    - main.brs

then you would need change rootDir in your launch config to look like this:

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            ...
            "rootDir": "${workspaceFolder}/Roku App",
            ...
        }
    ]
}

Special Cases

Debug source files with Custom build process

If you have a build process that moves files from a source directory to an output directory, by default you will need to place breakpoints in the output directory's versions of the files.

IF your build process does not change line numbers between source files and built files, this extension will allow you to place breakpoints in your source files, and launch/run your built files. Pair this with vscode's task system, and you can build your code, then launch and debug your code with ease.

Example:

src/
- main.brs
- language.brs
- manifest
languages/
- english.brs
- french.brs
dist/
- main.brs
- language.brs
- manifest

Here's a sample launch.json for this scenario:

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "type": "brightscript",
            "request": "launch",
            "name": "BrightScript Debug: Launch",
            "host": "192.168.1.100",
            "password": "password",
            "rootDir": "${workspaceFolder}/dist",
            "sourceDirs": ["${workspaceFolder}/src"],
            "preLaunchTask": "your-build-task-here"
        }
    ]
}

Multiple source dirs

If you have a custom build process that pulls in files from multiple source directories, but still want to be able to place breakpoints in those source folders without using this extension's build process, you can use the sourceDirs launch configuration setting to specify where the various source files exist. The extension will walk through each of the sourceDirs entries, in order, until it finds a file that matches the relative path of the file with the active breakpoint.

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "type": "brightscript",
            ...
            "rootDir": "${workspaceFolder}/dist",
            "sourceDirs": [
                "${workspaceFolder}/../../some-common-library-a",
                "${workspaceFolder}/../../some-common-library-b",
                "${workspaceFolder}/../../some-common-library-c",
            ],
            "preLaunchTask": "your-build-task-here"
        }
    ]
}

BS_Const

If you use bs_const in your project manifest you can define separate launch configs in your launch.json allowing for easy changing without modifying the manifest yourself. This helps prevent accidentally committing a change to the bs_consts in your project. You can not define a constant that is not also in your manifest. See the Manifest constant documentation for more info on their format.

example config:

{
    "type": "brightscript",
    "rootDir": "${workspaceFolder}/dist",
    "host": "192.168.1.2",
    "bsConst": {
        "debug": true,
        "logging": false
    }
}

Component Libraries

If you are working on custom component libraries you can define them in the launch.json file. The extension will automatically zip and statically host your component libraries. The library folder(s) can ether be in your project or in another workspace on your machine.

launch.json configuration options:

componentLibraries: This field takes an array of library configuration objects allowing you to work on more than one library at a time. For the examples, there will only be one library configured but you can simply add more if you need to. Each object in the componentLibraries field requires three values.
- rootDir: This is the relative path to the libraries source code. Since this is a relative path your library source does not need to be in the same work space.
- outFile: The name of the zip file that your channel code will download as a component library. You can use values in your outFile string such as ${title} to be inferred from the libraries manifest file.
- files: A file path or file glob that should be copied to the deployment package.
componentLibrariesPort: Port to access component libraries. Default: 8080
componentLibrariesOutDir: Output folder the component libraries will be hosted in. Default: "${workspaceFolder}/libs"

Example:

.vscode
- launch.json
manifest
components/
- HomeScene.brs
- HomeScene.xml
source/
- main.brs
customLibrary
- manifest
- components/
  - CustomButton.brs
  - CustomButton.xml
  - CustomTextInput.brs
  - CustomTextInput.xml

Here's a sample launch.json for this scenario:

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "type": "brightscript",
            ...
            "rootDir": "${workspaceFolder}",
            "files": [
                "manifest",
                "source/**/*.*",
                "components/**/*.*"
            ],
            "componentLibraries": [
                {
                    "rootDir": "${workspaceFolder}/customLibrary/",
                    "outFile": "customLibrary.zip",
                    "files": [
                        "manifest",
                        "components/**/*.*"
                    ]
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}

Deep Linking / ECP

You can launch a debug session with a deep link by setting the deepLinkUrl property in your launch.json configuration.

{
    "type": "brightscript",
    "rootDir": "${workspaceFolder}/dist",
    "host": "192.168.1.2",
    "deepLinkUrl": "http://${host}:8060/launch/dev?${promptForQueryParams}"
}

There are several string placeholders you can use when defining your deep link url, but none of them are required.

${host} - the roku host. This is the host property set in your launch configuration. By using ${host} in the deep link url, it prevents you from needing to update the host twice in your config when you want to change which Roku to debug.
${promptForQueryparams} - will pop up an input box at debug launch time, asking for the URL-encoded query parameters to pass to the deep link.
${promptForDeepLinkUrl} - if the entire deepLinkUrl is set to this, then at debug launch time, an input box will appear asking you to input the full deep link url.

RALE Support

You can also have the extension automatically inject the TrackerTack.xml and the code snippet required to start the tracker task. To do this you need a few simple things:

In your VS Code user settings add the brightscript.rokuAdvancedLayoutEditor.trackerTaskFileLocation setting. (See Extension Settings for more information)
Add the entry point comment ' vscode_rale_tracker_entry to your code.
- This is optional as you can still include the the code to create the tracker task your self.
- I recommend adding it to the end of your screen.show() call. For example: screen.show() ' vscode_rale_tracker_entry
- This can be added anywhere in the channel including source files but it must be on or after the your call to screen.show()
Set the injectRaleTrackerTask value to true in your launch.json. For example:

{
    "type": "brightscript",
    "rootDir": "${workspaceFolder}/dist",
    "host": "192.168.1.2",
    "injectRaleTrackerTask": true
}

Extension Settings

This extension contributes the following settings:

brightscript.format.keywordCase: specify case of keywords when formatting
brightscript.format.compositeKeywords: specify whether composite words (ie: "endif", "endfor") should be broken apart into their two-word format (ie: "end if", "end for")
brightscript.format.removeTrailingWhiteSpace: specify whether trailing whitespace should be removed on format
brightscript.format.formatInteriorWhitespace: If true (the default), all whitespace between items is reduced to exactly 1 space character, and certain keywords and operators are padded with whitespace (i.e. 1+1 becomes 1 + 1)
brightscript.format.insertSpaceBeforeFunctionParenthesis: If true, a space is inserted to the left of an opening function declaration parenthesis. (i.e. function main () or function ()). If false, all spacing is removed (i.e. function main() or function()).
brightscript.format.insertSpaceBetweenEmptyCurlyBraces: if true, empty curly braces will contain exactly 1 whitespace char (i.e. { }). If false, there will be zero whitespace chars between empty curly braces (i.e. {})
brightscript.output.includeStackTraces: If set to true, will print stack trace or breakpoint info in the log output. Set to false to avoid noisy logs - you'll still get the traces in the debug console, in any case
brightscript.output.focusOnLaunch: If set to true, focus on the brightscript log when launching, which is convenient for controlling your roku with the extension's remote control keys. Experimental. Does not always work
brightscript.output.clearOnLaunch: If set to true, will clear the brightscript log when launching
brightscript.output.clearConsoleOnChannelStart: If set to true, will clear the brightscript log after connecting to the Roku channel after launching
brightscript.output.hyperlinkFormat: specifies the display format for log output pkg link
brightscript.deviceDiscovery.showInfoMessages: If set to true, an info toast will be shown when a Roku device has been found on the network.
brightscript.deviceDiscovery.enabled: If set to true, the extension will automatically watch and scan the network for online Roku devices. This can be pared with the ${promptForHost} option in the launch config to display a list of online Rokus, removing the need to constantly change the host IP in your config files.
brightscript.rokuAdvancedLayoutEditor.trackerTaskFileLocation: This is an absolute path to the TrackerTask.xml file to be injected into your Roku channel during a debug session. (i.e. /Users/user/roku/TrackerTask/TrackerTask.xml)

Roku Remote Control

You can use your keyboard as a Roku remote by clicking inside the Output or Debug Console panel of VSCode, and then pressing one of the predefined keyboard shortcuts from the table below (make sure the find widget is closed). You can also press win+k (or cmd+k on mac) from inside those same panels to bring up a text box to send text to the Roku device.

This extension sends key presses to the Roku device through Roku's External Control API. The 12 standard Roku remote buttons are already included. The keys are mapped using the when clause so it will only send remote commands if the Output or Debug Console Panel has focus (panelFocus) AND the Editor Find widget is NOT visible (!findWidgetVisible).

Keyboard Commands:

Keyboard Key	Roku Remote Key	Keybinding Command
`Backspace`	Back Button	`extension.brightscript.pressBackButton`
`win+Backspace` (or `cmd+Backspace` on mac)	Backspace	`extension.brightscript.pressBackspaceButton`
`Escape`	Home Button	`extension.brightscript.pressHomeButton`
`up`	Up Button	`extension.brightscript.pressUpButton`
`down`	Down Button	`extension.brightscript.pressDownButton`
`right`	Right Button	`extension.brightscript.pressRightButton`
`left`	Left Button	`extension.brightscript.pressLeftButton`
`Enter`	Select Button (OK)	`extension.brightscript.pressSelectButton`
`win+Enter` (or `cmd+Enter` on mac)	Play Button	`extension.brightscript.pressPlayButton`
`win+left` (or `cmd+left` on mac)	Rev Button	`extension.brightscript.pressRevButton`
`win+right` (or `cmd+right` on mac)	Fwd Button	`extension.brightscript.pressFwdButton`
`win+8` (or `cmd+8` on mac)	Info Button	`extension.brightscript.pressStarButton`

You also have the ability to create keybindings for any other Roku supported key by adding. Here's a example entry for keybindings.json of how to create a VSCode keyboard shortcut to send the space key to the Roku:

{
    "key": "Space",
    "command": "extension.brightscript.sendRemoteCommand",
    "args": "Lit_%20",
    "when": "panelFocus && !inDebugRepl && !findWidgetVisible"
}

Other keyboard shortcuts

Keybinding (Windows)	Keybinding (Mac)	Command	Description
`ctrl+L`	`ctrl+L`	extension.brightscript.markLogOutput	Add a new mark line in the BrightScript output panel
`ctrl+alt+k`	`ctrl+alt+k`	extension.brightscript.clearLogOutput	Clear the current log output
`win+ctrl+l`	`cmd+ctrl+l`	extension.brightscript.setOutputLogLevelFilter	Filter the BrightScript Output by log level (info, warn, debug)
`win+ctrl+i`	`cmd+ctrl+i`	extension.brightscript.setOutputIncludeFilter	Filter the BrightScript Output by typing text you want to include
`win+ctrl+x`	`cmd+ctrl+x`	extension.brightscript.setOutputExcludeFilter	Filter the BrightScript output by typing text you want to exclude

Config file for user-specific launch settings

If you change your launch.json settings regularly, or don't want to check certain values into version control, then another option is to store those values in a .env file. Then, reference it in your launch.json and use ${env:YOUR_VAR_NAME} in launch.json settings. Here's an example.

//launch.json

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            ...
            "envFile": "${workspaceFolder}/.env",
            "username": "${env:ROKU_USERNAME}",
            "password": "${env:ROKU_PASSWORD}"
            ...
        }
    ]
}

# .env

#the username for the roku
ROKU_USERNAME=rokudev
#the password for the roku
ROKU_PASSWORD=password123

This extension uses the dotenv npm module for parsing the .env files, so see this link for syntax information.

Pre-release Versions

You can often find pre-release versions of this extension under the GitHub Releases page of this project. Unfortunately, Visual Studio Code does not currently support publishing pre-release versions of an extension, so manually installing the .vsix is the next-best option at this point. Here's how it works.

Download .vsix file for version of the extension you want from the releases page;
Open Visual Studio Code and click the "extensions" tab.
Choose "Install from VSIX..."
Select the file you downloaded from step 1.

Reinstalling store version of the extension

This process will REPLACE any existing version of the extension you have installed from the store. So, if you want to go back to using the store version, you need to uninstall the extension completely, and then install the extension through the VSCode store.