Binean Nova - Ingenium Development Hub for VS Code

Binean Nova transforms VS Code into a full-featured IDE for the Ingenium core insurance system. Build, debug, and manage Ingenium — all from one place, without modifying Ingenium source code.

Activity Bar — Nova Panel

A dedicated Binean Nova tab in the Activity Bar provides three views:

The Changes and Items panes are designed for day-to-day branch validation before merge. They give you a fast view of what changed from BSL (Production) and what test items exist on your current working branch.

Changes and Items panes

Changes

Lists all file differences between your current branch and BSL (Production).

Displays added, modified, deleted, and renamed files in a tree.
Supports opening files directly and side-by-side diff views.
Auto-refreshes as files change.
Uses a read-only filesystem provider (nova-ro://) for baseline files.

Items

Lists all items being tested on the current branch (differences from BSL (Production)).

New Item — create and publish a branch with standardized naming.
Copy branch name, merge command, item list, or full merge script to clipboard.

Ingenium Management

Monitor and control Ingenium servers and database tasks.

Ingenium Management pane

Ingenium Servers — lists all available servers (regions). Each region supports direct Start and Stop actions.
Ingenium Databases — lists all available databases. Under each region, it shows database-related tasks requested by the current user.
Data is fetched from the isman HTTP API via iman.

Highlights

	Feature	Description
1	One-Command Setup	Initialize the full environment with a single command
2	Smart Build	Compile all modified files with `Ctrl+Shift+B`
3	Single-File Compile	Compile the current `.cbl` file from the editor title bar
4	Integrated Debugging	Debug online programs and batch jobs with F5
5	Change Tracking	See all file changes between your current branch and BSL (Production)
6	Branch Management	Create, track, and merge branches from the sidebar
7	Server Management	Start, stop, and monitor Ingenium server regions
8	Policy Task Monitor	Track export/import/copy policy operations in real time
9	Database Task Monitor	Run and track `idb` database operations (backup, restore, refresh) in real time
10	Encrypted Credentials	AES-256 encrypted database passwords

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Windows operating system (other platforms will show a compatibility warning)
Rocket COBOL extension (rocketsoftware.rocket-cobol) — required for COBOL debugging
Visual COBOL compiler
IBM DB2 server or client

Installation

Search for "Binean Nova" in the VS Code Marketplace and install.
Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and run "Binean Nova: Initialize Environment".
Use VS Code to open the Nova Home directory: %UserProfile%\.nova
Complete the configuration files generated in the cfg and ingenium folders.

Launch

Important: Always start VS Code from the "Binean Nova" desktop shortcut to ensure the environment is configured correctly for building and debugging.

Alternative: In Windows, cmd usually opens at your home directory (%USERPROFILE%) by default, so you can run nova directly to initialize environment variables without using the "Binean Nova" shortcut.

Note: After upgrading the extension, the desktop shortcut may stop working correctly. To fix this, either run "Binean Nova: Initialize Environment" again from the Command Palette, or run nova -f from your home directory (%USERPROFILE%).

Features

Build — `Ctrl+Shift+B`

Compile all modified COBOL files with intelligent dependency analysis and parallel compilation.

Active debug sessions are stopped automatically before the build starts.
Build output streams directly into the VS Code build panel.

Compile Current File

Click the compile icon in the editor title bar when a .cbl file is open to compile that single file.

Debug — `F5`

Debug COBOL programs directly in VS Code with breakpoints, variable inspection, and step-through execution.

Debug Configuration	Use Case
Ingenium	Interactive online COBOL program debugging
Ingenium Batch	Batch job debugging with `env` / `envFile` support

Both configurations support db_region (DB region folder name) and db_secret_pass (password decryption secret) launch attributes.

Commands

Command (Palette)	Description
`Binean Nova: Initialize Environment`	Run `nexus init` to set up the Nova directory structure
`Binean Nova: Build Ingenium`	Compile all modified Ingenium programs (`Ctrl+Shift+B`)

Additional contextual commands (available in tree views and editor title bar):

Context	Command	Description
Editor (`.cbl`)	Compile Ingenium Program	Compile the current COBOL file
Changes view	Open Diff / Open File / Rename	Work with changed files
Items view	New Item / Copy Name / Copy Merge Command / Copy List / Copy Merge Script	Manage branches
Ingenium Mgmt	Start / Stop Management	Launch or shut down the `isman` service
Ingenium Mgmt	Start / Stop Region	Control individual Ingenium regions
Ingenium Mgmt	Refresh / Start Task / Delete Task	Manage policy and database tasks (`idb`: backup, restore, refresh)

Documentation

For detailed user guides, configuration reference, and step-by-step instructions:

🌐 https://www.binean.com/docs/binean_nexus/guides/intro

Guide	Link
Getting Started	User Guides
VS Code Extension Guide	Extension Guide
icomp — Compiler	Compiler Guide
Toolchain Overview	Toolchain
Architecture	Architecture
Security & Compliance	Security

Companion CLI Tools

Binean Nova works with a suite of Rust-powered command-line tools:

Tool	Purpose	Guide
`nexus`	Nexus Utilities	Guide
`ing`	Ingenium Utilities	Guide
`icomp`	Ingenium COBOL Compiler	Guide
`iman`	Ingenium Manager Client	Guide
`ipol`	Ingenium Policy Client	Guide
`idb`	Ingenium Database Client	Guide
`isman`	Ingenium Manager Server	Guide
`benova`	Binean Nova Environment Tool	Guide
`itun`	SSH Tunnel Manager	Guide

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+Shift+B`	Build all modified files
`F5`	Start debugging
`Ctrl+Shift+D`	Open Run and Debug view
`Ctrl+Shift+P`	Open Command Palette

Roadmap

Phase	Name	Focus
1	Nexus (Current)	Modern IDE and plug-and-play CLI tools
2	Orbit	Service-oriented architecture via `ihost` micro-API
3	Vista	Modern web UI replacing legacy Path Finder
4	Apex	Core re-engineering with Rust

Feedback & Contributions

Found a bug or have a suggestion? Please open an issue on the project's GitHub page. Contributions are welcome.

Contact: ingenium.modernization@gmail.com

Binean Nova

Binean