SMP/E MCS Language Server for VS Code

Language Server Extension for IBM SMP/E MCS (Modification Control Statements).

What's New in 1.3.1

• MCS completion menu stays open while typing ++STATEMENT prefix - Typing ++S, ++SR, ++SRC, … no longer dismisses the completion list. The completion menu remains open and continues to filter MCS statements as more characters are typed.
• Snippet items respect VSCode/blink prefix filter - Boilerplate snippet completion items now carry an explicit filterText so VSCode (and blink-cmp in Neovim) match them against the typed prefix. Snippets are no longer hidden when typing ++P, ++PT, etc.

What's New in 1.3.0

• Saved Queries in Free Form Query - Save and reuse complete CSI queries. Queries are stored in .smpe-saved-queries.yaml in the workspace root. The Free Form Query panel shows a collapsible saved queries section below the input form.
• Auto-Detect Language Mode Toggle - New setting smpe.editor.autoDetectLanguage (default: true) and command SMP/E: Toggle Auto-Detect Language Mode. When disabled, manual language mode changes (e.g. switching a .smpe buffer to REXX) are preserved and no longer overridden by the extension.

What's New in 1.2.0

• Filter History in Free Form Query - Filter strings are automatically saved (max. 20, no duplicates). A ▼ button opens a dropdown with saved entries. Entries persist across sessions.
• Manage Filter History - New command SMP/E: Manage Filter History to edit, delete, or clear saved filter entries. Open panel updates immediately.

What's New in 1.1.0

• HOLD Comments Viewer - Right-click the 💬 icon in the HOLDDATA column of a SYSMOD Free Form Query result (GLOBAL zone only) to fetch and display all ++HOLD COMMENT texts from the SMPPTS member. If the PTF was already accepted, a clear message is shown.
• CRLF fix for Zowe Explorer - z/OS Dataset Members opened via Zowe Explorer no longer produce false unknown_operand diagnostics for COMMENT content in ++HOLD statements.

What's New in 1.0.1

• ++HOLD COMMENT free-text handling - The COMMENT(...) operand is now correctly treated as free text. False diagnostics ("requires parameter TEXT/ENHANCED HOLD-DATA") and false missing-terminator errors caused by English apostrophes in COMMENT content are fixed.
• SMRTDATA operand for ++HOLD - Enhanced HOLDDATA is now correctly modelled as a separate SMRTDATA operand with sub-operands CHGDT, FIX, and SYMP.

What's New in 1.0.0

• Boilerplate Snippets - All Control MCS statements (e.g. ++PTF, ++APAR, ++USERMOD) now offer a second completion item … (recognizable by the snippet icon) that inserts a ready-to-use template with tab stops for all required operands. The REWORK operand is pre-filled with the current date.

What's New in 0.9.6

• Training Documentation - 22 Markdown training modules (DE + EN) covering installation, all VSCode extension features, CLI tools (smpe_lint, smpe_outl), and z/OSMF integration. Available under docs/training/.

What's New in 0.9.5

• Check Missing Input Members - New command (SMP/E: Check Missing Input Members) checks whether all referenced input member files exist in the workspace. Results displayed in a filterable/sortable Webview table. Available in Command Palette and via right-click on .smpe files.
• smpe.checkMissingInputMembers.searchFolders - Configures which folders are searched for input member files (default: ["customization"]). Use "*" to search the entire workspace.

What's New in 0.9.4

• z/OSMF Config Lookup - .smpe-zosmf.yaml is now resolved from workspace folders first, then ~/.config/smpe_ls/ as a global fallback
• LLQ-based Language Detection - z/OS datasets with configurable last level qualifiers (e.g. .MCS) are automatically recognized as SMP/E files (smpe.zosDatasetsLlq setting)

What's New in 0.9.3

• Workspace Symbols - Search for SYSMOD definitions across all .smpe files (Cmd+T)
• Dataset Member Attributes - PDS member listing now shows full ISPF-style attributes (User, Created, Modified, Ver, Mod)

See the CHANGELOG for full details.

Features

• Syntax Highlighting - Color highlighting for SMP/E statements
• Code Completion - Context-sensitive completion for MCS statements and operands
• Diagnostics - Real-time validation with error and warning messages
• Hover Information - Documentation when hovering over statements and operands
• Go to Definition - Navigate to SYSMOD/FMID definitions (F12 or Cmd+Click)
• Find References - Find all references to a SYSMOD or FMID (Shift+F12)
• Document Symbols - Outline view and quick navigation (Cmd+Shift+O)
• Workspace Symbols - Search for SYSMOD definitions across all .smpe files (Cmd+T)
• Folding Ranges - Collapse/expand MCS statements and multi-line comments
• Check Missing Input Members - Scan workspace for missing MCS input files with filterable Webview results
• CodeLens - Inline z/OSMF CSI queries for SYSMODs and DDDEFs
• z/OSMF Integration - Query CSI, browse USS directories and MVS datasets
• Column Rulers - Visual guides at columns 72 and 80 (mainframe card boundaries)
• Document Formatting - Auto-format SMP/E statements

Supported Statements

The extension supports all common SMP/E MCS statements, including:

• ++APAR, ++PTF, ++USERMOD, ++FUNCTION
• ++MAC, ++MACUPD, ++MOD, ++SRC, ++SRCUPD
• ++JCLIN, ++JAR, ++JARUPD
• ++VER, ++ZAP, ++DELETE
• and many more...

Installation

Download

Download the appropriate .vsix file for your platform from the Release page:

Installation in VS Code

1. Open VS Code
2. Cmd+Shift+P (macOS) or Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows/Linux)
3. Select "Extensions: Install from VSIX..."
4. Choose the downloaded .vsix file

Alternatively via terminal:

code --install-extension smpe-mcs-language-server-darwin-arm64-1.0.0.vsix

The Language Server is already included in the extension - no additional installation required.

Configuration

General

Formatting

Diagnostics

All diagnostics are enabled by default. Set to false to disable specific checks.

z/OSMF Integration

The z/OSMF integration requires a .smpe-zosmf.yaml configuration file. The extension resolves the file in the following order:

1. Workspace folders — all open workspace folders are searched, first match wins
2. Global fallback — ~/.config/smpe_ls/.smpe-zosmf.yaml

To create a configuration file in the workspace root, run:

Ctrl+Shift+P → SMP/E: Create z/OSMF Config

This creates .smpe-zosmf.yaml in the root of the first workspace folder and opens it for editing. If you want a shared configuration across all projects, place the file at ~/.config/smpe_ls/.smpe-zosmf.yaml instead.

Check Missing Input Members

File Extensions

The extension activates automatically for files with the following extensions:

• .smpe
• .mcs
• .smp

Screenshots

Coming soon

Known Limitations

• This is an alpha version
• There might be bugs

License

AGPL-3.0 - See LICENSE for details.

Author

Made with ❤️ by Sir Tobi aka Cybersorcerer

Note: SMP/E is a registered trademark of IBM Corporation.