Excel Lambda Tools

Excel Lambda Tools is a production-ready Visual Studio Code extension foundation for developing and maintaining Microsoft Excel LAMBDA libraries stored in workbook Name Manager.

Project Overview

The extension transforms VS Code into a dedicated environment for Excel LAMBDA engineering, starting with extraction and synchronization workflows.

Features

• Extract LAMBDA Functions from .xls, .xlsx, and .xlsm files.
• Export each detected function to an individual .lambda file inside a workbook-scoped folder:
  • lambdas/<workbook_name>__<ext>/
• Exports Name Manager description metadata when available (Description: field in .lambda).
• Exports Name Manager scope metadata (Scope: field, e.g. Workbook or Worksheet:<SheetName>).
• Sync validates Scope against the target workbook and blocks (single sync) or skips (sync all) functions whose worksheet scope does not exist.
• Sync architecture ready for bidirectional reconciliation:
  • create
  • update
  • delete
  • conflict detection
• Modular parser layer designed for future evolution (parameters, LET variables, dependencies, docs, comments).

Installation

From source

1. Clone the repository.
2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Build:

npm run build

4. Press F5 in VS Code to launch the Extension Development Host.

Development

Scripts

• npm run build: Production bundle with esbuild.
• npm run watch: Rebuild on file changes.
• npm run lint: ESLint checks with TypeScript rules.
• npm run test: Unit tests with Vitest.
• npm run package: Builds and generates .vsix package.

Localization Settings

You can configure localized preview generation in .lambda files:

• excelLambda.localization.locale
  • Default: pt-BR
  • Supported starter maps: pt-BR, en-US, es-ES, fr-FR, de-DE
• excelLambda.localization.customMapFilePath
  • Optional path to a custom JSON map file
  • Can be absolute or workspace-relative

Template file available at:

• media/localization/custom-map.template.json

Expected JSON schema:

{
  "functions": {
    "XLOOKUP": "PROCX"
  },
  "booleans": {
    "TRUE": "VERDADEIRO",
    "FALSE": "FALSO"
  }
}

Custom map entries are merged on top of the selected locale map.

Workspace Commands

• Excel Lambda Tools: Extract LAMBDA Functions
• Excel Lambda Tools: Sync [name_function] with workbook
• Excel Lambda Tools: Sync ALL LAMBDA functions

Explorer Menu

Right-click an .xls, .xlsx, or .xlsm file and use:

• Excel Lambda Tools -> Extract LAMBDA Functions
• Excel Lambda Tools -> Sync ALL LAMBDA functions

Right-click a .lambda file and use:

• Excel Lambda Tools -> Sync [name_function] with workbook

Build

npm run build

Bundled output is generated at dist/extension.js.

Debug

1. Open this project in VS Code.
2. Run npm install and npm run build.
3. Press F5.
4. In the Extension Development Host, right-click a workbook and run extension commands.

Packaging

npm run package

This generates a .vsix artifact using @vscode/vsce.

Publishing

1. Create a publisher in the Visual Studio Marketplace.
2. Update publisher in package.json.
3. Authenticate with a PAT:

npx vsce login <publisher>

4. Publish:

npx vsce publish

Architecture Summary

• src/commands: command orchestration and UI interaction.
• src/excel: workbook access using SheetJS.
• src/parser: extensible formula parsing contracts and implementation.
• src/models: strongly typed domain model.
• src/services: business logic (extract, write, sync, dependency analysis).
• src/views: view/output abstractions for sync preview.
• src/utils: shared utility helpers.
• test: unit test suite.

Roadmap Compatibility

The codebase is intentionally organized to support future capabilities without major refactoring:

• Import LAMBDA Functions
• Generate Documentation
• Compare Libraries
• Dependency Graph
• Tree View
• Symbol Navigation
• IntelliSense
• Markdown Export
• JSON Export
• Automatic Documentation
• Workspace Explorer
• Git integration

License

MIT

Author

• Daniel Becker Bighelini
• danielbighelini@gmail.com