foresight FORE Language — Complete language support for FORe (Foresight BI Desktop)

Comprehensive VS Code extension for FORe scripts: syntax highlighting, code snippets, formatting, linting, navigation, hover documentation, and custom themes for desktop FORe (not fore.net).

Features

Syntax Highlighting

Keywords:

• Control flow: If/Then/Elseif/Else If/Else/End If, For/Each/To/Step/End For, While/Do/End While, Select/Case, Try/Except/Finally, Return, Exit, Break, Continue
• Type definitions: Class/End Class, Sub/Function/End Sub/End Function, Constructor, Destructor
• Variable declarations: Var, Const, Public, Private, Shared
• Other: Begin/End, New, As, Array, Of

Types and Interfaces:

• Primitives: Integer, String, Variant, Boolean, DateTime, TimeSpan, ArrayList, HashTable, TriState
• Report interfaces: IPrxReport, IPrxControl, IPrxSheet, IPrxControls, IPrxDataIsland, IPrxFormulaIsland
• Grid/Table interfaces: IEaxGrid, ITabSheet, ITabRange, ITabView, ITabRegion, ITabCellStyle, ITabHyperlink
• Metabase interfaces: IMetabase, IMetabaseObject, IMetabaseObjectDescriptor, IMetabaseObjectInstance, IMetabaseObjectParamValues, IMetabaseObjectParams, IMetabaseObjectParam, IMetabaseObjectCache, IMetabaseUser, IMetabaseUsers, IMetabaseGroup, IMetabaseGroups, IMetabaseSecurity
• Dimension interfaces: IDimInstance, IDimSelection, IDimSelectionSet, IDimElements, IDimAttributesInstance, IDimAttributeInstance, IDimAttribute, IDimIterator, IDimIndexInstance, IDimIndexAttributes, IDimElement, IDimElementArray, IDimElementGroup, IDimBlockLoader, IDimBuilder, IUserDimension
• Cube interfaces: ICubeInstance, ICubeSegment, ICubeSegmentContainer, ICubeSegments, ICubeSegmentDimensions, IStandardCube, IStandardCubeDestination, IStandardCubeDimension, IStandardCubeDataset, IStandardCubeFactBindings, IStandardCubeFactBinding, IStandardCubeCalculatedFactBinding, IStandardCubeDimensions, IStandardCubeDimensionBinding, ICubeInstanceDestination, ICubeInstanceDimensions, ICubeInstanceStorage, ICubeModelDestination, ICubeModelDimensions
• Database interfaces: IDatabaseInstance, IDalCommand, IDalCursor, IDalCommandParams, ISQLCommandInstance, ISQLCallback, ISQLComponents
• Dictionary interfaces: IRdsDictionary, IRdsDictionaryInstance, IRdsDictionaryElement, IRdsDictionaryElementData, IRdsDictionaryElements, IRdsAttributes
• Security interfaces: IAccessControlList, ISecuritySubject, ISecurityDescriptor, ISecurityLabels, ISid
• Algorithm interfaces: ICalcAlgorithm, ICalcObject, IAlgorithmCalculationResult, IAlgorithmCalculationExecutor, IAlgorithmParameterValues, IAlgorithmParamValue
• Other interfaces: IPivot, IPivotHeader, ITable, ITableFields, ITableField, IArrayList, IHashTable, ICultureInfo, IDatasetInstance, IDatasetInstanceField, ICachedDataset, IDimensionModel, IDictionary, IDatabase, IEtlTask, IMatrix, IMatrixCoord, ITimeSeries, IView, IStyleContainer, IStyleContainerCollection, IStyledEntity, IStyleSheet, ILog, ICryptoPackage, IApplicationVersion, ISortedList, IAccessAttributeValue, IAccessElement, IAccessElementsIterator, IABACAttributeInstance, IMetabaseUpdate, IMetabaseUpdateLogRecord, IMetabaseUpdateObjectNode, IMetabaseUpdateProperties, IMetabaseUpdateProperty, IMetabaseUsersUpdate, IUiPrxReportBaseSubstitutionEventArgs, IPythonClassObject, IPrxTableIsland, IPrxDataChange
• Event args: IEventArgs, IMouseEventArgs, IDimensionViewerEventArgs, ITreeControlEventArgs, IUiPrxReportAuditOperationEventArgs
• Classes: MetabaseClass, PrxReport, ArrayList, HashTable, DateTime, TimeSpan, TriState, CubeClass, SqlResultClass, Debug, Exception, Console
• Graphics: GxColor, GxKnownColor, GxSolidBrush

Comments:

• Line comments: //
• Block comments: { ... } and /* ... */
• Documentation comments: ///

Operators:

• Assignment: :=, =
• Arithmetic: +, -, *, /, %
• Comparison: <=, >=, <>, <, >
• Ternary: ?
• Accessor: .

Constants:

• True, False, Null

Code Snippets

Event Handlers:

• events — EventsClass: ReportEvents skeleton with OnBeforeOpenReport and OnChangeControlValue
• events-all — Complete EventsClass with all common handlers (BeforeOpenReport, BeforeTransferData, AfterTransferData, BeforeChangeControlValue, ChangeControlValue, AfterRefreshEaxGrid, AfterRecalcSheet)
• events-grid-params — Template for setting cube parameters for a grid data area
• evt-before-transfer — OnBeforeTransferData handler
• evt-after-refresh-grid — OnAfterRefreshEaxGrid handler
• evt-before-change-control — OnBeforeChangeControlValue handler
• evt-after-recalc-sheet — OnAfterRecalcSheet handler

Common Patterns:

• try — Try/Except block with exception handling
• foreach-controls — Iterate through report controls
• control-select-by-id — Select control element by Id
• date-days — Set control date in DAYS:dd.MM.yyyy format
• sql-exec — Execute SQL via DAL (Database Access Layer)
• foreach-dim-elements — Iterate through dimension elements
• for-range — Double loop over a rectangular cell range
• mb-open — Open metabase object with parameters

Type Completions:

• 170+ type completion snippets for all major interfaces and classes
• Type names match exactly — just type the interface/class name and get autocomplete

Code Formatting

• Automatic formatting with Format Document (Shift+Alt+F) or Format on Save
• Normalizes indentation (uses tabs by default)
• Formats operators (:=, =, <>, <=, >=)
• Standardizes keyword casing (Begin, End, If, Then, etc.)
• Removes excessive blank lines
• Properly handles Begin/End blocks, If/Then/Else, Try/Except

Linting

• Syntax validation with real-time diagnostics
• Checks for balanced blocks (Begin/End, If/End If, Try/End Try, For/End For, etc.)
• Detects unclosed blocks
• Warns about mismatched closing blocks
• Validates Except without Try, Then without If

Navigation

• Go to Definition (F12) — Jump to function, procedure, class, variable, or constant definitions
• Find References (Shift+F12) — Find all usages of a symbol
• Symbol Search (Ctrl+Shift+O) — Quick navigation to symbols in the current file
• Works with Functions, Subs, Classes, Variables, Constants, and Properties

Hover Documentation

• Hover over interfaces (e.g., IPrxReport, IMetabase) to see documentation
• Fetches descriptions from Foresight help documentation
• Includes direct links to official documentation pages
• Caches results for better performance

Color Themes

• FORe Dark — Dark theme optimized for FORe syntax
• FORe Light — Light theme optimized for FORe syntax
• Both themes highlight keywords, types, functions, strings, comments, and operators

Language Configuration

• Comments: // for line comments, { ... } and /* ... */ for block comments
• Brackets: Auto-pairing for {}, [], ()
• Auto-closing: Automatically closes brackets and quotes
• Folding: Supports // #region and // #endregion markers for code folding
• Indentation: Smart indentation rules for Begin/End blocks
• Word pattern: Optimized for FORe identifiers

Usage

1. Installation:

   • Install from Open VSX Marketplace or VS Code Marketplace
   • Or install locally from .vsix file

2. File Association:

   • Files with .fore extension automatically get syntax highlighting and snippets
   • Manual association: Add to VS Code settings:

     "files.associations": {
       "*.fore": "fore"
     }
     

3. Using Snippets:

   • Type snippet prefix (e.g., events, try, sql-exec)
   • Press Tab or Enter to insert the snippet
   • Use Tab to navigate between placeholders

4. Type Completions:

   • Type interface/class name (e.g., IPrxReport, IMetabase)
   • Autocomplete will suggest the full type name

5. Code Formatting:

   • Press Shift+Alt+F (or Format Document) to format the entire file
   • Enable Format on Save in settings for automatic formatting
   • Formatting respects your tab/space preferences

6. Navigation:

   • Press F12 on any symbol to go to its definition
   • Press Shift+F12 to find all references
   • Press Ctrl+Shift+O to see all symbols in the current file

7. Hover Documentation:

   • Hover over interface names (e.g., IPrxReport) to see documentation
   • Click the link to open the official Foresight help page

8. Themes:

   • Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P)
   • Type "Color Theme" and select "FORe Dark" or "FORe Light"

Examples

Creating an EventsClass

Type events and press Tab:

Public Class EventsClass: ReportEvents

	Public Sub OnBeforeOpenReport(Report: IPrxReport; Var Cancel: Boolean);
	Var
		ctrl: IPrxControl;
	Begin
		// TODO: init controls/parameters
		Report.Recalc;
	End Sub OnBeforeOpenReport;

	Public Sub OnChangeControlValue(Control: IPrxControl);
	Begin
		// TODO: react to control changes
		PrxReport.ActiveReport.Recalc;
	End Sub OnChangeControlValue;

End Class EventsClass;

Executing SQL

Type sql-exec and press Tab:

Var
	db: IDatabaseInstance;
	cmd: IDalCommand;
	cur: IDalCursor;
Begin
	db := MetabaseClass.Active.ItemByIdNamespace("APPLICATION_DB", BA_KEY).Open(Null) As IDatabaseInstance;
	cmd := db.Connection.CreateCommand("");
	cmd.SQL := "select 1";
	cur := cmd.CreateCursor;
	While Not cur.Eof Do
		// val := cur.Fields.Item(0).Value;
		cur.MoveNext;
	End While;
	cur.Close;
	cmd.Close;
End

Error Handling

Type try and press Tab:

Try
	// ...
Except On e: Exception Do
	Debug.WriteLine(e.Message);
End Try;

Code Formatting

Before formatting:

If x=5 Then
result:=x*2;
Else
result:=0;
End If;

After formatting (Shift+Alt+F):

If x = 5 Then
	result := x * 2;
Else
	result := 0;
End If;

Navigation

• Place cursor on GetSqlResult and press F12 to jump to its definition
• Press Shift+F12 to see all places where GetSqlResult is used
• Press Ctrl+Shift+O to see all functions, classes, and constants in the file

Hover Documentation

Hover over IPrxReport to see:

• Interface description from Foresight help
• Direct link to official documentation page

Limitations

• Basic TextMate grammar (no full semantic analysis or type checking)
• Targeted at desktop FORe syntax (not fore.net)
• Limited IntelliSense for method/property completion (only type names)
• No debugging support (use Foresight IDE for debugging)
• Navigation works within a single file (no cross-file navigation yet)

Repository

• GitHub: ivanmandat/fore-language-extension
• License: MIT
• Publisher: ForeCode

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

AI Assistant Support

The extension includes special files to help AI assistants (Cursor, GitHub Copilot, etc.) generate correct FORe code:

• .cursorrules — Rules and patterns for Cursor AI (automatically read by Cursor)
• AI_CONTEXT.md — Detailed context with code examples and patterns
• AI_USAGE.md — Instructions for using AI assistants with FORe

These files help AI understand:

• FORe syntax (Pascal-like, not .NET)
• Common patterns (SQL execution, dimension iteration, event handlers)
• Best practices and common mistakes to avoid
• Interface usage patterns

See AI_USAGE.md for detailed instructions on using AI assistants with FORe.

Version History

• 0.2.1 — Fixed linting issues: improved Then/If detection, ignore Case in SQL strings
• 0.2.0 — Added code formatting, linting, navigation (Go to Definition, Find References, Symbol search), hover documentation, custom color themes, and AI assistant support files
• 0.1.2 — Added hover documentation provider with interface descriptions from Foresight help
• 0.1.0 — Improved language configuration with indentation rules and folding
• 0.0.5 — Added 90+ new interfaces and classes, expanded type completions
• 0.0.4 — Added icon, improved snippets
• 0.0.3 — Initial release with syntax highlighting and basic snippets