LabWindows/CVI Project Manager

Visual Studio Code extension for managing NI LabWindows/CVI workspaces and projects without maintaining project-specific tasks.json or launch.json files.

Version 0.5.1 repairs CVI header resolution in Microsoft C/C++ IntelliSense. It retains the file-creation wizard, blank .uir generation, reusable user templates, insertable CVI snippets and the JC Lib 0.7.96 CVI catalog introduced in 0.5.0.

Main views

The LabWindows/CVI activity-bar container exposes two vertically stacked native VS Code views:

LabWindows/CVI
├── CVI Workspace
└── CVI Libraries

The divider between these views is resizable. The first view manages .cws and .prj content. The second view embeds the CVI API explorer derived from JC Lib.

Workspace and project operations

The extension can:

• open an existing .cws workspace or standalone .prj project;
• create a minimal CVI-compatible workspace and project;
• display the hierarchy workspace -> project -> logical CVI folder -> file;
• select the active project stored by a workspace;
• add or remove project references without deleting files from disk;
• create, rename and safely remove logical CVI folders;
• add, replace, include, exclude or remove project files;
• toggle the CVI .Obj option on C sources;
• build, rebuild, compile an individual .c file and execute the active target;
• open workspaces, projects and .uir panels in the native CVI IDE;
• discover common CVI installations and store a manually selected installation.

Create New File or Starter

Right-click a project or logical folder and select Create New File or Starter.... The same command is available from the Command Palette and the Home page.

The wizard provides:

When a paired starter is generated, each file is added to the CVI project. Without a selected logical folder, .c, .h and .uir files are routed to their standard CVI folders. When the command is invoked on a logical folder, the generated references are inserted into that folder.

Blank UIR templates

A .uir resource is binary. The extension therefore embeds two blank resources derived from CVI-generated examples:

data/templates/blank-cvi2012.uir
data/templates/blank-cvi2020.uir

The generated .uir is accompanied by a generated-style .h file exposing PANEL. After creation, the extension can open the panel in the native CVI graphical editor.

The setting labwindowsCvi.uirTemplateVersion controls resource selection:

• auto: select CVI 2020 for a CVI2020 installation and otherwise use the CVI 2012-compatible resource;
• cvi2012: force the CVI 2012-compatible blank resource;
• cvi2020: force the CVI 2020 blank resource.

Reusable user templates

Use LabWindows/CVI: Manage Creation Templates... to save the active text file as a reusable creation template, import a text file, delete a template or open the JSON store.

User templates are saved in extension global storage and remain available across workspaces. A saved template may use these placeholders:

{{baseName}}   {{fileName}}   {{headerFile}}
{{guard}}      {{prefix}}     {{uirFile}}
{{date}}       {{year}}

CVI snippets

Use LabWindows/CVI: Insert CVI Snippet... to insert a reusable fragment at the current cursor position.

Default shortcut:

Ctrl+Alt+I          Windows and Linux
Cmd+Alt+I           macOS

The shortcut can be changed from Preferences: Open Keyboard Shortcuts.

Built-in snippets include:

• standard main, WinMain, RTmain and DllMain CVIRTE lifecycle entries;
• panel and control callback skeletons;
• LoadPanel / DisplayPanel / RunUserInterface cleanup flow;
• negative-status cleanup branch;
• parameterized SetCtrlAttribute call.

Use LabWindows/CVI: Save Selection as CVI Snippet... and LabWindows/CVI: Manage CVI Snippets... to add or remove personal snippets. User snippets are stored as JSON in extension global storage.

Cleaned error-management starter

The supplied legacy error-management files contained application-specific dependencies and obsolete constructs. The new generic starter removes project-specific globals and UI hooks, moves implementations out of the header, adds the required standard headers, checks log-path emptiness correctly and exposes reusable helpers:

CviError_SetLogFile(...);
CviError_Log(...);
CviError_Report(...);
CVI_ERROR_GOTO(...);
CVI_CHECK_GOTO(...);
CVI_CHECK_PTR_GOTO(...);

CVI Libraries explorer

The embedded library explorer now uses the JC Lib 0.7.96 runtime and the LabWindows/CVI Structured API Pack 1.5.0.

The CVI catalog contains 19 top-level libraries. CVI Patterns & References has been folded into CVI Basics, which now exposes:

• CVIRTE lifecycle functions and recipes;
• editable callback typedef forms;
• parameterized callback skeletons;
• grouped EVENT_* and event-data selectors;
• callback installation and dispatch recipes;
• CVICALLBACK, CVIFUNC, workflows and notes.

The explorer retains the structured Set*Attribute helpers introduced earlier. It loads both:

data/metadata/cvi_ui_attribute_catalog.json
data/metadata/cvi_callback_event_catalog.json

Find Symbol shortcut:

Ctrl+Alt+P          Windows and Linux
Cmd+Alt+P           macOS

IntelliSense configuration

When a workspace is opened or the selected CVI installation changes, the extension creates or updates a managed entry in:

.vscode/c_cpp_properties.json

The entry is named LabWindows/CVI (managed). Existing user configurations are preserved.

Version 0.5.1 also registers a dynamic configuration provider for the Microsoft C/C++ extension. This provider supplies CVI paths directly for .c, .h, .cpp and .hpp files opened from the CVI project explorer, including files located outside the VS Code folder that was initially opened.

The managed configuration includes:

<CVI>/include
<CVI>/include/ansi
<CVI>/include/clang/**
<CVI>/toolslib
<CVI>/toolslib/**
<CVI>/toolslib/toolbox
<Windows Kits>/10/Include/**
<Windows Kits>/8.1/Include/**
<Microsoft SDKs>/Windows/v7.1A/Include/**
project source and include directories

The dynamic provider enumerates concrete header directories under include and toolslib. This avoids relying only on recursive glob expansion when resolving headers such as:

#include "toolbox.h"

CVI 2020 installations may expose their internal Clang executable below a nested directory such as bin/clang/<version>/. The installation scanner now searches these nested locations and accepts clang-cc.exe, clang.exe and clang-cl.exe.

Useful commands:

LabWindows/CVI: Synchronize C/C++ IntelliSense Configuration
LabWindows/CVI: Diagnose C/C++ IntelliSense Configuration
LabWindows/CVI: Add CVI Folder to VS Code Workspace for IntelliSense

The diagnostic command reports whether toolslib/toolbox/toolbox.h exists, whether the Microsoft C/C++ extension is installed, whether the dynamic provider was registered, which compiler path was detected and whether the current CVI workspace folder is active in VS Code.

Standard VS Code Explorer synchronization

When a .cws or .prj file is opened, the extension adds its containing directory to the standard VS Code Explorer by default. This activates the generated .vscode/c_cpp_properties.json file in the normal VS Code workspace context and complements the dynamic Microsoft C/C++ provider. Disable this behavior with labwindowsCvi.autoAddCviFolderToWorkspace when required.

The IntelliSense generator detects CVI ANSI include directories and Windows SDK include directories from Windows Kits 10, Windows Kits 8.1 and the historical Windows v7.1A SDK.

Build and debug behavior

Build commands invoke CVI compile.exe directly. Typical calls are equivalent to:

compile.exe <project.prj> -debug
compile.exe <project.prj> -release
compile.exe <project.prj> -debug64
compile.exe <project.prj> -release64
compile.exe <file.c> <project.prj> -debug

Build Debug and Open Native Debugger prepares a debug build and opens the workspace in cvi.exe. Breakpoints, stepping, watches, call-stack navigation and variable inspection remain delegated to the native CVI debugger. A VS Code-native debugger requires a dedicated Debug Adapter Protocol bridge.

Settings

• labwindowsCvi.installations
• labwindowsCvi.activeInstallation
• labwindowsCvi.buildMode
• labwindowsCvi.customBuildConfiguration
• labwindowsCvi.extraCompilerArguments
• labwindowsCvi.runArguments
• labwindowsCvi.projectFormatVersion
• labwindowsCvi.autoLoadWorkspace
• labwindowsCvi.autoConfigureCppTools
• labwindowsCvi.autoAddCviFolderToWorkspace
• labwindowsCvi.useCppToolsConfigurationProvider
• labwindowsCvi.intelliSenseCompilerPath
• labwindowsCvi.additionalIncludePaths
• labwindowsCvi.uirTemplateVersion

Installation

1. Open Extensions in VS Code.
2. Select ... then Install from VSIX....
3. Choose labwindows-cvi-project-manager-0.5.1.vsix.
4. Execute Developer: Reload Window.

Source build

npm install
npm run compile
npm run package