MAutils Extension

Overview

The MAutils Extension is a Visual Studio Code extension made by FRC team Makers Assemble 5951 designed to streamline the development process for FRC robotics teams using the Wpilib Java library along with our custom library called "MAutils". This extension provides convenient commands to clone the MAutils repository, initiate files, and pull updates.

Installation

You can install the MAutils Extension by searching for "MAutils" on the Visual Studio Code Marketplace.

Open Visual Studio Code.
Go to the Extensions view by clicking on the square icon on the left sidebar or pressing Ctrl+Shift+X (Windows/Linux) or 3. Cmd+Shift+X (Mac).
Search for "MAutils" in the search bar. Find the extension in the search results and click the "Install" button.

Features - MAutils not required

Hardware Info: This is not a command but it is actually a always active feature, with the extension installed, you will see a button on the bottom left of your screen that says "Hardware Info", this button will open a side bar with a tree view for info on FRC motors and sensors. This feature is still in development and will be updated as we add more info.

Features - MAutils required

Clone MAutils: This command allows you to clone the MAutils repository into the specified directory within your workspace.
Initiate Files from MAutils: This command copies files from the "MAlibRobotFiles" directory within the MAutils repository into your workspace. It also supports copying files from subdirectories.
Pull Updates to MAutils: This command performs a git pull operation within the MAutils directory to fetch and apply updates from the repository.
Auto Initiate MA: This command combines the functionality of cloning the MAutils repository and initiating files in one step.
Create MA File: Quickly create new MAutil files using predefined templates.

Usage

1. Hardware Info:

Click on the Hardware Info button on the bottom left of your screen.

2. Clone MAutils:

Use the command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac) and select MAutils: Clone MAutils. This will clone the MAutils library into the current project.

3. Initiate Files from MAutils:

Use the command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac) and select MAutils: Initiate Files from MAutils. This will copy files from the "MAlibRobotFiles" directory within the MAutils repository into your workspace.

4. Pull Updates to MAutils:

Use the command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac) and select MAutils: Pull Updates to MAutils. This will perform a git pull operation within the MAutils directory to fetch and apply updates.

5. Auto Initiate MA:

Use the command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac) and select MAutils: Auto Initiate MA. This command combines cloning the MAutils repository and initiating files in one step.

6. To create a new MAutil file:

Right-click on a folder in the Explorer panel.
Select Create MA File.
Choose the type of MAutil file you want to create and provide a name.
add a new file to the example list: in the MA-extention-files folder in the MAutils library, open the folder exaple and add a new file with the name of the exaple and change the main class name from the name of the file to {{fileName}}.

Requirements

Visual Studio Code
Git (must be installed and accessible from the command line)

Known Issues

None at the moment.

If you find any issues please open an issue on the GitHub repository.

License

This extension is licensed under the MIT License.

Contributing

If you find any issues or have suggestions for improvements, please open an issue or submit a pull request on the GitHub repository.

For specific instructions on how add data or features follow the instructions below.

If you want to know more check out the Visual Studio Code Extension API and Extension Guides.

How to package the extension yourself if you want to make changes

Packaging the extension

Install the latest version of node.js
Clone the repository
update the version number in the package.json file if you want to publish it to the marketplace or as a github release.
Open a terminal in the extension folder (can be the integrated terminal in VSCode).
Run npm install to install the dependencies.
Run npm install -g vsce to install the Visual Studio Code Extension Manager.
Run vsce package to create the .vsix file.
You can now install the extension by opening the .vsix file in Visual Studio Code

Publishing the extension

publish it to the marketplace by uploading the .vsix made by packaging the extension.
commit and push your changes to the GitHub repository and create a pull request.
make a new release on the github repository.

Creating a new command

Clone the GitHub repository.
Install node.js.
Open the repository in VSCode.
Run npm install in the terminal.
Make a new file in the src/functions folder with the name of the command you want to make, for example newCommand.ts.
Import vs code, like this import * as vscode from 'vscode';.
In the new file make a new exported function with the name of the command you want to make, for example newCommand.
In the new function add the code you want to run when the command is called.
In the extension.ts file in the src folder import the new function with the name of the command you want to make, for example import { newCommand } from './functions/newCommand';.
In the extension.ts file in the src folder add the new command to the activate function, that will look like this:

let newCommandDisposable = vscode.commands.registerCommand('extension.newCommand', newCommand);

context.subscriptions.push(newCommandDisposable);

now go in to the package.json file in the src folder and add the new command to the contributes.commands array, that will look like this:

{
    "command": "extension.newCommand",
    "title": "New Command"
}

now you can run the extension by pressing F5 or by clicking the Run button in the debug tab.
now you can test the extension by running the command you just made in the command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac) and selecting New Command.

Adding data to the hardware info feature

How to add a new motor or sensor to the list: clone the repository for the extension, open the data.ts file in the src folder, now you will see two arrays motors and sensors you can create new objects in the arrays with the following format:

new MotorItem('{motor name}', [
    new HardwareProperty('{property 1}', '{property 1 value}'),
    new HardwareProperty('{property 2}', '{property 2 value}')
    // add as many properties as you want
])

In the same way you can add new sensors to the sensors array. You can also add new properties to existing items by making a new HardwareProperty('{property}', '{property value}').

adding another catagory to the list is more comlicated, you will need to first go into the hardwareInfo.ts, now first make a new class for the catagory, that sould look like this, through the example of the motors catagory switch motors with the name of the catagory you want to add:

export class MotorsItem {
    label: string;
    properties: HardwareProperty[];

    constructor(label: string, properties: HardwareProperty[]) {
        this.label = label;
        this.properties = properties;
    }
}

then in the HardwareInfoProvider class add a new array with the name of the catagory and the type of the array is the class you just made, like this: Motors: MotorsItem[]; then add the array to the constructor function still in the HardwareInfoProvider class that will look like this this.Motors = Motors. now you need to add the catagory to the getChildren function in the HardwareInfoProvider class, that will look like this:

if (element.label === 'Motors') {
    // Child level: Motors
    return this.motors.map(motor => new vscode.TreeItem(motor.label, vscode.TreeItemCollapsibleState.Collapsed));
}

// Child level: Motor Properties or Sensor Properties
const motor = this.motors.find(m => m.label === element.label);
if (motor) {
    return motor.properties.map(prop => new vscode.TreeItem(`${prop.label}: ${prop.value}`, vscode.TreeItemCollapsibleState.None));
}

And now finaly you can go in to the data.ts file and add an array of the type of your new catagory, that will look like this:

export const motors: MotorItem[] = [
    new MotorItem('Motor1', [
        new HardwareProperty('rpm', '1000'),
        new HardwareProperty('voltage', '12')
    ]),
    new MotorItem('Motor2', [
        new HardwareProperty('rpm', '2000'),
        new HardwareProperty('voltage', '16')
    ])
    // Add other motors...
];