IDV Dictionary

IDV Dictionary adds a dockable sidebar that lists reusable snippets/commands you can insert into the active editor with a single click. The view stays in sync with your settings so teams can share a curated library.

Features

• Tree view rendered in the VS Code activity bar with optional multi-level grouping.
• Click to insert one or more commands into the current editor selection.
• Auto-refresh when commandDictionary.commands changes; manual refresh command included.
• Bundled defaults shipped in resources/defaultCommands.json so the view is never empty on first install.

Getting Started

1. Install the extension and open the IDV Dictionary view from the activity bar.
2. Configure snippets under commandDictionary.commands (settings UI or settings.json).
3. Click an item to insert its insertText into the active editor. Multiple selections are supported.

Configuration

Each entry under commandDictionary.commands is an object with:

• label (required) – text shown in the tree.
• insertText (required) – snippet text inserted into the editor.
• description (optional) – smaller subtitle/tooltip.
• group (optional) – category path. Use / to create subgroups, e.g. "group": "BAT/Transformers/Tap Changes".

Example:

{
  "commandDictionary.commands": [
    {
      "label": "License Header",
      "insertText": "/* (c) 2025 Skylar */",
      "group": "Headers"
    },
    {
      "label": "Switch Device On",
      "insertText": "SWITCH_ON,DEVICE_ID;",
      "description": "Toggles a monitored device",
      "group": "Control/Switching"
    },
    {
      "label": "Scratch Pad",
      "insertText": "// jot notes here"
    }
  ]
}

Items without a group appear under an Ungrouped section when any grouped commands exist. If you prefer a flat list, leave group blank for every entry.

Bundled Defaults

The extension falls back to the JSON bundle at resources/defaultCommands.json when no user configuration is set. You can fork the extension and edit this file to ship a custom starter library.

Commands

• commandDictionary.insert – Inserts the selected command’s insertText into the active editor. Triggered automatically when clicking an item.
• commandDictionary.refresh – Forces the tree to reload. The view also refreshes automatically when commandDictionary.commands changes.