AUTOSAR DSL - VS Code Extension

The AUTOSAR DSL (arDSL) is a simplified textual format to model system configurations and model descriptions for the AUTOSAR standard.

This extension transforms VS Code into a powerful development environment for arDSL, bringing professional syntax highlighting, intelligent code completion, real-time error detection, and instant documentation access right to your fingertips. Development is faster and more enjoyable with features that help you write correct code the first time.

Features

Beautiful Syntax Highlighting

Your arDSL code now comes alive with carefully designed syntax highlighting that makes it easy to read and understand at a glance. Keywords, types, strings, comments, and other language elements are clearly distinguished with colors that adapt to your VS Code theme (both light and dark modes are supported).

Intelligent Code Completion

Start typing and watch as the extension suggests exactly what you need. The code completion system understands the AUTOSAR meta-model and your code's structure to offer relevant suggestions:

• Property names - When working inside objects, see all available properties for that meta-model class.
• Meta-model classes - Get suggestions for valid AUTOSAR classes when defining elements or building object hierarchies.
• Collection flattening - Discover which classes can be used via collection flattening directly inside objects.
• Symbols and functions - Access your constants and functions with $ prefix completions that understand scope.
• Into-statements - Receive the same helpful suggestions when modifying existing objects.

Real-Time Error Detection

Stop waiting for manual compilation to find errors. The extension runs the arDSL compiler in the background as you type, showing errors and warnings immediately in your editor with familiar red squiggles. Click on any error to see a detailed explanation, and quickly navigate between issues to fix them efficiently.

This instant feedback helps you catch mistakes early, understand what's wrong, and fix issues before they compound.

Useful Code Snippets

Accelerate editing with arDSL snippets for common patterns such as function definitions and into-statements. Tab stops and placeholders help you fill in the right parts quickly.

Instant Documentation on Hover

Learning the AUTOSAR meta-model is now effortless. Simply hover your mouse over any element to see:

• Meta-model documentation - Detailed descriptions of classes and properties pulled directly from the AUTOSAR specification.
• Type information - See the type of any symbol, variable, or expression without searching through code.
• Function signatures - Understand function parameters and return types at a glance.
• Type annotations - Get information about type declarations in let-statements and function definitions.

No more switching to external documentation or guessing what a property means - the answers are right there when you need them.

Quick Navigation with Go-to-Definition

Jump instantly to where things are defined with Go-to-Definition support. Ctrl+Left-Click on any symbol, reference, or model navigation expression to navigate directly to its definition:

• Symbol usage - Jump from a symbol reference to its let-statement or function definition.
• Object references - Navigate from a shortName path reference to where the object is defined.
• Model navigation - Follow model navigation chains to see where target values are defined.
• Path queries - Jump to the objects resolved by path query expressions.

This makes exploring and understanding large models effortless, helping you quickly understand code structure and dependencies.

Automatic Compiler Downloads

The extension automatically downloads and manages the arDSL compiler for you. When you open an arDSL file, the extension checks for the latest compiler version and downloads it if needed - no manual setup required. The compiler runs in the background to power all the language features.

Installation

Install the extension from the VS Code Marketplace.

When the extension is activated, e.g., by opening an .ardsl file, the latest compiler will be downloaded and automatically installed in:

• Windows: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Vector\ardsl
• Linux: ~/.local/share/Vector/ardsl

The compiler is deployed in the corresponding subdirectory <version>/ardsl-<version>, e.g., v2.0.0/ardsl-2.0.0.

Follow the simple installation progress visualized by a progress bar in VS Code. After installation, the language server is automatically started.

Settings

• ardsl.compiler.version: [required; default: "v2.0.0"] determines the compiler version which shall be installed.
• ardsl.autosar.version: [required; default: "24-11"] determines the AUTOSAR meta-model version.

arDSL Documentation

The documentation is installed in the same directory as the compiler, and can be found in the docs subdirectory. Refer to section Installation to learn about the installation path. Open the docs/index.html file to start at the entry point of the documentation.

Compile to ARXML/arDSL

You will find the compiler executable in the bin subdirectory within the installation directory. To easily compile .ardsl files to .arxml - or vice versa - from the commandline, we recommend to add the bin directory to your PATH variable.

Use the ardsl compile and ardsl decompile commands to convert between .ardsl and .arxml files.

Please note: if you change the compiler version in the extension, you currently also have to update your PATH variable manually.

Meta-model Documentation

Use the ardsl gen-meta-doc command to generate a HTML documentation for the AUTOSAR meta-model. Specify the desired AUTOSAR release version and the output directory, e.g.:

ardsl gen-meta-doc -s 24-11 -o meta-doc

More information about available commands and options can be explored via ardsl --help.