Vector vCDL for Visual Studio Code

This extension provides editing support for version 2.0 of the Vector Communication Description Language (vCDL), a domain-specific language for service-oriented communication systems for use in Vector's CANoe family of products. The extension supports syntax highlighting, outlining, completion, snippets and validation.

Prerequisites

While basic editing with syntax highlighting and word-based completion work out of the box, we highly recommend using the extension in combination with the CANoe family of products.

Usage with CANoe

The extension automatically detects an installation of CANoe. If you have more than one edition installed or, for any other reason, have a custom setup, you can manually adjust the extension setting vcdl.canoeExec64. Please note that versions older than 17 SP4 are not supported. For these, we recommend using the built-in Vector Tools Environment for editing vCDL files.

Default Editor

You can make Visual Studio Code your default editor for vCDL 2.0 files when working with CANoe. In fact, CANoe will automatically detect and suggest this.

To manually configure which editor to use, open CANoe's Options dialog.

On the left, go to External Programs > Tools, then find VCDL file editor and open the path to the Visual Studio Code executable. If you did not configure this earlier, notepad.exe will be selected by default.

Troubleshooting

If you get a warning that CANoe's "system library cache" could not be found, you probably have a freshly installed version of CANoe. In this case, simply start it up once, which will silence the warning.

Default Style Settings

The extension will use indentation with two spaces and word-based completion for vCDL files by default. Feel free to adjust these settings to your liking in Visual Studio Code's settings.