gactar-vscode

gactar-vscode is a plugin for VS Code for working with gactar's amod files.

It implements syntax highlighting, provides snippets to quickly create an amod file or add productions, and allows you to run gactar directly through VS Code.

In order to run amod files, gactar needs to be installed and you will need to add the path to the installation in your VS Code gactar settings (see "Installation Folder" in the Configuration section below).

Features

Syntax highlighting

Provides syntax highlighting for .amod files.

example

Snippets

Provides snippets when editing amod files:

Typing amod will show a snippet to Insert basic amod template (full file). This will fill in a complete, empty amod file.
Type prod will show a snippet to Insert blank amod Production. This will add an empty production like this:
```
<cursor here> {
  description: ''

  match {
      goal []
  }
  do {
  }
}
```

All Available Snippets

Prefix	Name
amod	Insert basic amod template (full file)
~~m	Insert amod model section
~~c	Insert amod config section
~~i	Insert amod init section
~~p	Insert amod productions section
prod	Insert blank amod Production

Run Code Through gactar

If you have gactar installed, you can point VS Code at your installation and run your amod files through gactar from VS Code. You can access the command through VS Code's Command Palette:

command palette

If an example is selected in the editor, it will be used as the initial goal.

selected example

The results will show up in VSCode's Output Panel.

Restart The Server

If you need to restart the gactar server, you can run the command gactar: Restart Server.

Highlight Problems

After running amod files, any errors will be reported in the Problems Panel and they will be highlighted in the code.

problems

Configuration

You can set your configuration using the VS Code Settings window:

Or you can set them directly in your settings.json file:

"gactar.installationFolder" (required to run gactar) - Path to your gactar installation (folder containing the gactar executable).
"gactar.framework" - Which framework to run. Allowed: ccm, pyactr, vanilla, or all.
"gactar.intermediateFolder" - Path to store intermediate files (the generated code for each framework) when running models. If empty, it will create a folder called 'gactar-temp' in your gactar installation.

gactar Reference

I wrote up a technical note about gactar which includes more information about the amod format. It may be found on ResearchGate.

Title: gactar: A Tool For Exploring ACT-R Modelling

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.25387.36642

gactar

Andy Maloney