AGS Geotech Toolkit

VS Code support for AGS geotechnical data files. Syntax highlighting, real-time validation, hover documentation, an aligned column view, an editable side-by-side table view, multi-column row sort, and quick navigation between groups and problems. Currently targets AGS4 (4.0–4.2).

Features

Syntax + outline

• Colour-coded GROUP, HEADING, UNIT, TYPE, and DATA rows
• Document outline showing every group with its fields, plus row and field counts
• Sticky scroll keeps HEADING / UNIT / TYPE rows pinned at the top of the editor as you scroll through long DATA blocks
• Code folding by group

Validation

• Real-time diagnostics against the AGS 4.2 specification
• Structure, required fields, column counts, and type codes
• Foreign-key reference checks across groups
• DICT-aware: recognises and validates custom groups defined in the file itself

Hover

• Field name, KEY badge if required, and the AGS type code
• Description, expanded type label, unit (with human-readable label where known), group, and any FK link
• Falls back to the file's own DICT group for custom fields

Aligned column view (Alt+A)

• Toggle a virtual column-aligned view of the raw text without changing the file
• Stays aligned through scroll and edits

Table view (Alt+T)

• Opens a horizontal split: raw text on top, editable table on the bottom
• Tabs per group with row counts; group filter; per-column filters; A-Z sort
• Diagnostics overlay - per-cell underlines and per-tab error / warning badges
• Arrow-key navigation between cells, including through virtualised rows in large groups
• Click any cell to jump the raw text editor to that line
• Edits round-trip through VS Code's undo stack - diff and save behave the same as in the text editor

Requirements

Python 3.8+ on your PATH. The extension ships with the language server and all its dependencies bundled, so you don't need to install anything else.

If python isn't on your PATH or you want to point at a specific interpreter, set ags.server.pythonPath in your VS Code settings.

Settings

Commands and shortcuts

• AGS: Toggle Aligned Column View - ags.toggleAligned - Alt+A
• AGS: Open in Table Editor - ags.openTableEditor - Alt+T

Both also appear in the editor title bar when an AGS file is open.

About AGS Format

The AGS format is the UK industry standard for electronic transfer of geotechnical and geoenvironmental data, maintained by the Association of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Specialists. This extension is an independent tool and is not affiliated with the AGS.

Disclaimer

This extension is provided as-is, without warranty of any kind. The parser and validator are best-effort implementations and may not catch every edge case - malformed files, non-standard groups, unusual encodings, or ambiguous rows may be parsed or validated incorrectly. A clean validation result does not certify that a file is standards-compliant.

Do not rely on this tool's output for safety-critical, contractual, or regulatory decisions without independent verification against the authoritative AGS specification and the file's source data.

Related

• AGS4 Viewer - Chrome extension for viewing and validating AGS4 files in the browser

License

MIT - see LICENSE.