INTERLIS Editor

Description

🛠️ The INTERLIS Editor extension brings the full INTERLIS-focused language server directly into VS Code. It understands .ili models, validates them with ili2c, and augments the authoring experience with completions, code navigation, formatting, diagrams, and documentation exports. The extension bundles the Java server and runtime so teams can share a reproducible setup while still allowing power users to point to custom installations.

Features

Language server highlights ✨

• Validation with diagnostics ✅ – the server compiles INTERLIS models on open and save, converts ili2c messages to LSP diagnostics, and streams the compiler log to the client output channel for quick feedback.
• Smart completions 🎯 – context-aware proposals for IMPORTS, dotted type references, and model names are built from the live compilation result and discovered repositories.
• Go to definition 🔍 – jump to definitions inside the current workspace or linked model files based on the compiled transfer description.
• Symbol rename ✏️ – rename models, topics, classes, structures, and associations while updating matching references across files.
• Document symbols 🗂️ – browse topics, classes, associations, domains, and attributes via the VS Code outline populated from the INTERLIS AST.
• Formatting & pretty print 🧹 – format whole documents with ili2c’s pretty printer and on-type helpers.
• On-type templates ⚙️ – typing = after model, topic, class, or structure headers injects boilerplate blocks, meta-attributes, and matching END statements while restoring the caret.
• Cached compilation 💾 – results are cached between document events for responsive completions and navigation.
• Diagram generation 🖼️ – generate Mermaid or PlantUML class diagrams from the compiled model and display them in the editor, with configurable attribute visibility for static UML exports.
• GLSP diagram editor (topic containers) 🧭 – open a dedicated .ili diagram editor beside the source view; it renders classes inside topic containers from the compiled transfer description via an embedded Eclipse GLSP server.
• HTML & DOCX exports 📄 – render human-readable documentation (including custom titles) as HTML or export styled Word documents.

VS Code client experience 💡

• Activation on INTERLIS files 📂 – the extension activates for .ili files and contributes a TextMate grammar and language configuration for syntax highlighting and editor defaults.
• Bundled runtime 📦 – ships with a self-contained fat JAR and optional platform-specific JRE; paths can be overridden via settings.
• Commands palette 🎛️ – run "New from Template", "Compile current file", "Show Mermaid UML class diagram", "Show PlantUML class diagram", "Show documentation as HTML", and "Export documentation as DOCX" directly from VS Code.
• Automatic side-by-side diagram opening ↔️ – optionally opens the read-only diagram editor beside INTERLIS text files when they become active.
• Integrated output channel 📢 – compiler logs land in a dedicated "INTERLIS LSP" output channel that can clear itself when new runs start.
• Configurable repositories 🗄️ – choose preferred model repositories via settings passed to the server at initialization.
• Remote model template 🧾 – create a new unsaved INTERLIS document from a configurable remote template URL.
• Caret-aware templates 🧠 – caret tracking middleware makes sure auto-inserted templates leave the cursor at the expected position after edits are applied.
• Webview downloads 💾 – UML previews support saving generated SVG diagrams next to the source model.

Example: MODEL template via completion 🧱

After INTERLIS 2.4;, trigger completion on a new top-level line and choose the MODEL template. It inserts a documentation banner, example meta-attributes, and a full MODEL ... END block with editable stops for model name, language, URL, and version. The four header fields are intentionally popup-free, so Tab and Enter just move to the next placeholder:

/** !!------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 * !! Version    | wer | Änderung
 * !!------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 * !! 2024-12-09 | abr  | Initalversion
 * !!==============================================================================
 */
!!@ technicalContact=mailto:acme@example.com
!!@ furtherInformation=https://example.com/path/to/information
!!@ title="a title"
!!@ shortDescription="a short description"
!!@ tags="foo,bar,fubar"
MODEL MyNewModel (de)
  AT "https://example.com"
  VERSION "2024-12-09"
  =
  -- cursor moves here
END MyNewModel.

Example: generating UML and documentation 🗺️

1. Open an .ili file and run INTERLIS: Compile current file to validate it.
2. Run INTERLIS: Show Mermaid UML class diagram to open an interactive Mermaid diagram, or INTERLIS: Show PlantUML class diagram for PlantUML output.
3. Use INTERLIS: Show documentation as HTML for a rendered manual, or INTERLIS: Export documentation as DOCX to save a styled Word file.

Example: creating a new model from a template 🧱

1. Run INTERLIS: New from Template from the command palette.
2. The extension downloads the configured template and opens it as a new unsaved INTERLIS document.
3. Optionally override interlisLsp.template.url in the settings to point to your own template source.

Configuration options ⚙️

• interlisLsp.server.jarPath – override the bundled language server JAR.
• interlisLsp.javaPath – point to a custom Java runtime if the bundled runtime is missing.
• interlisLsp.server.jvmArgs – optional extra JVM arguments (for example -Dinterlis.glsp.debugFile=/tmp/interlis-diagram-debug.json to dump generated GLSP nodes/edges as JSON).
• interlisLsp.modelRepositories – comma-separated repositories resolved by the model discovery service and completion engine.
• interlisLsp.template.url – template URL used by INTERLIS: New from Template; leave empty to fall back to the default template.
• interlisLsp.autoShowOutputOnStart – show the INTERLIS output channel when the extension activates.
• interlisLsp.diagram.autoOpenBeside – auto-open the diagram editor beside .ili files.
• interlisLsp.uml.attributeMode – control static Mermaid, PlantUML, and GraphML UML exports with OWN, NONE, or OWN_AND_INHERITED; NONE hides attributes, enum values, and constraints.
• interlisLsp.uml.deemphasizeAbstractTypes – tone down abstract classes and abstract structures in static Mermaid, PlantUML, and GraphML UML outputs with a light gray palette; enabled by default.

Getting started 🚀

1. Install the extension from the Marketplace.
2. Open an INTERLIS workspace, create a new .ili file, or run INTERLIS: New from Template.
3. Start typing – validation, completions, and navigation features light up automatically.
4. Use the command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) to access the template, compilation, diagram, and export commands.

Feedback & contributions 💬

Contributions and feedback are welcome! File issues or pull requests in the interlis-lsp repository.