GAMS - Visual Studio Marketplace

Edit, run, debug and inspect GAMS models in Visual Studio Code. Includes a GDX viewer, an outline, help on F1 and many features known from GAMS Studio.

Unofficial. This extension is an independent project. It is not made, endorsed or supported by GAMS Development Corp. The GAMS software is not included.

Pre-release. Version 0.3 is a complete rewrite. It is published as a pre-release while it is being tested: on the extension page, click Switch to Pre-Release Version to try it. The macOS packages are built and tested automatically but have not been tried with a GAMS installation yet. Please report problems on GitHub.

Editing a GAMS model with the outline

Features

Editing (guide)

Syntax highlighting, optional GAMS Studio colors, MPSGE blocks.
Completion, outline with sections, folding, go to definition, find references, hover.
F1 opens the GAMS documentation for the word at the cursor.

Running (guide, debugging)

Run, compile and stop. Clickable log, errors in the Problems panel, listing outline.
Main files, optional Studio projects (.gsp), VS Code tasks, debugger and profiler.

Data (guide)

GDX viewer with list, table and chart views, filters and search. No GAMS needed.
Compare GDX files, run GDX Diff, export to CSV and Excel, search all GDX files of a folder.

More (option files, model library, Connect, NEOS)

Solver option files with completion and checks, and the GAMS model library.
GAMS Connect files with validation, and runs on the NEOS Server.

GDX viewer

Requirements

VS Code 1.95 or newer. To run models, you also need GAMS and a valid license.
Editing, the outline and the GDX viewer (view, compare, export, search) work without GAMS.
The GAMS folder (the "sysdir") is taken from the setting gams.sysdir. If it is empty, the extension looks for gams on your PATH, then for the newest GAMS in /opt/gams, C:\GAMS or /Library/Frameworks/GAMS.framework (macOS). Over SSH or WSL, set it in the Remote settings tab. To switch versions, click the GAMS version in the status bar (or run GAMS: Select GAMS Installation). (Details)

Installation

Open the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X), search for "GAMS" and click Install, then Switch to Pre-Release Version to get 0.3. Or download a .vsix file from the releases page and choose Install from VSIX... in the ... menu of the Extensions view. Packages exist for Windows (x64), Linux (x64, ARM64) and macOS (Apple Silicon, Intel).

Getting started

Choose File > Open Folder... and open the folder with your models.
Click a .gms file. Set gams.sysdir in Settings (Ctrl+,) if GAMS is not found.
Press F9 to run the model. Your files are saved first.
Read the GAMS Log that opens. Ctrl+click an error to jump to the line. Errors are also in the Problems panel (Ctrl+Shift+M).
Click a .gdx file in the Explorer to open it in the GDX viewer. (Details)

Keys

Key	Action
`F9` / `Shift+F9`	Run / Compile
`F10` / `Shift+F10`	Run / Compile with parameters
`F5`	Start the debugger (VS Code key)
`F1`	Help for the word at the cursor
`Ctrl+/`	Comment or uncomment lines (column 1)
`Ctrl+K Ctrl+C` / `Ctrl+K Ctrl+U`	Add / remove line comment
`Shift+Alt+A`	Block comment (`$onText` / `$offText`)
`Ctrl+B`	Jump to the matching bracket
`Ctrl+Shift+R`	Insert a new section header

On macOS use Cmd for Ctrl. F9, Shift+F9, F10 and Shift+F10 work in GAMS files and are off while you debug.

Some of these keys replace VS Code keys in GAMS files (F9, F10, F1, Ctrl+/, Ctrl+B, Ctrl+Shift+R and others). To get one back: set gams.help.f1 to false for F1, set gams.editor.studioParentheses to false for Ctrl+B, or remove any key in Keyboard Shortcuts (Ctrl+K Ctrl+S). See Settings and keys.

Key settings

All settings are listed in Settings and keys.

Setting	Meaning
`gams.sysdir`	Your GAMS folder. Empty means auto-detect.
`gams.defaultParameters`	Parameters added to every run, for example `["lo=3"]`.
`gams.showLogOnRun`	Open the log when a run starts (default on).
`gams.openListingAfterRun`	Open the `.lst` file after a run (default off).
`gams.studioColors`	Use GAMS Studio colors, for example `auto` (default `off`).
`gams.updateReferencesOnSave`	Keep definitions current by compiling on save (default off, uses a license session).

Upgrading from 0.1.x

Your settings are copied once: GAMS.executablePath to gams.sysdir, GAMS.commandLineParameters to gams.defaultParameters, GAMS.idePath and GAMS.ideArguments to gams.studio.path and gams.studio.arguments. Old settings stay.
The run-project settings (GAMS.runProject, GAMS.runBatchPath, GAMS.projectLst, GAMS.projectGDX, GAMS.terminalCwd) still work. They are deprecated. Main files, projects and tasks replace them.
F10 was "show listing" and is now "Run with parameters". Shift+F9 was "run with GDX" and is now "Compile".
The license changed from Apache-2.0 to GPL-3.0-or-later. More in the CHANGELOG.

Acknowledgements

GAMS Studio by GAMS Development Corp. is the model for many features and for the colors.
The GDX reader and writer are derived from GAMS-dev/gdx (MIT).
The GAMS Connect schemas are generated from the agent schemas of the gamsapi Python package (MIT; PyPI, also shipped with GAMS).
Licenses of all bundled components: THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.

Author

Maintained by Eunseong Park. Report problems at GitHub Issues.

License

GPL-3.0-or-later. See LICENSE.

GAMS is a trademark of GAMS Development Corp. This extension is community-maintained and is not affiliated with or endorsed by GAMS Development Corp. A separately installed and licensed GAMS is required to run models.