ObjectScript Search
A VS Code extension that adds a Search panel to the InterSystems activity bar, enabling full-text server-side search across classes, routines, includes, and web files on an IRIS instance — directly from the same sidebar as the Explorer and Servers views.
Features
| Feature |
Details |
| Full-text search |
Search inside class definitions, routines, includes, and web files |
| Match options |
Toggle case-sensitive, whole-word, and regular-expression matching |
| Type filters |
Toggle Classes, Routines, Includes, and Web (CSP) files independently |
| Streaming results |
Results appear progressively as the server returns batches |
| Live preview |
The search picker shows matching file names as you type |
| Click to open |
Click any result to open it read-only in the ObjectScript editor |
| Cursor positioning |
Match items scroll the editor to the exact matched line |
| Match highlights |
Query text is highlighted in both file names and match lines |
| Search history |
Last 20 queries are saved per workspace |
| Copy results |
Export the full result list to the clipboard as Markdown |
| Status bar |
Shows match/file counts after each search |
| Native UI |
Follows VS Code's color theme automatically |
Screenshots
No active connection — the panel guides you to configure objectscript.conn:
Ready to search — once connected, click to open the search picker:
Search picker with history — previous queries are shown instantly; results stream in as you type:
Options panel — toggle document types and match behaviour per workspace:
Search results — classes and routines listed with per-file match counts and highlighted snippets:
Click to go to line — clicking a match item opens the document and jumps the cursor to the exact matched line:
Requirements
Both extensions below are required and are automatically installed as dependencies.
Setup
Define your IRIS server in User Settings (or intersystems.servers in .vscode/settings.json):
// .vscode/settings.json
{
"intersystems.servers": {
"my-iris": {
"webServer": {
"host": "localhost",
"port": 52773,
"scheme": "http"
},
"username": "SuperUser"
}
}
}
2 · Activate the connection for your workspace
// .vscode/settings.json
{
"objectscript.conn": {
"active": true,
"server": "my-iris",
"ns": "USER"
}
}
Tip: You can also use the inline host/port/username/password fields in objectscript.conn without defining a named server.
3 · Open the Search panel
Click the InterSystems icon in the Activity Bar and expand the Search section.
Extension Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
objectscriptSearch.maxResults |
100 |
Maximum results returned per search (1–1000) |
objectscriptSearch.includeSystem |
false |
Include %-prefixed system documents by default |
objectscriptSearch.allowSelfSignedCertificates |
false |
Accept self-signed TLS certificates |
Search Options
Click the Options… (filter) icon in the view title bar to configure per-workspace options. Settings are persisted to workspace state across sessions.
| Option |
Description |
| Classes / Routines / Includes / Web files |
Toggle which document types to include |
| Match Case |
Case-sensitive matching |
| Whole Word |
Restrict matches to whole words |
| Regular Expression |
Treat the query as a regex pattern |
| Include System |
Include %-prefixed system documents |
| Include Generated |
Include compiler-generated documents |
How It Works
The extension calls the InterSystems Atelier REST API directly against the active IRIS server:
- IRIS API v6+ — queues an asynchronous search job via
POST /api/atelier/v6/{ns}/work and polls until complete, yielding result batches progressively.
- Older servers — falls back to
GET /api/atelier/v2/{ns}/action/search, issuing one request per selected file-type mask.
In regex mode the server matches the full line, so the query is automatically wrapped to align with IRIS regex semantics.
Opening Results
Clicking a file item or match item opens the document read-only via the objectscript:// URI scheme, using vscode-objectscript's built-in DocumentContentProvider. For match items, the editor scrolls to and positions the cursor at the matched line.
A workspace folder with an active objectscript.conn configuration must be open for results to be openable.
Multiple Namespaces
When more than one workspace folder has an active ObjectScript connection, a namespace picker is shown before each search so you can target the correct server and namespace.
Development
git clone https://github.com/grongierisc/vscode-objectscript-search
cd vscode-objectscript-search
npm install
npm run compile
# Press F5 in VS Code to launch the Extension Development Host
License
MIT
