AL Indent Prism

A Visual Studio Code extension that colorizes indentation levels in Business Central AL language files, making it easier to read and understand code structure at a glance.

Features

Rainbow Indentation - Each indentation level gets a different color
Customizable Colors - Configure your own color palette
Theme Support - Separate color schemes for light and dark themes
Configurable - Adjust indent size and colors to match your preferences
Performance - Lightweight and fast, updates in real-time as you type
AL-Specific - Only activates for Business Central AL language files

Installation

From Source (Development)

Clone this repository
Run npm install to install dependencies
Press F5 to open a new VS Code window with the extension loaded
Open any .al file to see the indentation colorization in action

From Marketplace (Coming Soon)

Search for "AL Indent Prism" in the VS Code Extensions marketplace and click Install.

Usage

The extension automatically activates when you open an AL language file. No additional commands are needed - your indentation will be colorized automatically!

Configuration

Customize the extension behavior through VS Code settings:

{
  // Enable or disable the extension
  "alIndentPrism.enabled": true,
  
  // Number of spaces per indent level (default: 4)
  "alIndentPrism.indentSize": 4,
  
  // Colors for dark themes
  "alIndentPrism.colors": [
    "rgba(255, 64, 64, 0.3)",
    "rgba(255, 178, 64, 0.3)",
    "rgba(255, 255, 64, 0.3)",
    "rgba(64, 255, 64, 0.3)",
    "rgba(64, 178, 255, 0.3)",
    "rgba(178, 64, 255, 0.3)"
  ],
  
  // Colors for light themes
  "alIndentPrism.lightColors": [
    "rgba(255, 128, 128, 0.2)",
    "rgba(255, 200, 128, 0.2)",
    "rgba(200, 200, 128, 0.2)",
    "rgba(128, 255, 128, 0.2)",
    "rgba(128, 200, 255, 0.2)",
    "rgba(200, 128, 255, 0.2)"
  ],
  
  // Color for incorrect indentation (future feature)
  "alIndentPrism.errorColor": "rgba(255, 64, 64, 0.6)"
}

Settings Details

Setting	Type	Default	Description
`alIndentPrism.enabled`	boolean	`true`	Enable/disable indent colorization
`alIndentPrism.indentSize`	number	`4`	Number of spaces per indent level
`alIndentPrism.colors`	array	6 colors	Colors for dark themes
`alIndentPrism.lightColors`	array	6 colors	Colors for light themes
`alIndentPrism.errorColor`	string	red	Color for incorrect indentation

Tips

Adjust Opacity: Modify the alpha channel (last value in rgba) to make colors more or less transparent
More Colors: Add more colors to the array for deeper nesting levels
Disable Temporarily: Set "alIndentPrism.enabled": false to turn off without uninstalling

Roadmap

[ ] Current indent level highlighting
[ ] Indent guide lines
[ ] Error detection for incorrect indentation
[ ] AL-specific syntax awareness (begin/end blocks)
[ ] Block/frame visualization options
[ ] Per-workspace color configurations

Requirements

Visual Studio Code 1.106.1 or higher
AL Language Extension for Business Central development

Known Issues

None at this time. Please report issues on our GitHub repository.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Release Notes

1.0.0 (Stable Release)

🎉 First stable release!
Rainbow indentation colorization for AL files
Customizable color palettes
Light and dark theme support with auto-detection
Configurable indent size (spaces and tabs)
Real-time decoration updates
Performance optimized for large files
Zero interference with other languages

License

MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details

Credits

Created by Jeffrey Bulanadi

Enjoy coding with colorful indentation! 🌈