vscode-opn

Microsoft Visual Studio Code extension integrating node.js module: opn

Opens files directly by default, or on your local web server using the default app set by the OS, or an app set by you.

Great for rapid prototyping!

Install

Easiest from the Extension Gallery

1. Start VS Code.

2. From within VS Code press F1, then type ext install.

3. Select Extensions: Install Extension and click or press Enter.

4. Wait a few seconds for the list to populate and type Open File in App.

5. Click the install icon next to the Open File in App extension.

6. Restart VS Code to complete installing the extension.

Alternatively, with the Packaged Extension (.vsix) file

Download the latest vscode-opn.vsix from GitHub Releases.

You can manually install the VS Code extension packaged in a .vsix file.

Option 1)

Execute the VS Code command line below providing the path to the .vsix file;

code myExtensionFolder\vscode-opn.vsix  

Depending on your platform replace myExtensionFolder\ with;

• Windows:- %USERPROFILE%\.vscode\extensions\
• Mac:- $HOME/.vscode/extensions/
• Linux:- $HOME/.vscode/extensions/

Option 2)

Start VS Code.

From within VS Code open the 'File' menu, select 'Open File...' or press Ctrl+O, navigate to the .vsix file location and select it to open.

The extension will be installed under your user .vscode/extensions folder.

Usage

Execute the extension with the keyboard shortcut;

• Mac: Command + Alt + O
• Windows/Linux: Ctrl + Alt + O

Customise behaviour per language (optional)

By default plain text based files will open directly in the app set by your OS.

To change this default behaviour you will need to edit 'Workspace Settings' or 'User Settings'.

From within VS Code open the 'File' menu, select 'Preferences', and then select either 'Workspace Settings' or 'User Settings'.

Options are set per 'language', not per file type, so for example setting options for the language 'plaintext', will change the behaviour of several file types including '.txt' and '.log'.

The minimum JSON to change the behaviour of a single language, e.g. html is;

"vscode-opn.perLang": {
    "opnOptions": [
      {
        "forLang": "html",
        "openInApp": "chrome"
      }
    ]
  }

forLang

Required
Type: string
Examples include;

• "html"
• "plaintext"
• "css"
• "json"
• "javascript"

openInApp

Required
Type: string
Examples include;

• "chrome"
• "firefox"
• "iexplore"
• "notepad"
• "notepad++"
• "wordpad"
• "winword"
• "winmerge"

Notes: The app name examples above are platform dependent and valid for an MS Windows environment. For Google's Chrome web browser for example, you would use google chrome on OS X, google-chrome on Linux and chrome on Windows.

The following example sets all available options for html and plaintext languages;

"vscode-opn.perLang": {
    "opnOptions": [
      {
        "forLang": "html",
        "openInApp": "chrome",
        "openInAppArgs": ["--incognito"],
        "isUseWebServer": true,
        "isUseFsPath": false,
        "isWaitForAppExit": true
      },
      {
        "forLang": "plaintext",
        "openInApp": "notepad++",
        "openInAppArgs": [],
        "isUseWebServer": false,
        "isUseFsPath": true,
        "isWaitForAppExit": true
      }
    ]
  },
  "vscode-opn.webServerProtocol": "http",
  "vscode-opn.webServerHostname": "localhost",
  "vscode-opn.webServerPort": 8080

openInAppArgs

Optional
Type: array
Examples include: ["--incognito", "-private-window"]

Notes: A string array of arguments to pass to the app. For example, --incognito will tell Google Chrome to open a new window in "Private Browsing Mode", whereas -private-window will do something similar in Mozilla Firefox.

isUseWebServer

Optional
Type: boolean
Default: false

Notes: If you set up a site on your local web server such as MS Windows IIS and your VS Code project folder is within the site root, you can open file URLs instead of URIs. This is useful for code that requires a server environment to run, such as AJAX. You will first need to update the vscode-opn default web server settings with your own.

isUseFsPath

Optional
Type: boolean
Default: false

Notes: During testing in an MS Win 10 environment both Notepad++ and MS WordPad did not support file URIs. This option will use the local file system path instead. This issue may affect other apps and other platforms too.

isWaitForAppExit

Optional
Type: boolean
Default: true

Notes: See node.js module opn option: wait for more info.

Web server settings (applies to all languages)

Required by the per language option: isUseWebServer.

vscode-opn.webServerProtocol

Optional
Type: string
Default: "http"

Notes: Enter a protocol, e.g. "http" or "https".

vscode-opn.webServerHostname

Optional
Type: string
Default: "localhost"

Notes: Enter the hostname or IP of your local web server.

vscode-opn.webServerPort

Optional
Type: number
Default: 8080

Notes: Enter the port of your local web server.

Tested

• Tested in MS Win 10 environment.

• Works with plain text based file types including;

• .html

• .htm

• .xml

• .json

• .log

• .txt

• Does not work with other file types including;

  • .png
  • .gif
  • .jpg
  • .docx
  • .xlsx
  • .pdf

Release notes

Version 1.1.2
Date: 25 Feb 2016

• Set original feature as the default behaviour.
• NEW FEATURE: Setting per language for which app to use
• NEW FEATURE: Setting per language to pass argument(s) to app
• NEW FEATURE: Setting per language to open file URL in local web server
• NEW FEATURE: Setting per language to use file system path, instead of URI
• NEW FEATURE: Setting per language to wait for the opened app to exit before calling the callback

Version 1.0.2
Date: 17 Feb 2016

• FEATURE: Open file URIs directly in the default application for the file type set in the OS.

Contributions

• Please use Github Issues, for feedback, feature suggestions, comments and reporting bugs.
• Feel free to fork this project and create pull requests with new features and/or bug fixes.
• Help with bugs/issues specific to other platforms such as OSX and Linux is particularly welcome.

Dependencies

• opn

License

MIT