Engine DevTools

Engine DevTools extension provides integration with the Nginstack platform, enabling Visual Studio Code as an alternative to Engine IDE for editing code stored in an Nginstack database.

This page is just an overview. A more detailed documentation (in portuguese) is available here.

Setting up a database connection

Your first connection can be set up by pressing "Add Database" or "+" button in the databases view:

1 - Access the extension views by clicking on its icon in the activity bar.

2 - In DATABASES, click on Add Database and fill in the input boxes with the server address and your credentials. As soon as the connection is on, a new workspace folder will be created with a name in the format database-name (vfs).

You can choose the protocol between http or https by writing it when filling the database url. (e.g. https://db.address.com). If you choose not to write the protocol, http will be used as default.

Managing connections

You can use the databases view to manage connections:

Databases have the following inline buttons, from left to right respectively:

• Define Database as Main
• Edit Database Configuration
• Toggle Database Connection

They also have a colored indicator on their left to inform whether you are connected (green), disconnected (grey), trying to connect (orange), or failing to connect (red). The main database is the only one with a diamond-shaped indicator.

Other options, e.g. removing the database, are available in the database context menu.

Opening and editing the Virtual File System

Once you connect to a database, the extension creates an in-memory file system that is a representation of the VFS, opened as another project folder in your File Explorer.

• You can create and edit VFS files and folders on VS Code as if they were local, and the extension will try to automatically synchronize your changes to the address you defined.
• When creating files and folders, you will be asked to select a product from a list of available ones.
• To synchronize in your VS Code any change performed to the VFS in another instance, use the refresh explorer button in the File Explorer.

More information on the file systems provided by the extension here.

Language server

Engine DevTools extension uses its own language server to provide features such as hovers, document links, and completion proposal.

It also uses eslint to provide source code diagnostics. You might need to install node and the eslint npm package to use this feature. After installing node, run npm install --global eslint.