Xojo Syntax Highlighting for VS Code

A lightweight syntax highlighting extension for the Xojo programming language.

Features

Syntax Highlighting

• Comments (' / //, plus legacy Rem)
• Strings with doubled quotes ("") inside literals
• Decimal and exponent numbers; hexadecimal (&h), binary (&b), octal (&o), color (&c), and Unicode (&u) literals
• Control flow, declaration modifiers, operators, and compiler directives (#If, #Pragma)
• Subdued comment-style highlighting for project-file #tag metadata
• Built-in types and Unicode characters after the first letter in identifiers
• Function names (declarations and calls)

Outline View (DocumentSymbolProvider)

• .xojo_window: Window → Controls → Events/Methods/Properties/MenuHandlers
  • Hierarchical control layout based on InitialParent attribute
  • Display child controls under container controls like DesktopTabPanel
  • #tag Events blocks with hierarchical support (correctly associates events with nested controls)
• .xojo_code: Class/Module/Interface/Structure/Enum → Methods/Properties/Events/Constants
  • Automatically applies appropriate group structure for each object type
  • Supports both #tag blocks and free-form declarations
  • Recognizes access modifiers, Shared methods, delegates, native Declares, array parameters, qualified types, and continued signatures
  • Shows computed properties with Get/Set, event definitions separately from event handlers, and nested enums/structures
  • Shows enum values and names stored in tag attributes
  • Navigation targets the declaration name; notes, layout metadata, and method-local declarations do not become object members
• .xojo_menu: Menu → DesktopMenuItem → (Submenu items)
  • Recursively parses menu hierarchies
  • Displays Text attribute as menu item details
  • Special handling for separators (Text = "-")
• .xojo_library API files: Open Xojo files stored under the zipped library API folder as read-only virtual documents
  • Use Xojo: Open Library API File from the Command Palette or the Explorer context menu
  • The opened API file uses the same syntax highlighting and Outline support as normal .xojo_code / .xojo_window / .xojo_menu files
• Generic code files: Flat list of Sub/Function/Method/Event/Delegate declarations

Workspace Symbol Search

• Use Go to Symbol in Workspace (Cmd+T on macOS, Ctrl+T on Windows/Linux) to find declarations across your project. Names support case-insensitive abbreviations, such as fch for FetchCredential.
• Search classes, modules, methods, properties, events, delegates, enum values, controls, and menu items. Container names help distinguish repeated names; selecting a result takes you to its declaration.
• All workspace folders are searched for .xojo_code, .xojo_script, .xojo_window, and .xojo_menu files. Open Xojo files, untitled documents, and opened library API documents are also included. Unopened library archives are not scanned.
• Unsaved edits take priority. Results refresh on subsequent searches after saving, adding, renaming, or deleting source files or folders.
• Unopened files follow VS Code's files.exclude setting; search.exclude does not control this index. Open Xojo documents remain searchable. Method-local declarations and Outline grouping labels are omitted.

Color Previews and Picker

• Color swatches appear beside &cRRGGBB and &cRRGGBBAA literals, including space-separated components such as &c FF 00 00 7F.
• Hover over a swatch to open VS Code's color picker. Choosing a color updates the literal while preserving its prefix, component spacing, hex letter case, and explicit alpha component where possible. Transparency adds an alpha component to a six-digit literal when needed.
• The opacity slider is converted to Xojo's transparency convention (00 is opaque; FF is fully transparent).
• Comments, strings, #tag headers, notes, and view metadata do not show swatches. Read-only library API documents support previews without replacement edits.
• If swatches are hidden, enable Editor: Color Decorators in VS Code settings.

Folding and Editing

• Fold project tags, layout blocks, methods, objects, and multiline control flow, including conditional compilation. Closing lines stay visible.

• Use Toggle Line Comment (Cmd+/ on macOS, Ctrl+/ on Windows/Linux) to add or remove apostrophe comments.

• Indentation follows block openings, endings, and branches. Single-line conditions do not increase indentation.

• Insert a snippet through Snippets: Insert Snippet, or type one of these prefixes and select the suggestion:

  xojo-if, xojo-select, xojo-for, xojo-foreach, xojo-while, xojo-do, xojo-try, xojo-sub, xojo-function, xojo-const, xojo-ifdef

  Use Tab to move between placeholders. Comments, strings, and legacy Dim/Rem syntax remain supported. New files must use the Xojo language mode for these editing features.

Xojo Integration

Use Xojo: Reload and Run from the Command Palette, or F5 with a Xojo launch configuration. Xojo: Create Default launch.json creates a configuration without replacing an existing file.

With Xojo 2026r3 or later, save the project in text Xojo Format and enable File > Agentic Mode in Xojo. Saving in this format requires a Xojo license. Save your source changes before running. The extension creates XojoRunProject.txt beside the selected .xojo_project; Xojo automatically reloads changed files and consumes the run request. On macOS the extension opens the selected project first unless openProject is false. On Windows/Linux, open the selected project in Xojo yourself. If multiple projects share a directory, keep only the intended project open there: the request file identifies a directory, not an individual manifest.

The Xojo: Run Mode setting (xojo.run.mode) selects the protocol:

• auto (default): use the file protocol when the saved manifest contains AgenticMode=True; otherwise use the existing macOS reload/run shortcuts.
• agentic: explicitly use the file protocol. Enable Agentic Mode in Xojo first; the extension does not change the project manifest.
• legacy: use the macOS shortcuts, including the existing delay options.

The project containing the active file is preferred, with the nearest enclosing project taking precedence. If the choice is ambiguous, select a project from the list. F5 searches within its launch workspace folder. Set projectPath to choose a manifest explicitly; relative paths are resolved against that folder (or the first workspace folder when none is specified).

{
  "type": "xojo",
  "request": "launch",
  "name": "Xojo: Reload and Run",
  "runMode": "agentic",
  "projectPath": "MyApp.xojo_project",
  "openProject": false,
  "agenticTimeoutMs": 30000,
  "agenticErrorWaitMs": 10000
}

runMode overrides the workspace setting for that launch. By default, the extension waits up to 30 seconds for the request to disappear, then observes XojoCompileErrors.txt for 10 seconds. New or updated error output appears in Output > Xojo. An unchanged old error file is preserved and identified as old output. Acknowledgement or an observation window without new errors does not confirm compilation success or application behavior; check Xojo for later errors or longer builds. Errors are displayed as raw text, without Problems integration.

Overlapping requests in the same directory and pre-existing request files are not overwritten. Cancelling or timing out removes this extension's pending request when it still owns it. Once Xojo has consumed a request, cancelling only stops observation; it does not stop Xojo or its debug build. A timeout never retries through the legacy shortcuts.

Installation

1. Open the VS Code Command Palette and run Extensions: Install from VSIX….
2. Select xojo-syntax-1.0.0.vsix.
3. Open a supported Xojo file. For a new untitled file, select Xojo from the language mode selector.

You can also install from the command line:

code --install-extension xojo-syntax-1.0.0.vsix

To reinstall the same version, add --force.

Supported Files

• Language ID: xojo
• Extensions: .xojo_code, .xojo_script, .xojo_window, .xojo_menu
• Library API viewer: .xojo_library files can be opened with Xojo: Open Library API File

Known Limitations

• Not fully compatible with the official Xojo IDE
• No type checking, target-specific conditional evaluation, formatting, or semantic code completion
• Editing incomplete or malformed code uses best-effort structural recovery
• # alone is not a comment marker; use an apostrophe or // for comments
• .xojo_library support opens API text files from the archive; it does not edit or rewrite the library archive

License

MIT