Scilab for Visual Studio Code
This extension supports Scilab 2025.0.0 or later in Visual Studio Code.
Table of content
Features overview
Code edition
Syntax highlight
Code completion with help
ctrl+space is used to ask for completion if not yet displayed.
Using it again can be used to show/hide the help on the selected item.
Function documentation
Leave the mouse over a Scilab function name to get its help.
Available features on Scilab functions
ctrl+click can be used to access to the function Code.
Navigate in functions by using the outline list and the breadcrumb.
Debugging
Debug features are available to navigate the Scilab code, get information about the context and access the debug console used to execute Scilab commands.
A debug session can be started using F5 which executes the code until a breakpoint is reached or F10 which stops at the first executable line. See below to configure it.
Breakpoints
The execution stops when a breakpoint is reached.
To control when to stop at a breakpoint, the Expression and Hit Count condition can be configured by clicking right on it.
Stepping into the code
When the execution is stopped, it can be driven using this toolbar or shortcuts.
Variables, Watch and Call Stack
- Available variables are displayed at different scopes.
- Read-only expressions can be written in the Watch section and will be updated at each stop.
- Double-clicking on a Call Stack lines will open the file at the executed line.
- Breakpoints can be directly managed from the breakpoints list; the associated file can be opened with a click.
Debug Console
The debug console is only available when a debug session is started.
The completion is available by hitting ctrl+space from the console input.
Getting started
Settings
Before using this extension, Scilab 2025.0.0 or more has to be installed then the install path must be filled in the settings (File > Preferences > Settings > write "scilab" in the search bar).
Debug configuration
Debug a single file
From the debug panel you can run a debug session on the active Scilab file by using the Run and Debug button.
Advance debug configuration
For more configuration of the debug session, the launch.json file has to be created.
After openning a folder in VS Code, you can create the file from the Debug panel by clicking "create a launch.json file".
This will create the file with no configurations inside.
To simply create a Scilab debug configuration, use the completion inside the configurations array by hiting ctrl+space, then select "Scilab: launch a process".
The next configuration must have been created:
{
// Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
// Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
// For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
"version": "0.2.0",
"configurations": [
{
"type": "scilab",
"request": "launch",
"name": "launch Scilab",
"file": "${file}",
"workingDirectory": "${workspaceFolder}"
}
]
}
- file: String of the executed Scilab file by the debug session launch. ${file} is the current active file in VS Code.
- workingDirectory: String of the Scilab current directory that will be set after Scilab startup. ${workspaceFolder} is the VSCode workspace folder.
Extra fields are available:
- args: An array of strings that contains Scilab arguments:
"args": ["-f", "${workspaceFolder}/loader.sce"]
All executions performed using args are made before the debug session.
- SCI: Overwrite the SCI value set in the settings to use another Scilab during the debug session.
- keepAlive: Define to keep the Scilab alive or not when the execution is finished.
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