ProDash

ProDash is a Visual Studio Code extension that provides a powerful project dashboard and script runner, making it easy to organize, manage, and automate tasks across multiple projects.

Features

• Project Dashboard: A dedicated tree view in the sidebar to visualize and manage all your projects.
• Dynamic Grouping: Organize projects and scripts into collapsible groups using a simple group property in your configuration files.
• Powerful Scripting:
  • Script Runner: Execute scripts directly from the dashboard.
  • Terminal Selection: Run scripts in the default terminal, PowerShell, or a Batch shell by setting the terminal property.
  • Script Composition: Build complex workflows by calling scripts from other scripts using the {{RUN_SCRIPT:ScriptName}} syntax.
  • Script Variables: Use dynamic variables like {{PROJECT_PATH}} and {{PRODASH_PATH}} in your scripts for flexible, path-aware commands.
  • Hidden Scripts: Create utility scripts that can be called by other scripts but are hidden from the UI.
• Automatic Configuration:
  • Active Project Detection: Automatically highlights the project that matches your current VS Code workspace.
  • Zero-Setup for New Projects: If the active workspace isn't registered, ProDash adds it to the dashboard and can automatically create a .prodash folder with a sample scripts.jsonc to get you started.
• Dynamic Project Descriptions: Update a project's description and tooltip in real-time by modifying .prodash/description.$$$ and .prodash/longdescription.$$$ files.
• File Watching: Automatically refreshes the dashboard when projects.jsonc, scripts.jsonc, or description files are modified.
• Simple JSONC Configuration: Manage projects and scripts with easy-to-read JSON with Comments files.

Screenshots

Requirements

• Visual Studio Code v1.90.0 or higher

Getting Started

1. Global Project Configuration

ProDash uses a central projects.jsonc file to define all your projects. This file is located in your user home directory:

• Windows: C:\Users\<YourUser>\.prodash\projects.jsonc
• macOS/Linux: ~/.prodash/projects.jsonc

You can define projects as a flat list. Use the optional group property to organize them in the dashboard.

Example projects.jsonc:

{  
  "Work Projects": [
    {
      "name": "My Main Project",
      "path": "/path/to/main/project",
      "description": "The primary project.",
    }
  ],
  [
    {
      "name": "Side Project",
      "path": "/path/to/side/project",
      "description": "A personal side project."
    }
  ]
}

2. Project-Specific Scripts

For each project, you can define scripts in a .prodash/scripts.jsonc file located within that project's directory.

Example scripts.jsonc:

{
  "Development" : [
    {
      "name": "Start Server",
      "description": "Lints the code and then starts the development server.",
      "script": [
        "echo '--- Starting Server ---'",
        "{{RUN_SCRIPT:Lint}}", // Calls another script
        "npm run start"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "Build" : [
    {
      "name": "Build",
      "description": "Creates a production build.",
      "script": ["npm run build"],
    }
  ],
  "_internal": [ // This is a hidden utility script.
    {
      "name": "Lint",
      "description": "Runs the linter.",
      "script": ["npm run lint"],
    }
  ]
}

Advanced Features

Script Variables

Your scripts can use variables that ProDash resolves at runtime. This is useful for creating generic, reusable scripts.

Example:

{
  "name": "Show Paths",
  "script": [
    "echo Project Path: {{PROJECT_PATH}}",
    "echo ProDash Path: {{PRODASH_PATH}}"
  ]
}

Dynamic Project Descriptions

You can dynamically update a project's description and tooltip from a script. This is useful for displaying runtime information, like the current Git branch or build status.

• Short Description: Write to the .prodash/description.$$$ file. This appears next to the project name.
• Long Description (Tooltip): Write to the .prodash/longdescription.$$$ file. This appears as a tooltip on hover.

Example script to update descriptions:

{
  "name": "Update Git Info",
  "script": [
    "git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD > {{DESCRIPTION_FILE}}",
    "git log -1 --pretty=format:'%h - %s (%cr)' > {{LONGDESCRIPTION_FILE}}"
  ],
  "event": "ON_ACTIVATE" // Run this script automatically when the project is activated
}

Automatic Project Setup

When you open a project folder in VS Code that isn't registered in your global projects.jsonc, ProDash provides a seamless setup experience:

1. The project is automatically added to a temporary "(not registered)" group in the dashboard.
2. If the project has a .git repository, ProDash creates a .prodash folder inside it. Otherwise, it's created in the project root.
3. A sample scripts.jsonc file is created inside .prodash to help you get started.
4. The .prodash folder is automatically added to .git/info/exclude to prevent committing runtime files.

Troubleshooting

ProDash uses a dedicated output channel for logging information and errors. If you encounter any issues, you can check the logs for more details:

1. Open the Output view (Ctrl+Shift+U).
2. Select ProDash from the dropdown menu on the right.

Known Issues

• No UI for editing projects/scripts yet (edit JSON files manually).

Release Notes

See changelog.md for the full release history.

License

MIT

Author

Thierry Keus