PostScript Programming Language
A Visual Studio Code extension for PostScript (Ghostscript): syntax highlighting, language server, code snippets, and a debugger that runs PostScript files with Ghostscript.
Features
- Language support — Grammar and language configuration for
.ps and .eps files (aliases: PostScript, GhostScript, OptScript).
- Syntax highlighting — PostScript source highlighting via
source.postscript scope.
- Document outline — Outline / document symbols (arrays, dictionaries, procedures, strings, names, numbers) provided by the built-in PostScript Language Server.
- Code snippets — Snippets for operators and errors, including:
- Operand stack, arithmetic, arrays, dictionaries, strings
- Control, type/conversion, file, resource, virtual memory
- Graphics state, coordinate system, paths, painting, fonts
- And more (see Snippets in the extension).
- Debugger — Run and debug PostScript with Ghostscript; breakpoints supported; stdout/stderr in the Debug Console.
Requirements
- Ghostscript installed and on
PATH, e.g.:
- Windows:
gswin64c, gswin32c, or gs
- macOS/Linux:
gs
Usage
- Open a
.ps or .eps file.
- Use the Outline view for document symbols (from the language server).
- To run/debug:
- Open Run and Debug (Ctrl+Shift+D / Cmd+Shift+D).
- Select PostScript (Ghostscript) Debugger and the Launch PostScript configuration (or add one as below).
- Start debugging (F5). The debugger runs Ghostscript on the current file and streams output to the Debug Console.
Configuration
Extension setting
| Setting |
Description |
Default |
postscript.interpreter.executable |
Ghostscript executable name or full path |
gs |
Launch configuration
Example launch.json:
{
"version": "0.2.0",
"configurations": [
{
"type": "postscript",
"request": "launch",
"name": "Launch PostScript",
"program": "${file}",
"cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
"ghostscriptPath": "gs",
"args": []
}
]
}
| Property |
Description |
program |
PostScript file to run (e.g. ${file} for current file). |
ghostscriptPath |
Ghostscript executable (e.g. gs, gswin64c). |
cwd |
Working directory for the interpreter. |
args |
Additional arguments passed to Ghostscript. |
More
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