VMA — VS Code Extension

Language support for VMA (Visual Macro Assembler), the 6502 / 6510 assembler of C64 Visual Assembler and its command-line compiler vma. Write C64 assembly with syntax highlighting, snippets for every directive and library macro, an outline, and one-click build & run in VICE — all from VS Code.

Getting started

Install the extension from the Extensions view (search for VMA), or from the command line:
```
code --install-extension zsolt-tarczali.vma-assembler
```
Download the vma compiler from the VMA releases and, if it is not on your PATH, set vma.compilerPath to it. For Run in VICE set vma.vicePath as well.
Open a .vma / .asm file and choose VMA: Build & Run in VICE from the editor's context menu or the Command Palette.

Features

Syntax highlighting — the 6502 instructions, the NMOS illegal opcodes and their aliases, long branches (LBNE …), the .abs / .zp suffixes, labels (name:, local .name:, anonymous - / +, @name, :macroLabel), * = / .pc =, every directive (.byte, .text, .macro, .if, .const, .var …) and library macro (.print, .sprite_init, .memcpy, .reu_stash, .sid_player …), {param} placeholders, numbers ($D020, %1010, 255, 'A'), ; and // comments
Snippets — one for every directive and library macro, plus program, irq, mainloop, clearloop, rasterwait, scope, .macrok (Kick-style { } macro) and more
Outline & Go to Definition — labels (local labels under their global label), .const / .label, .var, .macro, .region, .define and :macroLabel names
Folding — .region name … .endregion (and ; region / ; endregion comments) fold as regions (Fold All Regions: Ctrl+K Ctrl+8); .macro, .if / .else, .loop, .for, .while, .repeat and { } blocks, label sections and comment blocks fold too
Formatter — labels in column 0, code indented, .macro/.if/.loop/.for/.while/.repeat/.region and { } blocks nested
Build commands — PRG, D64 disk image, Magic Desk CRT, debug symbols (.sym / .vs / .dbg), Exomizer
Run in VICE — PRG / D64 autostart, CRT attached as a cartridge, debug run loads the .vs labels into the VICE monitor (-moncommands)
Problems panel — FILE:LINE: message errors of vma are picked up by the $vma problem matcher
Task integration — Ctrl+Shift+B lists the VMA build tasks

The .vma and .asm extensions are registered. If another assembler extension owns .asm in your workspace, pick the language with Change Language Mode, or pin it in settings.json:

"files.associations": { "*.asm": "vma" }

Requirements

The vma compiler (or cargo build --release in the VMA repository)
VICE C64 emulator (only for Run)
Exomizer (only for Exomize)

Commands

Command	`vma` call
VMA: Build (.prg)	`vma build src -o src.prg`
VMA: Build & Run in VICE	… then `x64sc -autostart src.prg`
VMA: Build + D64 disk image	`--d64 src.d64` (+ `--add` / `--disk-name` from the settings)
VMA: Build D64 & Run in VICE	… then `x64sc -autostart src.d64`
VMA: Build (.crt cartridge)	`--crt src.crt` (+ `--crt-name`)
VMA: Build .crt & Run in VICE	… then `x64sc -cartcrt src.crt`
VMA: Build (debug symbols)	`--debug` → `src.sym`, `src.vs`, `src.dbg`
VMA: Build (debug symbols) & Run in VICE with labels	… then `x64sc -moncommands src.vs -autostart src.prg`
VMA: Build + Exomize	… then `exomizer sfx sys -o src_exo.prg src.prg`
VMA: Build + Exomize & Run in VICE	… then `x64sc -autostart src_exo.prg`
VMA: Format Document

Every build adds --search DIR for each vma.searchDirs entry and --no-basic-stub when vma.basicStub is off.

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
`vma.compilerPath`	`vma`	Full path to the `vma` executable
`vma.vicePath`	`x64sc`	Full path to the VICE C64 emulator executable
`vma.viceArgs`	`[]`	Extra arguments passed to VICE, e.g. `["-fullscreen"]`
`vma.defaultOutputDir`	(source directory)	Output directory for the `.prg` / `.d64` / `.crt` files, created if missing. Absolute or relative to the workspace folder (e.g. `./samples/out`)
`vma.searchDirs`	`[]`	Further folders for `.incbin` / `.koala` / `.level` / `.sid` / `.include` (`--search`)
`vma.basicStub`	`true`	`false` passes `--no-basic-stub` (no `10 SYS` line)
`vma.d64AddFiles`	`[]`	Extra files on the `.d64` image (`--add` for each)
`vma.diskName`	(D64 file name)	`--disk-name`
`vma.crtName`	(VA CART)	`--crt-name`
`vma.exomizerPath`	`exomizer`	Full path to the Exomizer executable
`vma.exomizerMode`	`sfx sys`	Exomizer mode: `sfx sys`, `sfx basic`, or `mem`
`vma.exomizerSuffix`	`_exo`	Suffix appended to the output file name (e.g. `prog_exo.prg`)

Example (settings.json):

{
  "vma.compilerPath": "C:\\tools\\vma.exe",
  "vma.vicePath": "C:\\VICE\\bin\\x64sc.exe",
  "vma.searchDirs": ["${workspaceFolder}/assets"]
}

Tasks

tasks.json example:

{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "type": "vma",
      "file": "${file}",
      "debug": true,
      "runAfterBuild": true,
      "label": "VMA: debug build & run",
      "problemMatcher": "$vma",
      "group": { "kind": "build", "isDefault": true }
    }
  ]
}

Task properties: file, d64, crt, noBasicStub, raw, debug, exo, runAfterBuild.

Language reference

The full language manual is in the VMA repository: English · Magyar.

Building from source

npm ci
npx @vscode/vsce package

This creates vma-assembler-<version>.vsix; install it with Extensions: Install from VSIX….

License

GPL-3.0-or-later, like VMA and C64 Visual Assembler.

VMA — Visual Macro Assembler

Zsolt Tarczali