VSCode_Julia_portable

TLDR: Portable Julia running in VSCode.

The user’s system does not need to have Git installed: the portable version of it is included. All the user needs to do is to double-click a batch file (DOUBLE_CLICK_ME.bat): everything installs itself, and VS code pops up preconfigured for work with Julia.

Tested on Windows 11 64-bit systems.

Using IntelliSense for Julia in VSCode

We shall refer to "IntelliSense" as features including code completion, parameter info, etc. enabled by the Language Server Protocol (LanguageServer.jl).

Package environment

As an example, here is the simplified tree of the package FinetoolsAcoustics.jl:

FinetoolsAcoustics.jl
    Project.toml
    README.md
    ...
    
+---docs
        ...
                
+---examples
        Manifest.toml
        Project.toml
        
    +---coupling
            sphsld_acous_coupl_examples.jl
            
    +---data
            data.zip
            
    +---modal
            Fahy_examples.jl
            ...
            
    +---steady_state
        +---2-d
                acou_annulus_examples.jl
                ...
                
        +---3-d
                baffled_piston_examples.jl
                ...
                
    +---transient
            baffled_piston_examples.jl
            ...
            
+---src
        AlgoAcoustModule.jl
        allmodules.jl
        FEMMAcoustModule.jl
        FEMMAcoustNICEModule.jl
        FEMMAcoustSurfModule.jl
        FinEtoolsAcoustics.jl
        MatAcoustFluidModule.jl
        
+---test
        runtests.jl
        test_acoustics.jl
        test_acoustics2.jl
        test_vibroacoustics.jl
        
+---tutorials
        baffled_piston_tut.jl
        ...
        Manifest.toml
        Project.toml
        ...

Package source files

Activating the environment of the package FinEtoolsAcoustics.jl itself enables the IntelliSense in the source files under the src directory. Without us doing anything else, IntelliSense will not be available for the FinEtoolsAcoustics.jl package in any of the other files, in particular those under the test, examples, and tutorials folders. IntelliSense can be facilitated in those files by following the steps below.

Test files

We support IntelliSense in the test files by using the following trick: the source file at the top of the package, FinEtoolsAcoustics.jl, is equipped with a "false-include" as

# Enable LSP look-up in test modules.
if false include("../test/runtests.jl") end

This immediately enables IntelliSense for the code in the package FinEtoolsAcoustics.jl in all the test files listed in runtests.jl. Here for instance test_acoustics.jl. Without this "false-include", the functionality in the package FinEtoolsAcoustics.jl would not be visible to the LSP server, and IntelliSense would not be provided for the symbols in that package (even though it would work for other packages referenced in the package environment).

Example and tutorial files

The examples and the tutorials folders are separate environments (notice the Project.toml files). The package FinEtoolsAcoustics.jl is added to this environment:

julia> using Pkg; Pkg.status();
Status `FinEtoolsAcoustics.jl\examples\Project.toml`
...
⌃ [72171760] FinEtoolsAcoustics v3.1.0
...

When we switch to this environment in VSCode (use "File: Open Folder"), IntelliSense for the code in the package FinEtoolsAcoustics.jl is enabled. Without these separate environments, the functionality in the package FinEtoolsAcoustics.jl would not be visible to the LSP server, and IntelliSense would not be provided for the symbols in that package (even though it would work for other packages referenced in the package environment).

Project environment with shared functionality in a package

As an example, here is a project which does its work using scripts (i.e. it is not a "package"). Nevertheless, the functionality shared by the scripts is encapsulated in a package (under the src folder, in the package file FRFPlots.jl).

The structure of the package is shown in this tree.

FRFPlots.jl
    Manifest.toml
    Project.toml
    README.md
    
+---scripts
        discretization_errors.jl
        Manifest.toml
        model_errors.jl
        parameter_study.jl
        plot_experiments.jl
        Project.toml
        
+---src
        FRFPlots.jl

Script files

The scripts have their own environment (notice the Project.toml file). To use the scripts, this environment is activated (the folder is opened in VSCode). The package containing the shared functionality is deved in this environment:

julia> using Pkg; Pkg.status();
Status `FRFPlots.jl\scripts\Project.toml`
  ...
  [e897d28e] FRFPlots v0.1.0 `..`
  ...

This step enables IntelliSense in all the scripts. Note that if we were to put a function in one of the script files and wanted to use it in another script, that function would not be visible to the IntelliSense.

Project environment with function definitions scattered across scripts

I do not know how to make IntelliSense work for these scripts. This is not a very good way of using a programming language anyway. Best avoid that.