Thank you for the VS Code extension, Garmin! (And some thoughts)

Thanks for the feedback. We'll discuss your suggestions and see about adding them to our roadmap.

FlowState said:

It would be nice to have a "Build and Run App For Device..." option which allows us to select a device to build and run in a single step

You can do this now. If you create a tasks.json and launch.json file you can make the launch.json dependent on the tasks.json. Then you can press F5 and it'll build then run. Here's an example:

tasks.json

{
    "tasks": [
        {
            "type": "monkeyc",
            "device": "approachs62",
            "simulatorBuild": true,
            "problemMatcher": [
                "$monkeyc.error",
                "$monkeyc.warning"
            ],
            "label": "monkeyc: approachs62",
            "group": {
                "kind": "build",
                "isDefault": true
            }
        }
    ]
}

launch.json

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "type": "monkeyc",
            "request": "runApp",
            "name": "Run App",
            "device": "approachs60",
            "preLaunchTask": "monkeyc: approachs62"
        }
    ]
}

The preLaunchTask entry in launch.json will make it build before running. We'll also discuss having the Build and Run option.

FlowState said:

One problem with tasks like "Edit Application" is there's no indication what the current settings are

The current value is the one that's listed first. We definitely need to indicate that via text as well though.

Thanks Kyle.ConnectIQ, appreciate it!

For context, I happily use VS Code for work every day, so none of this is coming from a place where I'm unfamiliar or unhappy with how VS Code is "supposed" to work.

The launch/task example above is helpful (I was already thinking of creating tasks to automate certain things), but I'm guessing it isn't possible to accomplish having the task prompt the user for the device to run and build, at least not with the method suggested above.). (Although I think Run App actually does prompt for device if you open a project and select Run App before you do anything else, as there is no "previous build target" to be run.)

The use case I'm thinking of here is manually testing lots of different devices, when you want to switch between devices on demand. (I'm sure there could be ways to script this, but it would be nice to have a standard command in the Monkey C extension.)

Kyle.ConnectIQ said:

The current value is the one that's listed first. We definitely need to indicate that via text as well though.

Oh right, that should've been obvious haha. I didn't look closely enough and assumed they were defaults, not current values.

I still think for complex multi-step tasks (including interdependent tasks like selecting min SDK version and devices), it would be nice to have a WebView that allows us to see multiple settings at once. I realize the standard UX for VS Code extensions is to have simple and (mostly) single-task oriented commands in the command palette (which is nice for things like build commands, toggles and simple selections), but I don't know if that works for everything.

I do think Edit Application, Edit Products and Set Products by Connect IQ Version are interdependent and complex enough (with long lists) that they could benefit from being combined into a web view (along with other app properties).

Case in point: Microsoft's C/C++ extension has a config UI page with logically grouped settings and plenty of explanatory text. It would be great to see something like this for Monkey C project settings.

I like the command palette a lot, but I don't know if I want *everything* in there.

Kyle.ConnectIQ said:

The current value is the one that's listed first. We definitely need to indicate that via text as well though.

BTW, this doesn't seem to apply to the min supported SDK version (although I do see this working properly with the other 4 properties under Edit Application..

Thanks for the Microsoft C/C++ example. I've added that to the ticket for discussion. We'll get the current SDK version not being listed first fixed.

the multi-edit window looks cool, maybe you can also use this technique to implement app settings? 

is there a way to assign shortcuts to commands (I keep disliking having to press CTRL-P all the time)

peterdedecker said:

is there a way to assign shortcuts to commands (I keep disliking having to press CTRL-P all the time)

In the command palette (CTRL-SHIFT-P / CMD-SHIFT-P), search for the command you want to edit, click on the gear to the right of it and it opens up the corresponding entry in Keyboard Shortcuts, where you can assign the keybinding of your choice (which can be context-sensitive.)

Or open the the command palette and search for Keyboard Shortcuts, then search for the command you want.to edit.

In the Explorer (left-hand pane), you can also right-click and see certain predefined commands:

- Build Current Project

- Run App

- Run Tests

- New Project

I think you can write your own extension to customize these entries, or we can ask Garmin to add to them / provide customization options.