AL Navigator – My First VS Code Extension

AL Navigator – My First VS Code Extension

Sometimes work can be frustrating. I sometimes get frustrated when I find out that there seems to be no quick way of doing things. When you develop reports with Visual Studio Code and AL, you often want to add columns in the dataset for a data item. Sometimes you also want to add code in the triggers. I noticed that there is no shortcut to jump through the data items of an .al report file. My new extension AL Navigator changes that!

I am talking about these dataitems:

Sure – there is the extension “AZ AL Dev Tools/AL Code Outline”. I could use the AL Outline to do that, but for complex reports that takes too much time.

I am one of those guys who mostly prefers keyboard over mouse. So I decided to write a small VS Code extension with really simple, but for me quite helpful features:

  • DataItem Jumping: Use the shortcut Ctrl + Alt + d to jump through data items in your .al report file
  • OnAfterGetRecord Jumping: Use the shortcut Ctrl + Alt + g to jump through OnAfterGetRecord triggers in your .al file
  • Trigger Jumping: Use the shortcut Ctrl + Alt + t to jump through all triggers in your .al file
  • Keys Jumping: Use the shortcut Ctrl + Alt + k to jump to the keys section in your .al table file

Update: AL Navigator now also has a feature do automatically create procedure stubs for you. Read this post for more information on this.

This is the first VS Code extension I developed, so I cannot guarantee that it is completely flawless. I hope, that this will help some of you.

Currently I am already working on new features for this extension. As soon as they are completed, I will write a new blog post.

I am always open for suggestions!

AL Navigator on VS Code Marketplace

AL Navigator GitHub

Have a nice week!

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  • 💬 Waldemar Brakowski

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