bitlang.cobol extension used by Z Open Editor conflicts with that used by vscode-ibmi

[jwoehr]

The bitlang.cobol extension used by Z Open Editor conflicts with that used by vscode-ibmi

COBOL reports in VSCode "Problems":

VSCode version                              : 1.80.1
 Platform                                   : linux
 Architecture                               : x64
Extension Information:
 Extension path                             : /home/jwoehr/.vscode/extensions/bitlang.cobol-9.7.15
 Version                                    : 9.7.15
 UNC paths disabled                         : false
 Parse copybook for references              : false
 Editor maxTokenizationLineLength           : 20000
 Semantic token provider enabled            : false
 editor.semanticHighlighting.enabled        : configuredByTheme
 [COBOL]editor.semanticHighlighting.enabled : true
 workbench color theme                      : Visual Studio Light - C++
 Is Workspace Trusted                       : true

The extension zopeneditor from IBM has conflicting functionality
 Solution      : Disable or uninstall this extension, eg: use command:
                 code --uninstall-extension IBM.zopeneditor
 Reasons       : contributes conflicting grammar
               : contributes language id
 Id            : IBM.zopeneditor
 Description   : Provides COBOL, PL/I, HLASM, and REXX language servers, as well as tools for IBM Z development.
 Version       : 3.2.0
 Repository    : https://github.com/IBM/zopeneditor-about
 Bug Reporting : https://github.com/IBM/zopeneditor-about/issues

Development environment used

• Z Open Editor version: 3.2.0
• Editor Platform
  • [x] Visual Studio Code

    Version: 1.80.1
    Commit: 74f6148eb9ea00507ec113ec51c489d6ffb4b771
    Date: 2023-07-12T17:22:25.257Z
    Electron: 22.3.14
    ElectronBuildId: 21893604
    Chromium: 108.0.5359.215
    Node.js: 16.17.1
    V8: 10.8.168.25-electron.0
    OS: Linux x64 6.2.6-76060206-generic

• Java Version (when using VS Code or Theia, execute java -version and paste the details here): openjdk 11.0.19 2023-04-18
• Zowe CLI version: 7.16.6
• Logs attached (see here how to get them): no

Problem Description

Detailed steps for reproducing the problem:

Load Z Open Editor and IBM Code for i in same VSCode Installation

Observed behavior

Expected behavior

These 2 IBM flagship open source projects for enterprise systems co-ordinate on 3rd-party extension strategy.

FYI

See this issue for Code for i

[FALLAI-Denis]

Hi @jwoehr,

Bitlang COBOL and IBM ZOE contributes to the same "cobol" language mode, so it is "normal" for these two extensions to conflict.

Have you considered using VS Code profiles to isolate each of the extensions in a different usage context?

Profiles in Visual Studio Code.

"IBM Z Open Editor" is intended to manage programming languages running on an IBM z/OS system. "Code for IBM i" (and Bitlang COBOL for you) is intended to manage programming languages running on an IBM i system. There is no objective reason to want to use these two extensions in the same context at the same time.

Another solution is to use different startup contexts from VS Code to have completely independent management of extensions and to use the --extensions-dir and --user-data-dir parameters when launching VS Code (through a startup shortcut ). See Advanced CLI options.

[jwoehr]

Thanks, that is probably the best solution.

[phaumer]

Great suggestion @FALLAI-Denis. Thanks.