RosTooling Extension for Visual Studio Code

Overview

RosTooling_Extension is a Visual Studio Code extension designed to provide a comprehensive, model-driven engineering environment for robotics development using RosTooling domain-specific languages (DSLs): .ros, .ros1, .ros2, and .rossystem.

The extension combines rich language intelligence (powered by an Eclipse Xtext Language Server) with RosTooling Studio—an interactive visual diagramming and system architecture editor built directly into VS Code.

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Features

1. RosTooling Studio (Visual Architecture Editor)

Open any RosTooling model in a graphical studio with dedicated views:

• System View (.rossystem):
  • Drag-and-drop system assembly of nodes and hierarchical subsystems.
  • Interactive wire routing between interfaces with real-time port compatibility checking (kind and message type matching).
  • Collapse and expand subsystem frames to keep large architectures clean.
  • Configure launch parameters, set parameter overrides, and remap interface names directly in the inspector panel.
  • Import nodes from both the active workspace and external catalogue repositories.
• Component View (.ros2 / .ros1):
  • Visual node component modeling cards.
  • Add, edit, and delete interfaces (Publishers, Subscribers, Service Servers/Clients, Action Servers/Clients) and parameters.
  • Full Quality of Service (QoS) configuration: dropdown selectors for Reliability, Durability, History, Depth, Liveliness, Lease Duration, and Deadline with automatic serialization.
• Communication Objects View (.ros):
  • UML Type Schema diagrams for Messages, Services, and Actions.
  • Visualize and edit cross-type dependencies and package associations.
• Live Bi-directional Synchronization:
  • Visual changes instantly update the underlying DSL text files.
  • Modifying node definitions dynamically updates companion system views and diagrams.

2. Language Server & Code Intelligence

• Code Completion (Ctrl+Space): Intelligent content assist for packages, artifacts, interfaces, parameters, and communication types.
• Syntax Highlighting & Bracket Matching: Colorized grammar definitions for .ros, .ros1, .ros2, and .rossystem.
• Real-Time Validation & Diagnostics: Semantic validation powered by the Xtext RosLanguageServer with in-editor error and warning markers.

3. Catalogue Management

• Built-in integration with the RosModelsCatalog and RosCommonObjects libraries.
• Automatic background indexing of reusable standard robots, drivers, and common message sets.
• Visual badges denoting core catalogue models with read-only protection to prevent unintentional edits.

4. ROS 2 Package Generation & Build

• Code Generation: Transform .rossystem models into complete, buildable ROS 2 packages (nodes, launch files, CMakeLists.txt, package.xml) via the Command Palette or the Studio toolbar.
• Package Build: Trigger a colcon build of generated ROS 2 packages directly from VS Code.

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Installation

Option 1: Install from GitHub Release (Recommended)

Pre-packaged .vsix releases are available on the repository's GitHub Releases page.

1. Download the VSIX: Visit the GitHub Releases page and download the latest rostooling-languages-<version>.vsix asset.

2. Install into VS Code using one of the following methods:

   Method A: Via the VS Code User Interface

   1. Open Visual Studio Code.
   2. Open the Extensions view by clicking the Extensions icon on the Activity Bar on the left or pressing Ctrl+Shift+X (macOS: Cmd+Shift+X).
   3. Click the Views and More Actions menu (...) in the top-right corner of the Extensions pane.
   4. Select Install from VSIX....
   5. Browse to and select your downloaded rostooling-languages-<version>.vsix file.

   Method B: Via the Command Palette

   1. In VS Code, open the Command Palette by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P (macOS: Cmd+Shift+P).
   2. Type Extensions: Install from VSIX... and press Enter.
   3. Select the downloaded .vsix file from the file picker.

   Method C: Via the Command Line (CLI)

   Run the following command in your terminal:

   code --install-extension rostooling-languages-<version>.vsix

   (Note: If you are using VSCodium or Antigravity IDE, replace code with codium or your respective executable).

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Option 2: Build and Install from Source

To build and package the extension from source:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/ipa-esa/RosTooling_Extension.git
   cd RosTooling_Extension

2. Build the Language Server JAR and package the extension:

   ./gradlew installExtension

   Or manually package using npm and vsce:

   ./gradlew copyFatJar
   cd rostooling-languages
   npm ci
   npm run compile
   npx @vscode/vsce package --no-dependencies
   code --install-extension build/vscode/rostooling-languages-*.vsix

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Getting Started

1. Open a workspace containing RosTooling files (for an example, open demo/test_ws).
2. Open in RosTooling Studio:
   • Right-click any .rossystem, .ros2, .ros1, or .ros file in the File Explorer or editor tab and select "Open in RosTooling Visual Studio".
   • Alternatively, click the graph icon ($(graph)) in the top-right editor title bar, or open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and choose RosTooling: Open in RosTooling Visual Studio.
3. Generate a ROS 2 Package:
   • Open a .rossystem model and click the Generate ROS 2 Package button in the studio toolbar, or run ROSSYSTEM: Generate ROS 2 Package from the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P).
4. Build the Generated Package:
   • Run ROSSDL: Build ROS 2 Package from the Command Palette.

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Requirements

• Visual Studio Code: version 1.107.0 or higher.
• Java: JDK 21 or later (required by the Language Server).
• Operating System: Linux (Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or later recommended) or macOS.
• ROS 2: Humble, Iron, Jazzy, or Rolling (required for building and executing generated packages).

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Extension Settings

This extension contributes the following settings:

Setting	Description	Default
rostooling-languages.java.home	Absolute path to the JDK 21+ installation directory. Leave empty to use system default Java.	""
rostooling-languages.server.trace	Verbosity of the language server trace output (off, messages, verbose).	"off"

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Development & Testing

Running Tests

The extension contains an automated test suite with unit, integration, and LSP protocol tests:

cd rostooling-languages
npm ci
npm test

To run tests in a headless Linux environment:

cd rostooling-languages
xvfb-run -a npm test

Or via Gradle:

./gradlew :rostooling-languages:npm_test

Debugging the Extension

1. Open the repository in Visual Studio Code.
2. Open the Run and Debug view (Ctrl+Shift+D).
3. Select Run Extension and press F5. This launches an Extension Development Host window with the extension loaded.

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Contributing

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/my-feature).
3. Ensure all tests and linting pass (npm run compile && npm run lint && npm test).
4. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'feat: my new feature').
5. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/my-feature).
6. Open a Pull Request against main or the active feature branch.

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Support & Issues

For bugs, questions, and feature requests, please file an issue on the GitHub Issues page.

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Maintained by Fraunhofer IPA (ipa-esa)