CMSIS View stuck on Loading when working with a VS Code Workspace

[RossBCohr]

Type: Bug Report

When opening a workspace in VSCode which contains a directory which has a csolution file in its root directory the CMSIS View fails to load the csolution file and gets stuck showing "Loading". If I open the project as "Open Folder" rather than "Open Workspace From File" where the workspace has the project in its workspace it seems to load very quickly after opening the folder.

This is necessary as part of our workflow to use a workspace as work with a number of different repos at one time so need to be able to view and edit files across multiple repos and use source control for each repo. We also have a local pack used in our csolution project so need to be able to use source control for both the project and local pack at the same time.

Describe the bug

• OS and Version: Windows 11
• VS Code Version: v1.120
• Extension Version: v1.20.2 Keil studio pack, 1.66.0 CMSIS Solution

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. In VSCode go to File -> Open Workspace From File
2. Select workspace to open
3. Ensure folder containing csolution project is within the workspace
4. The CMSIS View doesn't open the solution, instead it gets stuck in "Loading"

Expected behavior
The csolution project should open in the CMSIS View successfully as part of a VS Code workspace just as is it does when opening the project folder on its own

Screenshots

Additional context

[jkrech]

@RossBCohr could you please try, whether this problem still persists in the recently published pre-release 1.67.2?
I have not been able to reproduce it with a simple solution, so I guess that this has to do with some other aspects of your project.

[RossBCohr]

Tried the pre-release and the problem still persists. Is there a way I could configure a setting so it only looks for a CMSIS solution in a specific folder in my workspace?

I did find some strange behaviour. If I right click and select one of the other folders in my workspace and select "Remove Folder From Workspace", this seems to almost kick the CMSIS View and it then seems to load the cmsis solution. This happens if I were to remove any of the other folders in the workspace also so I don't think its a case of a "bad" folder that is breaking CMSIS loading.

[jkrech]

Thanks a lot for the additional information. I am not sure whether you are able to share a reproducer, therefore I would like to understand whether the loading problem only exists if you are using a workspace file.
If you open a folder in VSCode that does not contain a *.csolution.yml file at the root level you need to switch to the CMSIS View and click on "Open Solution in Workspace". Under the ... menu there is a menu entry that allows you to close a solution. This way you can specify which csolution file gets loaded from which subdirectory.

Questions:
a) are you using the Arm Tools Environment Manager extension and the vcpkg-configuration.json files?
b) if so, does the Arm Tools status bar show any loaded tools?