AL Prettier for VS Code

A Prettier plugin for AL language and a VS Code extension that provides code formatting using this plugin.

Installation

1. Install from VS Code Extensions Marketplace (direct link: AL Prettier or search for "AL Prettier")
2. Or install manually by downloading the .vsix file and running code --install-extension al-prettier-vscode-0.2.1.vsix

Usage

Format Document

• Use the keyboard shortcut: Shift+Alt+F (Windows/Linux) or Shift+Option+F (macOS)
• Or right-click and select "Format Document"

Format Selection

Selection formatting is currently not supported. This feature will be available in future releases.

Format on Save

Enable format on save in VS Code settings:

{
  "[al]": {
    "editor.defaultFormatter": "alexander-drogin.al-prettier-vscode",
    "editor.formatOnSave": true
  }
}

Configuration

You can customize the formatting behavior in VS Code settings:

{
  "alPrettier.tabWidth": 4,
  "alPrettier.useTabs": false,
  "alPrettier.printWidth": 120,
  "alPrettier.groupGlobalVars": "none",
  "alPrettier.noLineBreaksInAttributes": false,
  "alPrettier.removeEmptyElements": false
}

Options

• tabWidth (default: 4): Number of spaces per indentation level
• useTabs (default: false): Use tabs instead of spaces for indentation
• printWidth (default: 120): Specify the line length that the printer will wrap on
• groupGlobalVars (default: "none"): Group all global vars in the object. Available options: "none" - keep the variables as is; "top": move all variable declarations to the top, after the object properties; "bottom": move variables to the bottom; "beforeCode": place variables before procedures.
• noLineBreaksInAttributes (default: false): Disable wrapping of procedure attributes even if the line exceeds maximum print width. Attributes are always printed in a single line.
• removeEmptyElements (default false): Remove elements without content (this includes table fieldgroups, page actions and layout sections)

Requirements

• VS Code 1.75 or later
• AL language support (from Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central AL Language extension)

Known issues and limitations

• Requires valid AL syntax to format correctly. Formatting of an AL statement that cannot be parsed correctly will throw an error.
• Range formatting is in development and currently not supported.
• #pragma, #if not CLEANX and similar precompiler instructions are interpreted as leading comments for the next token and may be unaligned after formatting.
• Not all AL objects are supported (yet). Currently supported objects:
  • Codeunit
  • Enum
  • Enum extension
  • Interface
  • Page
  • Page extension
  • Query
  • Report (without embedded RDL layout)
  • Table
  • Table extension

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please submit issues and pull requests to the repository.

License

MIT