VS Code & Db2 for IBM i - 1.3 release
As for my first post on Dinoframe, why not talk about and show off some brand new features coming to the Db2 for IBM i VS Code extension very soon. The two bigs things being worked on for the extension right now are:
- Improved content assist for writing SQL PL (procedures and functions mainly)
- Brand new Variables view
We'll cover those individually. In case you didn't know about this extension, VS Code has had the ability to work with Db2 for IBM i for sometime now and is being continuously improved.
Improved content assist for SQL PL
As of 1.3.0, when writing SQL PL (procedures or functions), the content assist can now show you defined variables and parameters inside of the body of your routine. This is a small change, but routines can grow fast. Having these details at your finger tips is useful.
Each variable and parameter in the content assist list also has the type information provided with it. You will also find when working with larger SQL sources, that the content assist is more aware of objects you have created in the source:
P.s. if you didn't already know, VS Code can already tell you about object columns, procedure and function signatures, and much more!
Brand new Variables view
The new Variables view allows you to monitor SQL variables and data areas. This means as your variables and data areas changed between SQL statements, the view will be automatically updated with the new value. Can you spot the ☀️ (sun emoji) in the Variables view? That's the 'updated' indicator! This is particulrly useful for debugging, or in the case of the screenshot, where I am showing off the Variables view in combination with a Notebook.
Also, that's right, we have really tight Notebooks integration inside of VS Code. This is a perfect platform for building tutorials or charts for your peers. We've had this feature for some time, so check out our documentation below for more information on how to use and create them.
The Variables view will also make suggestions of variables to add as you are executing SQL statements. This new view will be available in 1.4.0 of the extension.
Where can I find more?
You can see the following links to learn more about the Db2 for IBM i extension:
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