View source for HowTo Use OpenFOAM with Visual Studio Code

The [https://github.com/MaskRay/ccls C++ language server (ccls)] can read and analyze C++ source code to provide features like "Go to Definition" in many Editors.
Because ccls needs to know how the files are compiled, you need to do a bit of configuration.
This guide shows how to set this up for OpenFOAM in [https://code.visualstudio.com/ Visual Studio Code].

# Install VS Code
# Install ccls and the the [https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ccls-project.ccls ccls vs code extension]
# Install [https://github.com/rizsotto/Bear bear]
# Rebuild OpenFOAM and all your custom libraries that use wmake and pass the "-with-bear" option to wmake / Allwmake . If you get a "unknown option: '-with-bear' " error, it is because your OpenFOAM version is too old. But don't worry, I wrote a [https://develop.openfoam.com/Development/openfoam/uploads/3501dca35d4a7fcac7a87575a2ae35ab/bearOpenFOAM8.patch backport for OpenFOAM8] and a [https://develop.openfoam.com/Development/openfoam/uploads/e0610c08fac4a3bfa6c7ff85532dc9e4/bearOpenFOAM7.patch backport for OpenFOAM7]. If you use an even older version of OpenFOAM, you can easily adopt those backports. Note that this backported version does not require you to pass "-with-bear" and might be slower. If you want to check if you did this right, you can start compilation and run <code>ps -ef | grep bear</code>. There should be a process that looks a bit like this: <code>bear --append --output /home/volker/openfoam/platforms/linux64GccDPInt32Opt/lib/../compile_commands.json -- wmake -all</code>
# Run the command  <code>openfoam-root-dir/bin/tools/vscode-settings > openfoam.code-workspace</code> (you need to [https://openfoam.org/download/source/setting-environment/ set the environment] for that)
# In VS Code, select File -> Open Workspace and select the openfoam.code-workspace file generated by the previous step.
# You might want to check if openfoam.code-workspace looks something like this:
 {
     "folders": [
         {
             "path": "/home/volker/openfoam"
         }
     ],
     "settings": {
         "ccls.cache.directory": "/home/volker/openfoam/build/linux64GccDPInt32Opt/ccls-cache",
 
         "ccls.misc.compilationDatabaseDirectory": "/home/volker/openfoam/build/linux64GccDPInt32Opt",
 
         "C_Cpp.default.compileCommands": "/home/volker/openfoam/etc/openfoam wmake -with-bear -s -j",
 
         "C_Cpp.autocomplete": "disabled",
         "C_Cpp.errorSquiggles": "disabled",
         "C_Cpp.formatting": "disabled",
         "C_Cpp.intelliSenseEngine": "disabled"
     }
 }

Note that after doing the steps above,  "Go to definition" or similar features will only work after ccls finished generating its cache. This process can take a while (see if there is a "ccls" process that heavily uses the cpu).

For questions about this setup ask [mailto:volker.weissmann@gmx.de Volker Weißmann].

If you find that "Go to Definition" or some other features do not work on some specific function, please file a bug report for the [https://github.com/MaskRay/vscode-ccls/issues ccls plugin].

== Backports ==