Contents

• Settings
• Extensions
  • LaTeX

Settings

Types of settings

• User Settings: <path_to_VSCode>\data\user-data\User\settings.json
  • Scope: Global - any instance of VSCode
  • Most extensions will add settings here
• Workspace Settings: <path_to_workspace_directory>\<workspace-name>.code-workspace
  • Scope: Workspace - only when the workspace is open
• Folder Settings: <path_to_folder>\.vscode\settings.json
  • Scope: Folder - only files within the folder
• Modifying settings
  • Settings apply by precedence. Adding to User, Workspace, or Folder Settings masks any default settings without overwriting them.
  • Comments can be included in the settings JSON files via //

Suggestions

• Multiple projects in workspace
  • Background: A “root” folder is any folder added to a workspace via File > Add Folder to Workspace or specifying folders in the Workspace Settings file.
  • Problem: By default, the terminal working directory will be set to the root folder of whichever file is currently being edited or the first folder (alphabetically) in the workspace.
    • Example 1: Opening an instance of the integrated terminal
    • Example 2: Any code run via the Debugger (e.g., F5 or Ctrl-F5)
    • Example 3: Right-clicking a file in the Explorer side-bar and selecting “Run <language> File in Terminal”
  • Solution
    • Multi-root workspaces
      • Individually add “root” project folders to workspace
      • Paths for code within each folder may be relative to the root folder.
    • Modify launch configurations. This fixes the behavior of running a file through the Debugger.
      • Note: There remains an unresolved issue where conda environments fail to activate before the program is run.

        "launch": {
          "configurations": [
            {
              "name": "Python: Current File (Integrated Terminal)",
              "type": "python",
              "request": "launch",
              "program": "${file}",
              "console": "integratedTerminal",
              "cwd": "${fileDirname}" // <-- add this line
            }
          ]
        }
        

    • Modify extension settings. This fixes the behavior of right-clicking a file in the Explorer side-bar and selecting “Run Python File in Terminal”

      "settings": {
        "python.terminal.executeInFileDir": true
      }
      

• Set different conda Python environments for workspaces
  • Add the following to Workspace Settings (note the double backslashes for Windows paths):

    "settings": {
      "python.pythonPath": "<path_to_conda_installation>\\envs\\<env_name>"
    }
    

Extensions

LaTeX

Setup LaTeX with Visual Studio Code and MikTeX on Windows

• Install LaTeX Workshop extension
  • Enable synctex support: download synctex.exe and kpathsea623.dll to MikTeX bin\ directory (e.g., [path to MiKTeX installation]\texmfs\install\miktex\bin).
• Add recipe for pdflatex with -shell-escape (-enable-write18) option
  • Add the following to User Settings (in addition to existing default values). Note that the default keybinding Ctrl + Alt + B for “Build LaTeX Project” will use the first recipe under “latex-workshop.latex.recipes”.

    "latex-workshop.latex.recipes": [
      {
        "name": "pdflatex_shell_escape * 3",
        "tools": [
          "pdflatex_shell_escape",
          "pdflatex_shell_escape",
          "pdflatex_shell_escape"
        ]
      }
    ],
    "latex-workshop.latex.tools": [
      {
        "name": "pdflatex_shell_escape",
        "command": "pdflatex",
        "args": [
          "-synctex=1",
          "-interaction=nonstopmode",
          "-file-line-error",
          "-enable-write18",
          "%DOC%"
        ]
      }
    ]
    

• Other settings changes
  • Disable auto-build on save: uncheck “On save: Enabled” option in Preferences or add "latex-workshop.latex.autoBuild.onSave.enabled": false to settings file (e.g., User, Workspace, or Folder)