AL for Sublime Text

Syntax highlighting, completions, and symbol indexing for the AL programming language used in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

Overview

Metric	Value
Syntax rules	409 lines, 90 scopes
Completions	228 keyword/type completions
File types	.al, .dal
Sublime version	4 (syntax v2)
Tests	syntax_test_al.al

Features

Feature	Details
Syntax highlighting	Full context-aware scoping for all AL constructs
Object declarations	codeunit, table, page, report, enum, etc. with ID and name
Procedures and triggers	Parameter types, return types, access modifiers
Attributes	[Scope('OnPrem')], [NonDebuggable], [EventSubscriber]
Preprocessor	#if, #else, #endif, #pragma with condition highlighting
Strings	Single-quoted 'text' and verbatim @'multiline'
AL-specific literals	Date (0D), time (0T), datetime (0DT), biginteger (1000L)
Keyword completions	All AL keywords and built-in types
Symbol indexing	Jump to procedures/triggers with Ctrl+R
Comment toggling	Line (Ctrl+/) and block (Ctrl+Shift+/)
Indentation	Automatic begin/end block indentation

Installation

Package Control (recommended)

1. Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P)
2. Select Package Control: Install Package
3. Search for AL and install

Manual

cd "%APPDATA%/Sublime Text/Packages"
git clone https://github.com/SShadowS/sublime-al.git AL

LSP Support

For full language intelligence (go-to-definition, hover, diagnostics, call hierarchy, code lens), install LSP-AL:

1. Install LSP-AL via Package Control
2. The AL Language Server is downloaded automatically — no VS Code required

Key Files

File	Purpose
AL.sublime-syntax	Syntax definition (context-aware, v2 format)
AL.sublime-completions	228 keyword and type completions
AL.tmPreferences	Comment toggling and indentation rules
AL.sublime-settings	Default editor settings for AL files
tests/syntax_test_al.al	Syntax highlighting test suite

Regenerating Completions

If the AL language adds new keywords, regenerate completions from the tree-sitter-al grammar:

node scripts/generate-completions.js /path/to/tree-sitter-al/grammar.js

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Author: Torben Leth (sshadows@sshadows.dk) License: MIT (see LICENSE)