Vanthrex for IBM i v0.6.1

• Stable release: Vanthrex for IBM i is no longer marked as Preview on the VS Code Marketplace.
• Releases are published to the Marketplace automatically when a version tag is pushed (needs the VSCE_PAT repository secret).

Install

• VS Code Marketplace: search for Vanthrex for IBM i, or open https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=gauravgupta0612.vanthrex-ibmi
• Offline: download the .vsix below, then Extensions → … → Install from VSIX…

📖 Documentation: https://gauravgupta0612.github.io/vanthrex-ibmi-docs/

Full Changelog: v0.6.0...v0.6.1

Vanthrex for IBM i v0.6.0

New: AI assistant for IBM i (@vanthrex)

• Type @Vanthrex in the VS Code chat (GitHub Copilot Chat or any chat model) and ask about IBM i in plain language. Commands: /explain, /document, /review, /modernize (fixed format → modern **FREE RPG), /test (RPGUnit tests), /fix (explain and fix compile errors), /sql (Db2 for i SQL written against your real tables and columns) and /object LIB/NAME *TYPE.
• The assistant knows the connected system (library list, IBM i release) and can look things up: object descriptions, table columns and indexes, source members, object search, system status and read-only queries.
• Safe by design: it only reads. Queries must be a single SELECT / WITH / VALUES (data-change statements and functions with side effects such as QCMDEXC are refused), and Vanthrex asks before every query and before reading an IFS file.
• Right-click in a source → Vanthrex AI (Explain, Document, Review, Modernize, Unit tests, Fix compile errors, Write SQL); the 💡 on an IBM i compile error offers Ask AI to explain and fix; right-click an object → AI: Explain This Object.
• The same tools work in Copilot agent mode: #ibmiQuery, #ibmiSource, #ibmiObject, #ibmiSearch, #ibmiStatus.
• Settings: vanthrex.ai.enabled, vanthrex.ai.useTools, vanthrex.ai.allowQueries, vanthrex.ai.confirmQueries, vanthrex.ai.maxSourceChars.

New: Git for IBM i source

• Git: Export Source to a Git Repository (right-click a library or source file): saves every member as library/sourcefile/member.type, then offers to create the repository, make the first commit and publish it (GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps…).
• Git: Get Changes from IBM i brings in only the members changed on the system since the last sync; Git: Upload Changed Files to IBM i sends only the files you changed — to their own libraries or to another one (for example your development library). Files changed on both sides are flagged, never silently overwritten.
• Git: History of This Member: every committed version of the member you are editing — compare with the IBM i copy, compare with the previous version, open it, or restore it into the editor.
• Git: Commit & Push with the author from your Git configuration or from vanthrex.git.authorName / vanthrex.git.authorEmail.

New: call graph & impact analysis

• Call Graph (right-click a program, service program or file): an interactive diagram of who calls the object (callers, the impact of a change) and what it uses (programs, service programs, files with input/output/update usage), several levels deep. Pan, zoom, change depth, hide files, click any object for its actions, and Copy as Mermaid for docs and pull requests.
• Impact Analysis (Who Uses This?): the callers view directly, with a count of the programs and libraries affected.

New: several systems at once

• Connect to more than one IBM i (for example DEV and PROD) and switch instantly with Switch IBM i System (quick menu, status bar or the Connections view). Other systems stay connected in the background.
• A member or IFS file is always saved to the system it was opened from — saving while another system is active is refused with a clear message.

New: SQL performance — Explain

• Explain SQL (Performance) in a SQL editor (also on the editor title): runs the query under a database monitor and summarises the access plan — table scans and why, indexes used, temporary indexes, sorts — with tips, the optimizer's advised indexes and the index advisor history, plus a ready-to-review CREATE INDEX statement.

Better: fixed → free conversion

• Convert Fixed Format to Free now converts H, F, D and P specs too: ctl-opt, dcl-f (usage, keyed, devices, program-described files), dcl-s, dcl-c, dcl-ds / end-ds (overlay → pos, externally described, LIKEDS), dcl-pr / dcl-pi with parameters, dcl-proc / end-proc, long names, continued keywords and literals. Compile-time data is left untouched and long statements are wrapped at column 80.

Other

• Requires VS Code 1.95 or later.

Install

• VS Code Marketplace: search for Vanthrex for IBM i, or open https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=gauravgupta0612.vanthrex-ibmi
• Offline: download the .vsix below, then Extensions → … → Install from VSIX…

📖 Documentation: https://gauravgupta0612.github.io/vanthrex-ibmi-docs/

Full Changelog: v0.5.0...v0.6.0

Vanthrex for IBM i v0.5.0

New: IBM i debugger

• Debug Program (Ctrl+Alt+G, the 🐞 button on a program, or the editor title of an RPG/CL source): runs the program in a batch job under the IBM i debugger and opens a full VS Code debug session — breakpoints, step over/into/out, variables, watch and call stack. Parameters for the CALL are remembered per program.
• Uses IBM's free IBM i Debug extension as the debug client and the IBM i Debug Service on the server; Vanthrex installs the client on request, reads the service's port and certificate locations, downloads and trusts the certificate, and starts the session for you.
• Debugger Setup Check: one page that checks the client, the Debug Service (installed, running, certificate) and this PC's certificate, with buttons to fix each item — including Start Debug Service.
• Settings: vanthrex.debug.port, vanthrex.debug.ignoreCertificateErrors, vanthrex.debug.updateProductionFiles, vanthrex.debug.trace.

Install

• VS Code Marketplace: search for Vanthrex for IBM i, or open https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=gauravgupta0612.vanthrex-ibmi
• Offline: download the .vsix below, then Extensions → … → Install from VSIX…

📖 Documentation: https://gauravgupta0612.github.io/vanthrex-ibmi-docs/

Full Changelog: v0.4.0...v0.5.0

Vanthrex for IBM i v0.4.0

Fixes

• Members now always open. With the Mapepire SQL engine, opening a member could fail with "The editor could not be opened due to an unexpected error" (log: Result set was null). Statements that return no rows are now handled correctly, and if reading with source dates ever fails the member opens without dates instead of failing.
• Lock information works on all releases: the lock check used a column name (MEMBER_NAME) that QSYS2.OBJECT_LOCK_INFO does not have.

New: object & job tools

• Object information page: owner, created/changed/last used, days used, size, source member, journaling and every other attribute — click any object in the Libraries view. Buttons to open the source, see locks, where used, edit data and generate SQL.
• Who has this object locked? for any object, with job log, Ask to release and End job per lock holder.
• Compare two libraries (for example DEV and PROD): objects and source members that are only in one library or different, with a side-by-side diff of changed members.
• Modules & exports of a service program or ILE program, with modules whose source changed after they were compiled highlighted.

New: SQL power tools

• Generate SQL (DDL) for any table, view, index, procedure or function (QSYS2.GENERATE_SQL).
• Run SQL Script (Ctrl+Shift+Enter): runs every statement in the file and shows each result, row count or error. Stops at the first error unless vanthrex.sql.scriptStopOnError is off.
• SQL history and saved queries: rerun, open, insert or copy a statement; star the ones you use often.

New: procedure & copybook tools (RPG)

• Generate prototype from procedure: builds the DCL-PR from a procedure's DCL-PI, ready for your prototype copybook.
• Extract to procedure: moves selected free-form lines into a new procedure and calls it — refused when that would change behaviour (local variables, early exits, unbalanced blocks).
• Check /COPY usage: lists each copybook with the declarations the source actually uses, and comments out unused ones on request.

Install

• VS Code Marketplace: search for Vanthrex for IBM i, or open https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=gauravgupta0612.vanthrex-ibmi
• Offline: download the .vsix below, then Extensions → … → Install from VSIX…

📖 Documentation: https://gauravgupta0612.github.io/vanthrex-ibmi-docs/

Full Changelog: v0.3.1...v0.4.0

Vanthrex for IBM i 0.3.1

What's new

• Documentation site: full user documentation is now online at https://gauravgupta0612.github.io/vanthrex-ibmi-docs/ (installation, IBM i setup, every feature, commands, settings, troubleshooting and FAQ).
• New command Vanthrex: Open Documentation, also in the quick menu (Ctrl+Alt+I) and in the … menu of the Connections view.
• The Marketplace page links to the documentation.
• Release workflow fix: GitHub Packages publishing no longer runs the Marketplace publish script.

Install

• VS Code Marketplace: search for Vanthrex for IBM i, or open https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=gauravgupta0612.vanthrex-ibmi
• Offline: download the .vsix below → Extensions → … → Install from VSIX…

📖 Documentation: https://gauravgupta0612.github.io/vanthrex-ibmi-docs/

Full Changelog: v0.3.0...v0.3.1

Vanthrex for IBM i 0.3.0

What's new

• New name: Vanthrex for IBM i (formerly Silverlake), first release on the VS Code Marketplace. Settings now start with vanthrex.; connections are set up again after installing.
• SEU-style source dates: every member line shows its change date (and optionally its sequence number). Saving keeps the dates of lines you did not touch; changed lines get today's date. Ctrl+Alt+D cycles the display.
• Highlight lines changed since… a date (7 / 30 / 90 days or any date), with a list to jump between them.
• Lock information in the editor: a banner shows who has the member open (name, user, job, lock state), with Ask to release (break message), Notify me when free and End their job.
• Edit conflict protection: warns before saving over a member that someone changed after you opened it (with Compare first), or that is locked by another job.
• F4 prompter for fixed-format RPG (H, F, D, P, C specs) and DDS: edit the columns in a labelled form.
• CL command prompter: F4 on a CL command (or Prompt and Run CL Command) builds a form from the command's real definition on the IBM i.
• Member list: last change date in the tree, sort by name or date, filter by "changed in the last N days".
• Safer member saves: lines are staged in QTEMP and the member is replaced in one step, with automatic restore if the replace fails.
• Releases are also published to GitHub Packages.

Install

• VS Code Marketplace: search for Vanthrex for IBM i, or open https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=gauravgupta0612.vanthrex-ibmi
• Offline: download the .vsix below → Extensions → … → Install from VSIX…

📖 Documentation: https://gauravgupta0612.github.io/vanthrex-ibmi-docs/

Full Changelog: v0.2.0...v0.3.0

v0.2.0

Full Changelog: https://github.com/gauravgupta0612/silverlake-ibmi/commits/v0.2.0