'createFileSystemWatcher' does not detect changes when source was unzipped

[veredcon]

Does this issue occur when all extensions are disabled?: Yes

• VS Code Version: 1.84.2
• OS Version: web version of VSCode. It does not reproduced on local version of VSCode.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Install this example extension: https://github.com/815are/virtualFileWatchIssue.git
2. run command watcherTest: Register global watcher to register global watchers to monitor {}/{*}.js file changes.
3. Extract temp/testProject.zip by running command unzip testProject.zip.
4. Change js file from extracted sources -> testProject\ext\test.js. --> You won't get any notification message upon creation of this file (when it was unzipped) nor in when the file has been changed.

Notes:

• There is code where watchers for js files are registered(using 2 approaches) - https://github.com/815are/virtualFileWatchIssue/blob/main/src/extension.ts#L26-L49
• watchers-test-0.0.5.vsix can be installed as a vsix
• Watchers are working fine if you reload window. Problem is that watcher does not work right after unzip.

[bpasero]

This issue could originate from a problem with file watching. Let me explain how file watching works in VSCode first and then provide some details how to get more logging data from how file watching behaves in your case.

Synopsis
VSCode has different strategies for file watching depending on your workspace and setup:

• no folder opened: files in opened editors are watched via node.js fs.watch
• folder opened: folder is watched recursively for all changes via parcel, opened editors with files not within the folder are watched via node.js fs.watch

If you are connected to a remote (SSH, WSL, Docker), the file watcher will run within the target file system. As such, even though you maybe on Windows where VSCode runs, if the remote is Linux, the file watcher will run in the Linux environment.

Platforms
Depending on the platform you are on, file watching is differently implemented:

• macOS: using fsevents services
• Windows: using ReadDirectoryChangesW method
• Linux: using inotify

Specifically on Linux, watching a large folder recursively can result in VSCode consuming too many file handles. If that is the case, you will see a warning notification with instructions how to solve that.

Limitations
File watching comes with a set of limitations:

• symbolic links are not followed automatically but you can explicitly add symbolic links to be watched via the files.watcherInclude setting
• mapped network drives or third party file system drivers are not guaranteed to produce file events
• in general, the operating system may decide to drop file events at any time, there is no 100% guarantee

Settings
Please review your settings to see if maybe a folder is excluded by accident. Specifically, the files.watcherExclude setting is relevant.

Logging (local)
!!! This is ONLY when you open a local workspace, for remote see below !!!
We provide logging for file events when you enable verbose logging. Steps are:

• open VSCode on the local workspace that shows the issue
• select View | Command Palette...
• select Developer - Set Log Level...
• pick Trace
• select Help | Toggle Developer Tools
• select Console
• filter the output by typing File Watcher into the filter box
• attach the output when doing the operation that exhibits the issue

Logging (remote)
!!! This is ONLY when you open a remote workspace (WSL, Docker, SSH), for local see above !!!
We provide logging for file events when you enable verbose logging. Steps are:

• open VSCode on the remote workspace that shows the issue
• select View | Command Palette...
• select Developer - Set Log Level...
• pick Trace
• select View | Output
• select Log (Remote Server) from the dropdown
• attach the output when doing the operation that exhibits the issue

[veredcon]

Hi @bpasero

I changed the log level to trace and did 2 scenarios, in between I refreshed the window, set up again the log level to trace

1. Clicked on watcherTest: Register global watcher - even though it wrote in the trace that is ignoring request to start watch - It did watch files that were changed not from the zip file. (You can see the notifications:
   

2. Clicked on watcherTest: Register global watcher - extracted the testProject.zip and changes js files from the zip - I didn't get any notifications on the creation of files nor that they have changed:
   As mentioned the trace mentioned that it doesn't watch doesn't seem to reflect the issue as in the previous scenario, not from zip file, it did watch.
   

[bpasero]

I see that you seem to be using GitPod, which is not a product we ship nor support. So I will close this issue and suggest you report it to them.

[veredcon]

@bpasero I'm sure it happens also in vscode.dev but I don't not how I can install extensions there