VS Code / Licence and help

Troubleshooting in VS Code

Fixes for the problems that only happen in VS Code: a file that opens as text, a command that does nothing, and what is not available yet.

Free

Problems that are not about VS Code, such as a failed deployment or a missing template, are in the general troubleshooting page.

A file opens as text, not in the editor

• The Penstock editors claim *.bpmn, *.bpmn.xml and *.bpmn20.xml for BPMN, *.dmn for DMN and *.form for forms. A file with another name opens as text.
• A file that you opened with Penstock: Open as text stays text, and Penstock remembers that. To get the diagram back, use Reopen Editor With… and choose the Penstock editor.
• A file that was already open as text when VS Code started is switched to the editor once the extension is active, unless you opened it as text on purpose.
• The extension needs the files on the local disk. In a virtual workspace it does not work.

A command is greyed out, or does nothing

"… is not available in VS Code yet"

The editor asked for something the extension does not do yet, and said so rather than pretending. These are:

• the Camunda 7 to Camunda 8 conversion and its preview;
• the Camunda 8 migration skeleton;
• debugger blocks for languages other than Java;
• double-click opening in the project tree.

Running a test or debugging it from the project tree opens the file at the test and goes through VS Code's testing commands at the cursor. The debugger section in the project tree stays empty.

Code links show nothing

They need Pro. Open the Penstock view in the Activity Bar. Without Pro it says what the feature gives and offers to buy or sign in. The Problems view stays empty too. With Pro, press the reload button in the toolbar of the Penstock view, and check that the code is in the workspace folder or under linked in penstock.yaml. See Code links in VS Code.

Test cases

The Test Explorer lists no test cases.

Penstock finds the test-cases folder beside the diagram, or src/test/resources/test-cases for a diagram under src/main/resources. A diagram with no test-case file says so, and penstock test-cases --generate writes one next to the diagram.

VS Code asks Run test cases on this engine?

Penstock deploys a test build to the engine of the profile, starts instances, answers the jobs the test case mocks, and removes the build and the instances after each run. To stop being asked, mark the profile with deployment.forTests: true. An engine that is neither marked for tests nor on this machine is not changed.

Where is the trace of a run?

In the Output panel, in the channel Penstock Test Runs, and under .penstock/runs. Open run on the diagram in the menu of a test case shows the path on the diagram.

JUnit tests are not listed.

JUnit and Camunda Process Test classes are run by the Java extension. Penstock runs only the test-case files.

Compare with…

"Open a BPMN diagram to compare, or pick one in the explorer."

Open a .bpmn file, or right-click one in the Explorer or in Source Control.

"… is not in a git repository, so there is no … of it to compare with."

Pick another file to compare with, or put the folder under git.

Deployment

• The hooks of penstock.yaml run only in a trusted workspace.
• A password or client secret is kept in VS Code's secret storage, once for each workspace, profile and field. If it is missing, the message says to enter it under Connection in the Deploy popover.
• A request that VS Code does not answer within two minutes fails with a message, except those that wait for you.

Where else to look

• The Output panel, channel Penstock Test Runs, for test runs.
• The editor is a webview. Developer: Open Webview Developer Tools in the Command Palette shows its console.

Still stuck

Open an issue on the support tracker. Add the VS Code version, the extension version, the engine, and a .bpmn file that shows the problem.