Tip: Format AL Files OnSave in Visual Studio Code

Maybe everyone else is already doing this and I’m just slow on the uptake but Visual Studio Code has options to automatically format files at various points.

The AL extension for VS Code provides a formatter for .al files. You can run it manually with the Format Document command (Shift+Alt+F). This inserts the correct number of spaces between parameters and brackets, indents lines correctly and generally tidies the current document up.

You can have VS Code automatically format the document when pasting, typing and saving. Search for format in the settings.

These settings will be applied globally. Alternatively you can enable the formatting just for specific file types. Click on the AL link in the right hand corner of the status bar and choose “Configure AL language based settings…”

This opens the VS Code settings JSON file in your AppData folder (on Windows) and adds an [al] object to the file. Create the “editor.formatOnSave” and set its value to true to enable AL formatting when the files are saved. You can use intellisense (Ctrl+Space) to list the valid options in this file.

VS Code for the win.