Migration Help: Finding MPLAB® X IDE Features in MPLAB Tools for VS Code®

The File menu has basic project and file commands as well as import functions for HEX files and non-MPLAB X IDE projects.

The File menu has basic project, file and workspace (1) commands.

To import a project into VS Code, select File > Open Folder, navigate to the root folder of the existing project and click Select Folder. Then VS Code will reload with the selected folder as a workspace and extensions should begin initializing and configuring the project automatically. (2) 

Note (1): A VS Code Workspace is different from an MPLAB X IDE Workspace. See "Get Started for MPLAB® X IDE Users New to Visual Studio Code (VS Code®)".

Note (2): To import an MPLAB X IDE project into VS Code, type in the command palette "MPLAB: Welcome" and follow the instructions. 

The Editor menu has basic edit and find commands as well as start/stop macro recording.

See the "MPLAB X IDE User's Guide", "Editor" section.

The Editor menu has basic edit and find commands as well as toggle comments and expand tab abbreviation.

VS Code does not have a built-in macro recorder, but this functionality may be added using extensions from the Marketplace such as "Macro Recorder". 

See "View and edit files with the Editor" and "Basic editing".

The View menu has commands to show/hide desktop features or change how features are displayed.

The View menu has commands to display features or define how features are displayed.

The Navigate menu has commands to go to or move between deskop items. 

The Go menu has commands to move between deskop items.

The Source menu has commands to work with code development. This includes moving, duplicating and adding code; completing, fixing, and inserting code.

The Selection menu has commands to work with code development.

When you use the IDE’s refactoring operations, you can change the structure of your code and have the rest of your code updated to reflect the changes you have made.

See the "MPLAB X IDE User's Guide", "C Code Refactoring" section.

Source code refactoring can improve the quality and maintainability of your project by restructuring your code, while not modifying the runtime behavior.

See "Refactoring".

The Production menu has a command to build and run code with no debug code. It also has a command to make and program a device.
The Debug menu has a command to build and run code with debug code.

The Run menu has commands to Run Without Debugging or Start Debugging.

Or use the command palette to:

• Build main project for debug - MPLAB Cmake: Build
• Debug main project: Debug: Start Debugging
• Run main project (Make and Program Device) - MPLAB: Program Device

See also "Other Resources" below.

Work with version control systems such as Git, Mercurial, or Subversion.

Visual Studio Code has integrated source control management (SCM) that lets you work with Git and other version control systems directly in your editor.

See "Source Control in VS Code".

Window > Output
The Output window contains MPLAB X IDE output information shown on tabs within the window. Examples are the Debugger Console tab, showing main debug actions, and hardware-tool-related tabs, showing tool firmware version, device ID, and action status.

Window > Debugging > Output > Disassembly List File
In an Output window tab, open the Disassembly List File that is created by the compiler assembler and contains the mapping between the original source code and the generated assembly code.

Window > Debugging > Output > Message Center
In an Output window tab, open the Message Center that collects all the output window messages and then presents them chronologically into one view.

View > Output
The Output panel contains project output information. Unlike MPLAB X IDE, other information is shown independently, such as the Debug Console.

Disassembly View
See Disassembly window below.

Window > Debugging > Variables
During a debugging session, you can view local variable information and values on halt.

See "MPLAB X IDE User's Guide", "Variables Window" section.

During a debugging session, you can inspect variables and expressions in the VARIABLES section of the Run and Debug view (1) or by hovering over their source in the editor.

See "Debug code with Visual Studio Code", "Data inspection".

Note (1): The Run and Debug view beneath the menu bar displays all information related to running, debugging, and managing debug configuration settings.

Window > Debugging > Watches
To select a variable or symbol in the code, right-click to select New Watch, and the New Watch window will have the variable or symbol already selected; just click return to add it to the Watches window.
Select to open the window and then create a watch.

See the "MPLAB X IDE User's Guide", "Watch Local Variable Values Change" section.
See the "MPLAB X IDE User's Guide", "Watch Symbol Values Change" section.

Select a variable or expression in code, right-click to select New Watch, and the variable or expression will appear in the WATCH section (1).

Alternatively, in the WATCH section (2), click + to add a variable or expression to watch.

See the "Debug code with Visual Studio Code", "Data inspection" section.

Note (1): You can also hover over a variable on Pause to see its value.

Note (2): If you do not see a WATCH section, go to the top of the Debug sidebar and click on the ellipsis (...) to select the section.

Window > Debugging > Call Stack
For 16- and 32-bit devices, a software Call Stack window is available to view CALLs and GOTOs in executing C code. This window is not applicable for assembly code.

See the "MPLAB X IDE User's Guide", "Call Stack" section.

To open the CALL STACK, click the Run and Debug icon in the Activity Bar or pressing Ctrl + Shift + D.

During debugging, the CALL STACK pane lists the functions in the order they were called, with the most recent call at the top.

See "Multi-target debugging".

Window > Debugging > Breakpoints

To set or clear a breakpoint, click in the left margin.

See the "MPLAB X IDE User's Guide", "Control Program Execution with Breakpoints" section.

To set or clear a breakpoint, click in the left margin.

On the Run menu, see other breakpoint options.

See the "Debug code with Visual Studio Code",  "Breakpoints" section.

Window > Debugging > Sessions

The Sessions window displays a list of active debugging sessions.

NetBeans allows for multiple debugger sessions to run concurrently. This is particularly useful when debugging different projects (e.g., a Java project and a PHP project) or when dealing with multi-threaded applications.

Visual Studio Code supports multiple debug sessions, particularly useful for scenarios involving multiple processes like client-server applications. This functionality is configured through the launch.json (1) file located in the .vscode folder of your workspace.

See "Multi-target debugging".

Note (1): When working on several related projects in a single VS Code instance, multi-root workspaces can help organize your project structure, with each root potentially having its own launch.json configurations.

Window > Debugging > Disassembly

The Disassembly window will disassemble each instruction, but has no history of banking
associated with the instruction. Therefore, SFR names displayed in the window will be for Bank 0.

To view the linker-generated disassembly listing file, right click in the Disassembly window and
select Disassembly Listing File.

To open the Disassembly view, pause debug execution, right click in the editor or Call Stack view, and select Open Disassembly View from the context menu.

The Disassembly view displays the machine code translated back into assembly instructions, shown alongside the corresponding source code where applicable.

Window > Debugging > IO View

The IO View window provides a graphical view of the I/O memory map of the device associated with the active project. 

See the "MPLAB X IDE User's Guide", "View Registers for the Project (I/O View)" section.

In the Command Palette, enter MPLAB IO View: Show to open the IO View. 

Select Help about MPLAB X IDE tools and features. Also see tool Release Notes.

Select Help about VS Code. Find walkthroughs, videos, tips and tricks, and documentation.

If you are new to VS Code, please review the items on the Help menu.

The main window for MPLAB X IDE is called the desktop.

The main interface for VS Code is called the user interface.

Notifications of updates to versions and features are shown in message bubbles on MPLAB X IDE start-up. After start-up, the number of messages are represented in a single message bubble on the bottom right of the desktop .

Clicking on this bubble will open the Notifications window containing a list of the previous notifications. Click on a notification to see its details.

VS Code provides various update messages and notifications to keep users informed about new versions, features, and extension updates.

All notifications, including update messages, can be accessed by clicking the bell icon  in the Status Bar, which opens the Notifications area.

See "Reduce Notifications with Do Not Disturb Mode".

The Status bar is located at the bottom of the desktop and provides up-to-date information on the status of the MPLAB X IDE session. Editor information is also provided.

The Status Bar sits at the bottom of the VS Code workbench and displays information and actions that relate to your workspace.

See "Status Bar".