Cicode for VS Code

A VS Code extension providing syntax highlighting, IntelliSense, and navigation for Cicode, the scripting language used in AVEVA Plant SCADA (Citect).

Disclaimer: This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by AVEVA. It is a community-driven tool to improve the Cicode development experience in VS Code.

Features

Syntax Highlighting

Full syntax highlighting for .ci files including:

• Keywords, operators, and control flow
• Function declarations and calls
• Variables and type annotations
• Strings with escape sequences
• Comments (line //, !, | and block /* */)
• Doc comments (/// with XML tags)
• Format picture specifiers (:###,##0.00)

IntelliSense

• Autocompletion for functions (built-in and user-defined)
• Signature help with parameter documentation
• Hover information showing function signatures and docs

Navigation

• Go to Definition for functions and variables
• Find All References across your workspace
• Rename Symbol for variables and parameters
• Document Outline showing functions in the current file
• Workspace Symbol Search (Ctrl+T) to find any function

Diagnostics

• Undefined function warnings
• Argument count validation
• Duplicate function detection
• Unused variable warnings
• Line length and indentation checks

Formatting

• Basic code formatter with configurable options
• Consistent indentation for control blocks

Built-in Functions

• Automatically parses function documentation from your Plant SCADA installation
• Falls back to packaged builtins if Plant SCADA is not installed
• Hover over built-in functions to see docs with a link to open the full help page

Installation

1. Install from the VS Code Marketplace, or
2. Download the .vsix file and install via Extensions: Install from VSIX...

Configuration

Setting	Default	Description
cicode.avevaPath	C:/Program Files (x86)/AVEVA Plant SCADA	Path to AVEVA Plant SCADA installation. The extension auto-finds help files.
cicode.diagnostics.enable	true	Enable diagnostics (undefined functions, duplicates)
cicode.diagnostics.ignoredFunctions	[]	Function names to exclude from checks
cicode.format.enable	true	Enable the code formatter
cicode.format.maxConsecutiveBlankLines	1	Max blank lines to allow
cicode.hover.showHelpLink	true	Show "Open full help" link in hovers
cicode.indexing.excludeGlobs	["**/node_modules/**"]	Patterns to exclude from indexing
cicode.lint.enable	true	Enable lint diagnostics
cicode.lint.maxLineLength	140	Warn when lines exceed this length
cicode.lint.warnMixedIndent	true	Warn on mixed tabs/spaces
cicode.lint.warnUnusedVariables	true	Warn about unused variables
cicode.lint.warnMissingSemicolons	true	Warn when declarations lack semicolons
cicode.lint.warnKeywordCase	false	Suggest uppercase keywords
cicode.lint.warnMagicNumbers	false	Warn about hardcoded numbers

Commands

Command	Description
Cicode: Rebuild Builtin Functions	Re-parse built-in functions from help files
Cicode: Reindex All Files	Rebuild the workspace index
Cicode: Open Help for Symbol	Open AVEVA help page for the symbol under cursor
Cicode: Insert Doc Skeleton	Insert a doc comment template above the current function

Keybindings

Key	Command
Ctrl+Alt+D	Insert Doc Skeleton (when in a Cicode file)

Doc Comments

The extension supports Doxygen XML doc comments for documenting your functions:

/**
<summary>Calculates the area of a rectangle.</summary>
<param name="width">The width of the rectangle.</param>
<param name="height">The height of the rectangle.</param>
<returns>The calculated area.</returns>
**/
FUNCTION CalculateArea(REAL width, REAL height)
    RETURN width * height;
END

Use Ctrl+Alt+D to automatically generate a doc skeleton for the function at your cursor.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.88.0 or higher
• For built-in function docs: AVEVA Plant SCADA installation (optional, packaged fallback available)

Links

• GitHub Repository
• Report Issues