ASF Language Support

A comprehensive Visual Studio Code extension providing rich language support for the Advanced Scripting Framework (ASF) — a modern, JavaScript-like scripting language implemented entirely in VBA that transforms VBA into a powerful script host.

ASF brings first-class functions, closures, classes, modules, template literals, destructuring, spread/rest operators, COM object prototype extension, and much more to the VBA ecosystem. This extension makes writing ASF code a first-class experience inside VS Code.

Features

Syntax Highlighting

Full TextMate grammar covering every construct in the ASF language:

• Keywords & control flow — if, elseif, else, for, while, switch, case, try, catch, return, break, continue
• Declarations — let, fun, class, field, constructor, static, extends
• Prototype extensions — prototype.COM.ObjectType methodName() syntax for COM object monkey patching
• Module system — import, export, from, as, default
• Literals — numbers, single/double-quoted strings with escape sequences, booleans (true, false), null
• Template strings — backtick strings with ${expression} interpolation, fully recursive highlighting
• VBA escape hatch — @(VBA_EXPR) blocks highlighted as embedded VBA source
• Operators — arithmetic, comparison, logical, bitwise, assignment, spread (...), ternary (? :)
• Comments — line (//) and block (/* */)
• Classes — class names, inherited classes, constructors, static methods, and field declarations
• Functions — named declarations and anonymous function expressions
• Office COM objects — syntax highlighting for Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Access, and Outlook object types

Code Snippets

Over 30 built-in snippets for rapid development:

Prefix	Description
fun	Function declaration
afun	Anonymous function expression
class	Class declaration
classx	Class with extends
if	If statement
ife	If-else statement
ifel	If-elseif-else statement
for	C-style for loop
forin	For-in loop
forof	For-of loop
while	While loop
switch	Switch statement
try	Try-catch block
let	Variable declaration
imp	Default import
impn	Named import
impns	Namespace import (* as)
exp	Named export
expd	Default export
dest	Array destructuring
destr	Array destructuring with rest
print	Print statement
tpl	Template literal
vba	VBA escape hatch @(...)
prototype	COM prototype method definition
protorange	Excel Range prototype method
protolistrow	Excel ListRow prototype method
protoworksheet	Excel Worksheet prototype method
protodocument	Word Document prototype method
protopresentation	PowerPoint Presentation prototype method
protoslide	PowerPoint Slide prototype method
protorecordset	Access Recordset prototype method
protomailitem	Outlook MailItem prototype method
this	COM object property access via 'this'

Language Configuration

• Bracket matching — {}, [], ()
• Auto-closing pairs — braces, brackets, parentheses, single quotes, double quotes, backticks
• Surrounding pairs — select text and wrap with any bracket or quote type
• Comment toggling — Ctrl+/ for line comments, Shift+Alt+A for block comments
• Code folding — automatic folding on brace blocks plus // #region / // #endregion markers
• Smart indentation — automatic indent/outdent based on braces

IntelliSense & Editor Support

• Hover information — hover over keywords to see quick descriptions
• Code completions — suggestions for built-in objects, language keywords, and Office COM objects
• Office COM objects — IntelliSense support for 180+ Office objects from Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Access, and Outlook
• Prototype method navigation — COM prototype methods appear in VS Code outline and symbol navigation
• Folding ranges — intelligent code folding based on block structure

COM Prototype Extension

Support for ASF's COM object monkey patching syntax (ASF v3.1.2+):

• Prototype method definition — prototype.COM.ObjectType methodName() { ... } syntax highlighting
• Context-aware this binding — proper highlighting of this keyword within prototype methods
• Office object types — recognition of Excel (Range, Worksheet, ListRow), Word (Document, Paragraph), PowerPoint (Slide, Presentation), Access (Recordset, Form), and Outlook (MailItem, Folder) object types
• Method chaining support — snippets include return this; for fluent interfaces
• Application-specific templates — dedicated snippets for each Office application's common objects

Example prototype method:

prototype.COM.Range formatCurrency() {
    this.NumberFormat = "$#,##0.00";
    this.Font.Bold = true;
    return this; // Enable method chaining
}

Requirements

No external dependencies are required. The extension works out of the box with any VS Code installation 1.109.0 or later.

To actually run ASF scripts, you will need:

• Microsoft Excel or Access (as the VBA host)
• The ASF runtime library imported into your VBA project
• ASF v3.1.2 or later for COM prototype extension features

See the ASF documentation for setup instructions.

Extension Settings

This extension does not currently contribute any configurable settings.

Supported File Extensions

Extension	Description
.vas	ASF script file (can use import/export)

Known Issues

• VBA escape highlighting — The @(VBA_EXPR) construct uses a simplified matching strategy. Deeply nested parentheses inside the VBA expression may cause the closing delimiter to be detected prematurely.
• Template string nesting — Nested template literals (backticks inside ${} interpolations) may not highlight correctly beyond two levels of depth.
• No semantic tokenization yet — Highlighting is purely TextMate-based. Variable scoping, type inference, and cross-file symbol resolution are not yet supported.

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For more information

• Visual Studio Code's Markdown Support
• Markdown Syntax Reference
• VS Code Extension API
• TextMate Grammar Reference

Enjoy!