A professional CL (Control Language) prompter and formatter for VS Code that brings both the familiar IBM i F4 CL prompter experience and intelligent code formatting to your modern IBM i CL development environment. Works seamlessly with the vscode-for-ibmi extension (Code4IBMi).
This extension brings two powerful capabilities to modern IBM i development:
CL Prompting — A fully functional professional IBM i CL command interface that interprets IBM i *CMD objects directly, supporting both IBM-supplied and user-defined commands with complete prompting accuracy. Nested prompting, parameter validation, and command definition handling are preserved, allowing developers to interact with the IBM i command model as it was designed—now integrated into a modern IDE workflow.
CL Formatting — Professional code formatting for CL source that intelligently handles single statements or entire files. The formatter understands CL syntax, preserves comments, properly handles qualified names, and respects your formatting preferences—bringing modern code formatting standards to IBM i CL development.
Together, these tools enable developers to work with CL commands and source code outside of the traditional green-screen experience—without sacrificing fidelity, behavior, or control. The extension also exposes a callable API, making it suitable for automation, extension integration, and AI-assisted workflows.
CURRENTLY in PREVIEW so keep your Cmd+Z (or Ctrl+Z on Windows) UNDO key ready.
To prompt a CL command:
- Open a CLP, CLLE, CMD, or BND source member.
- Place your cursor on the line with the command you want to prompt.
- Press F4 or use the context menu right-click -> "CL Prompter" to prompt.
- Fill in the parameters in the prompter.
- Press Enter to update your code or F3/Cancel to cancel (the
ESCkey also cancels). - Your command is automatically formatted according to your preferences—just like the IBM i prompter.
To format your CL code:
- Format single statement: Place your cursor on a CL command line and use the command palette -> "Format CL (current line)"
- Format entire file: Use the command palette -> "Format CL (file)" or right-click in the editor and select "Format CL (file)"
The formatter intelligently handles CL syntax, preserves trailing comments, and respects your formatting preferences for indentation, keyword positioning, and line wrapping.
- Visual Focus Indicator — Clear arrow (▶) indicator shows which input field currently has focus, making it easy to navigate through complex command parameters
- Tab Navigation — Press TAB to move seamlessly between input fields, just like traditional 5250 prompting
- Comment Preservation — Trailing comments on your CL commands are automatically preserved and properly formatted when you submit the prompter
- F3=Cancel — Press F3 during prompting to cancel and return to your code without changes
- Enter=Apply - Press Enter during a prompter to apply the changes to the CL source
- Automatic Formatting on Submit — When you press Enter to apply changes from the prompter, your CL command is automatically formatted according to your formatting preferences—just like the IBM i prompter formats commands on the host system
- ELEM Parameter Handling — Complex ELEM parameters (like LOG, EXTRA, etc.) stay together on a single line when possible for better readability
- Multi-line Comment Support — Long comments are automatically wrapped and properly indented on continuation lines
- Qualified Name Formatting — Properly handles qualified objects like LIB/OBJECT throughout the prompter
- Single Statement or Whole File — Format just the current CL command or the entire source file with intelligent syntax handling
- Comment Preservation — Trailing comments are preserved and properly formatted with automatic wrapping for long comments
- Intelligent Keyword Alignment — Configurable keyword positioning and continuation line indentation for consistent, readable code
- ELEM Parameter Handling — Complex ELEM parameters stay together on a single line when possible for better readability
- Qualified Name Support — Properly formats qualified objects like LIB/OBJECT throughout your CL code
- Multi-line Formatting — Automatically wraps long commands with proper continuation character (&) and indentation
- Case Conversion — Choose between uppercase, lowercase, or no case conversion for both commands and values
- Theme-Aware Colors — Keyword and value colors automatically adapt to your VS Code theme (light/dark/high-contrast) or use your custom colors for the prompter
- Configurable Formatting — Control label position, command position, keyword position, continuation position, and right margin for both prompter output and formatter
- Case Conversion — Choose between uppercase, lowercase, or no case conversion for your CL code (applies to both prompter and formatter)
- Custom Color Settings — Set your preferred colors for keywords and values in the prompter with optional automatic theme adjustment
- Save Command XML — Optionally save the IBM i command definition XML to a file for analysis
- Save Prompter HTML — Optionally save the generated prompter HTML for diagnostic purposes when reporting issues
Contributions are welcome! To contribute:
- Fork this repository and clone it locally.
- Create a new branch for your feature or bugfix.
- Make your changes, then commit and push to your branch.
- Open a pull request describing your changes.
For bug reports or feature requests, please open an issue in the Issues page.
- If you are unsure or have questions, feel free to start a discussion or reach out via issues.
Thanks for your interest in improving CL Prompter and Formatter!
-Bob