Topic outline

• Using InterSystems IDEs

  Using InterSystems IDEs

  Write and test InterSystems ObjectScript code and connect to InterSystems IRIS® data platform using InterSystems Studio or the ObjectScript extension pack for Visual Studio Code (VS Code).

  Find instructions for setting up these IDEs below, or refer to the full instructions on the InterSystems IRIS documentation site.
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  Locating InterSystems Server Connection Details

  Locating InterSystems Server Connection Details

  The location of server details varies, depending on how you are hosting InterSystems IRIS. To connect from an IDE, you will need to know the following information for your server:

  • IP address and webserver port
  • Credentials for your user
  • Connection schema (HTTP or HTTPS)

  • Local instances (Windows)

    Locate the InterSystems launcher icon in the System Tray. Right-click and select Preferred Server > Add/Edit. This brings up the InterSystems IRIS Server Manager, which lists local and web ports for your connections.
    

  • Local instances (Mac)

    Open your terminal and type iris list. In the conf file field, note the WebServer port. The host name will be localhost.

    

  • Containerized Instances

    When using Docker containers, a port on the host machine should be mapped to the webserver port within the container, which is by default 52773. To publish port 52773 inside the container to port 12345 on the host machine, you would add the option --publish 12345:52773 when starting the container. This means that any request to the host machine on port 12345 will be forwarded to the container's port, 52773. In this case, you would then specify port 12345 as the instance port on VS Code.

  • Online labs or InterSystems Learning Lab

    In an online course exercise, you may be provided with the option to Click to launch your Online Lab.

    When launching the online lab, take note of the information provided in the launcher. Depending on which IDE you use to connect, you may use a different address and port.

    

  • Other hosting methods

    Refer to InterSystems IRIS documentation for information on locating server details for instances other than the Online Labs.

• Connecting via InterSystems Studio

  Connecting via InterSystems Studio

  Follow these steps to connect Studio to InterSystems IRIS. For more information, refer to the introduction to InterSystems Studio in documentation.

  • 1. Download and install InterSystems Studio

    Installation kits of InterSystems IRIS include InterSystems Studio. If are using a container (such as Docker) instead of an installation kit, you can download InterSystems IRIS Studio via the InterSystems Software Distribution page. This page requires a login, which can be acquired by contacting InterSystems Support.

    Studio can only be installed on a Windows machine.

  • 2. Connect to your server

    1. Open Studio.
       • If you launch Studio from an active local InterSystems IRIS instance via the Windows taskbar, Studio will automatically attempt to connect to that instance. Enter your username and password.
       • If you have several active instances running when you launch Studio, choose which instance to connect to.
       • Otherwise, add a new connection.
       
    2. Enter the following information about your instance. The remaining fields are not required at this stage.
       
       

       Field	Online Lab	Local Instance
       Server Name	Create a unique name.	Create a unique name.
       IP Address	Use External Connections > InterSystems IP.	http://localhost
       Port	Use the InterSystems port.	52773 (unless >1 instance)
       Web Server IP Address	Use the Atelier Server Address provided.	Not necessary
       Web Server Port	Use the Atelier Web Server Port provided.	Not necessary

    3. Log in to your InterSystems IRIS instance using your user credentials.
    4. Select the appropriate namespace.
  • 3. Test your network by verifying you can edit and recompile files

    For information on using InterSystems Studio for ObjectScript development, refer to documentation.

• Connecting Via Visual Studio Code

  Connecting Via Visual Studio Code

  Follow these steps to connect Visual Studio Code to InterSystems IRIS.

  • 1. Install Visual Studio Code and InterSystems Extensions

    You will need to download three extensions from within the Visual Studio Code app. These three extensions can be downloaded together in the InterSystems ObjectScript Extension Pack:

    • The InterSystems ObjectScript extension
      • Helps in the development and debugging of ObjectScript
    • InterSystems Server Manager
      • Keeps track of connections and credentials
    • InterSystems Language Server
      • Includes features such as code completion, token coloring, and a go-to definition of ObjectScript classes

    1. First, install Visual Studio Code for your operating system if you do not already have it.
    2. Install the InterSystems extensions:
       1. In VS Code, click the Extensions button.
       2. Search for InterSystems ObjectScript Extension Pack and click Install to add all three extensions.
  • 2. Connect to Your InterSystems Instance

    Once the extensions are installed, you need to define connection settings. In Visual Studio Code, settings can be defined in two ways: globally for the user, or individually for a specific workspace. VS Code has extensive documentation on its powerful settings mechanism.

    Defining your InterSystems servers at the User level is recommended to allow those connections to be referenced across multiple workspaces. You can then define a specific connection to that server at the Workspace level. The sections below show how to define servers at each level.

    Define a Server at the User Level

    1. Set up a new server definition. In Visual Studio Code, open the command palette by clicking View > Command Palette.
       
    2. Search for and select InterSystems Server Manager: Add Server.
    3. Enter the following information when prompted:
       

       Field	Explanation
       Name of server definition	A unique name for this server. Must be all lowercase.
       Hostname or IP	IP address or DNS hostname on which your instance is running.
       Port	The web server port used to connect to the Management Portal of your instance. Note that this should not be the port used to connect to Studio.
       Username	Username for logging in to this server
       Connection type	http

       
       If you are using an online lab from the InterSystems learning site, connection information will display in the launcher once the container has launched. Fill in these fields with the data from the launcher page using the following schema:
       

       Property	Online Lab
       Scheme	http
       Host	Use the Host Server Address under IDE Connections (VSCode).
       Port	Use the Host Server Web Port under IDE Connections (VSCode).
       Username	Use the username provided (typically tech).

    You can view and change any setting later on.

    View or modify an existing server

    1. Navigate to the settings. In Visual Studio Code, open Settings.
       1. On a Windows operating system, navigate to File > Preferences > Settings or press Ctrl+,.
       2. On a Mac operating system, navigate to Code > Preferences > Settings or press Command+,.
    2. In the User tab, expand Extensions and click InterSystems Server Manager.
       
    3. Under Servers, click Edit in settings.json to view or modify details for all existing servers.

    Define an ObjectScript Connection at the Workspace Level
    

    Once you have added a server definition to the InterSystems Server Manager, you can edit and compile code on that server by connecting to it in a workspace.

    1. Begin by clicking File > Open Folder (File > Open on a MacOs).
    2. Select or create a local folder to be your top-level workspace for that instance, and open that folder.
    3. Within your open folder, create a new folder called .vscode and then a settings.json file within that.
       
       You should now have a file with the following path:
       <yourworkspacefolder>/.vscode/settings.json
    
    
    4. Open the settings.json file you just created and add the following JSON object, replacing the server and namespace strings with your server definition and namespace.
       Begin code:

       {
       "objectscript.conn": {
           "server": "yourServerName",
       	"ns": "ChooseANamespace",
           "active": true
       }
       }

       End code.
    
    
    5. Save the file settings.json.
    6. Click the InterSystems icon on the left to go to the InterSystems Explorer pane. When prompted to sign in, click Allow and then provide your password.

    
    Once you are successfully connected, the footer bar of VS Code should display the server address and namespace of your active ObjectScript connection.
  • 3. Test your network by verifying you can edit and recompile files

    For more information on editing and compiling files with the ObjectScript Extension Pack for VS Code, see Developing in ObjectScript with VS Code.

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