abl-language-server

Language Server Protocol (LSP) implementation for ABL (OpenEdge Advanced Business Language), supports parser-based language features for ABL and optional DB schema integration via .df dump files.

The language server supports optional document formatting (auto-indent only). Formatting is disabled by default.

Extensions

zed-openedge-abl

vscode-openedge-abl

Features

Feature	Notes
Text sync	TextDocumentSyncKind::FULL
Parser diagnostics	Tree-sitter syntax errors (is_error / is_missing)
Semantic diagnostics: function arity	Checks function_call argument count against known function definitions (current file + included .i files)
Completion: local symbols	Variables/definitions with case-insensitive prefix filtering
Completion: DB tables	Uses configured .df dump files
Completion: DB fields after table.	Supports table names and buffer aliases (DEFINE BUFFER ... FOR ...)
Completion item details/docs	Field type in detail; LABEL / FORMAT / DESCRIPTION in docs when available
Go to Definition: local	Local definitions
Go to Definition: includes	Scoped include-aware function definitions
Go to Definition: DB schema	Tables, fields, indexes from .df; buffer alias -> table definition
Ambient declarations	Built-in bundled ABL ambient declarations plus optional configured ambient .i files
Find References: DB table definitions	Returns matching ADD TABLE locations from .df
Hover: local symbols	Type/detail hover
Hover: functions	Signature with parameters + return type, include-aware, ambient-aware
Hover: DB schema	Table / field / index; field metadata includes type/label/format/description
Semantic tokens	Highlights DB table identifiers (token type: type)
Formatting (auto-indent)	Parser-aware indentation only; guarded by AST-shape check and optional idempotence check

Configuration (abl.toml)

The server searches for abl.toml in the opened workspace root.

Supported options

# Optional
# Inherit one or more other config files (relative to this file or absolute path).
inherits = ["shared/abl.base.toml"]

# Optional (by defualt searches relative to the opened root directory)
# Supports absolute paths and workspace-root-relative paths, order is preserved.
propath = ["/global/a", "includes", "shared/includes"]

# Optional
# Database schemas: supports explicit paths and wildcard patterns.
dumpfile = ["schema/*.df", "schema/custom.df"]

[ambient]
# Optional; defaults to true.
# Built-in ambient declarations bundled with the language server binary.
builtin = true

# Optional additional ambient declaration files; supports explicit paths and wildcard patterns.
paths = ["ambient/*.i", "vendor/abl/index.i"]

[completion]
enabled = true

[diagnostics]
enabled = true

[diagnostics.unknown_variables]
enabled = true
exclude = ["legacy/*.p", "generated/procedures"]
ignore = ["batchrun", "today", "now"]

[diagnostics.unknown_functions]
enabled = true
exclude = "generated/sql/*"
ignore = ["abs", "round", "my_dynamic_fn"]

[semantic_tokens]
enabled = true

[formatting]
enabled = false
indent_size = 2
use_tabs = false
idempotence = true

Option reference

Key	Type	Default	Description
inherits	string | string[]	[]	Parent config file(s) to load first; child config overrides parent values
completion.enabled	bool	true	Enables completion responses
diagnostics.enabled	bool	true	Enables/disables all diagnostic publishing (syntax + semantic arity)
diagnostics.unknown_variables.enabled	bool	true	Enables/disables unknown-variable diagnostics
diagnostics.unknown_variables.exclude	string | string[]	[]	File/path patterns where unknown-variable diagnostics are skipped; relative patterns resolve from the config file that defines them
diagnostics.unknown_variables.ignore	string | string[]	[]	Symbol names ignored by unknown-variable diagnostics (case-insensitive)
diagnostics.unknown_functions.enabled	bool	true	Enables/disables unknown-function diagnostics
diagnostics.unknown_functions.exclude	string | string[]	[]	File/path patterns where unknown-function diagnostics are skipped; relative patterns resolve from the config file that defines them
diagnostics.unknown_functions.ignore	string | string[]	[]	Function names ignored by unknown-function diagnostics (case-insensitive)
semantic_tokens.enabled	bool	true	Enables semantic token responses (DB table identifier highlighting)
formatting.enabled	bool	false	Enables/disables textDocument/formatting response
formatting.indent_size	usize	2	Spaces per indent level for formatter fallback/default behavior
formatting.use_tabs	bool	false	Prefer tabs for indentation (LSP editor options may override per request)
formatting.idempotence	bool	true	Runs second-pass formatting equality check before applying edits
dumpfile	string | string[]	[]	Path(s) or wildcard patterns for .df dump files; relative paths resolve from the config file that defines them
ambient.builtin	bool	true	Enables/disables the built-in bundled ambient ABL declarations
ambient.paths	string | string[]	[]	Additional ambient .i declaration files or wildcard patterns; relative paths resolve from the config file that defines them
propath	string | string[]	[]	Include search roots for {...} includes; relative paths resolve from the config file that defines them

Inheritance behavior

• inherits supports a single path or a list of paths.
• Relative paths are resolved from the current abl.toml directory.
• Parent config(s) are merged first, then the current file overrides them.
• dumpfile, ambient.paths, and propath are concatenated in merge order (parent entries first, then child entries).
• ambient.builtin is overridden by the last config in merge order.

Dumpfile behavior

• .df files are parsed with tree-sitter-df.
• Schema index includes tables, fields, and indexes.
• Wildcard dumpfile patterns are expanded before loading.
• Index reload is triggered when:
  • abl.toml changes
  • configured dumpfile is saved/changed

Ambient declaration behavior

• Built-in ABL ambient declarations from the repository ./ambient directory are bundled into the binary at compile time.
• Built-in ambient declarations are enabled by default and can be disabled with ambient.builtin = false.
• Additional ambient declaration files can be added through ambient.paths.
• ambient.paths supports wildcard patterns such as ambient/*.i.

Include resolution behavior

When resolving {include.i}, the server checks in this order:

1. Absolute include path (if include is absolute)
2. Each propath entry in merge order (including inherited configs)
3. Each config file directory participating in inheritance merge order (implicit include roots)

License

MIT License

Copyright (c) Kamil Jakubus and contributors

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
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copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

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IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
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SOFTWARE.