Tips and Tricks

This page has some tips and tricks for working with VS Code in GitHub Codespaces.

Caution

Keyboard Shortcuts Overriden by Browser

Regular users of VS Code may find that common keyboard shortcuts in (e.g.,Ctrl+n to create a new file) are overidden in by the internet browser keyboard shortcuts (e.g., Ctrl+n to open a new window) when using GitHub Codespaces. So, be aware that the function of the keystroke for your web browser will occur when you execute it in the codespace. That is, if you press Ctrl+n while in the GitHub Codespace, a new browser window will open and no new VS Code file will be created.

Improving efficiency

• To create an XML input file, like is used in Cyclus, you can use the XML schema for Cyclus to autocomplete and autogenerate parts of the input file:
  • Make sure to include the following at the top of your input file.

<?xml-model href="../schema/cyclus.rng"
           type="application/xml"
           schematypens="http://relaxng.org/ns/structure/1.0"?>

• Type in the top-level <simulation> </simulation> set of tags.
• When your cursor is between those top-level tags, you can type < and a menu of options will appear of possible options for the next-level tags (e.g., <archetypes>, <facility>, etc.).
• Typing Ctrl+Space can also show these autofill options.
• Then inside each of those tags, you can continue to use < to help identify tags that can be included inside each level.
• Use Ctrl+` to toggle between the terminal and the file editor space.
• code <file name> is a terminal shortcut to open files in the VS Code file editor.