Fix: Amiga Assembly Label Syntax And Symbol Handling

When you're deep in the world of Amiga assembly programming, you want your tools to work seamlessly. That's why we're addressing a specific issue that has been popping up in the prb28 and vscode-amiga-assembly discussions: the handling of labels that use the :: syntax. This syntax, often employed by assemblers like vasm to denote global symbols, has been causing a bit of a hiccup. The core of the problem lies in how the extension interprets these labels. Instead of recognizing the :: as a distinct part of the label definition (often indicating scope or global visibility), the extension was mistakenly including one of the colons as part of the actual symbol name. This seemingly small oversight had a ripple effect, impacting several key features that you rely on for efficient coding. IntelliSense, for instance, would incorrectly insert a colon when you didn't intend it to, leading to syntax errors or unexpected behavior. The Breadcrumbs feature, which helps you navigate your code structure, and the Outline view, which provides a hierarchical overview of your program, were also showing these malformed symbol names, making them less useful and potentially confusing. We understand how crucial accurate symbol recognition is for a smooth development workflow. This fix ensures that your labels are parsed correctly, preserving the intended meaning of the :: syntax and improving the overall reliability of the extension.

Understanding the :: Syntax in Amiga Assembly

Let's dive a little deeper into why this :: syntax is important in Amiga assembly and how the fix addresses the parsing issue. In many assembly languages, including those used for Amiga development with assemblers like vasm, the double colon :: is a convention used to signify a global symbol. This is different from a standard single colon : which might denote a local label or simply the end of a label definition. Global symbols are crucial because they allow you to define a label in one part of your code and have it be accessible and referenceable from any other part of your program, even across different source files. Think of it like a public announcement versus a private note. When the vscode-amiga-assembly extension was incorrectly including one of the colons in the symbol name, it was essentially corrupting this intended scope. For example, if you defined a global label like MyGlobalLabel::, the extension might have registered it as MyGlobalLabel:. This subtle change meant that when you tried to reference MyGlobalLabel elsewhere, the assembler or linker might not find it correctly, or worse, it might be treated as a different symbol altogether. The IntelliSense, Breadcrumbs, and Outline features are all dependent on the accurate parsing of these symbol names. If the name itself is wrong due to the misplaced colon, these features will naturally falter. The fix involves refining the symbol extraction logic to intelligently trim all trailing colons from the captured label string before creating any CompletionItem or DocumentSymbol objects. This is achieved through a simple yet effective string manipulation: applying .replace(/:+$/,""). This regular expression specifically targets one or more colons (:+) at the end of the string ($) and replaces them with an empty string (""). By implementing this, we ensure that only the actual label name is captured, preserving the integrity of global symbols and restoring the proper functionality of IntelliSense, Breadcrumbs, and the Outline view. This means you can continue to use the :: syntax with confidence, knowing that your code structure is being accurately represented and supported by your development environment.

Impact on IntelliSense, Breadcrumbs, and Outline

The consequences of mishnandling the :: label syntax, as we've seen, directly impact the user experience within the VS Code environment for Amiga assembly development. IntelliSense, the intelligent code completion feature, is designed to predict and suggest symbols, keywords, and functions as you type, significantly speeding up the coding process and reducing typos. When a label like MyGlobalData:: was incorrectly parsed as MyGlobalData:, IntelliSense might offer MyGlobalData: as a suggestion, or worse, when you explicitly type the full MyGlobalData::, IntelliSense might interpret the extra colon in a way that breaks the expected completion, potentially inserting another colon or failing to recognize it as a valid symbol at all. This leads to frustration and can cause you to spend more time debugging simple syntax issues rather than focusing on the logic of your program. Similarly, the Breadcrumbs feature, located at the top of the editor, provides a navigable path of your current code context, showing the scope, functions, and labels you are currently within. If these breadcrumbs display incorrect symbol names due to the trailing colon issue, your ability to quickly jump between different parts of your code is hampered. Imagine trying to navigate a complex function or module and seeing MyFunction: in the breadcrumbs instead of the correctly scoped MyFunction:: or similar. It breaks the mental model of your code's structure. The Outline view, often docked to the side panel, offers a more comprehensive, hierarchical view of your entire document's structure, listing all functions, labels, and other significant code elements. An incorrectly parsed label, like SomeRoutine:: appearing as SomeRoutine:, not only makes the outline less accurate but can also affect the sorting and grouping of symbols if the outline attempts to organize them based on their names. This makes it harder to find specific routines or data sections quickly. The fix, by ensuring that trailing colons are systematically removed from symbol names before they are processed by these features, directly resolves these issues. IntelliSense will now correctly suggest and complete MyGlobalData (or whatever the intended global symbol is), the breadcrumbs will accurately reflect the code structure, and the outline view will present a clean, correct list of all symbols, allowing you to navigate and understand your Amiga assembly code with greater ease and confidence. This attention to detail in parsing is what makes a development tool truly effective.

The Technical Solution: String Replacement

Let's get down to the technical nitty-gritty of how this problem is solved. The core of the fix lies in a concise and powerful string manipulation technique within the extension's code. When the extension parses your Amiga assembly source files, it identifies potential labels. If a label is found, especially one intended to be a global symbol using the :: syntax, the raw string captured might include these trailing colons. The crucial step is to process this captured string before it's used to create any of the objects that represent symbols in the editor's UI, such as CompletionItem (for IntelliSense) or DocumentSymbol (for the Outline and Breadcrumbs). The solution implements a regular expression replacement: .replace(/:+$/,""). Let's break this down: . This is a literal dot, not used here in its regex special character meaning. : This is the character we are looking for – a colon. + This is a quantifier meaning