Speed up log creation. Create various kinds of language-specific log statements, such as logs of variables, assertions, or time-measuring.
demo.mp4
-- lazy.nvim
{ "chrisgrieser/nvim-chainsaw" },
-- packer
use { "chrisgrieser/nvim-chainsaw" }
It is recommended to use nvim 0.9+ and install the Treesitter parsers for the respective languages, as this improves variable identification. The plugin falls back to the word under the cursor if those requirements are not met.
- JavaScript (and: JavaScriptReact / TypeScript / TypeScriptReact / Vue / Svelte)
- Python
- Lua
- Shell (and: zsh / bash / fish)
- AppleScript
- Ruby
- Rust
- CSS (and: SCSS / LESS)
- Justfiles
Not every language supports every type of log statement. For details on what is supported, see log-statements-data.lua.
Note
For non-scripting languages like CSS, nvim-chainsaw
uses statements such as
outline: 2px solid red !important;
that are the closest thing to logging
you have.
The plugin offers various types of log statements. Bind keymaps for the ones you want to use.
All operations are dot-repeatable.
-- log the name and value of the a variable
-- normal mode: treesitter node or word under cursor, visual mode: selection
require("chainsaw").variableLog()
-- like variableLog, but with syntax specific to inspect an object, such as
-- `console.log(JSON.stringify(foobar))` in javascript
require("chainsaw").objectLog()
-- assertion statement for the variable under the cursor
require("chainsaw").assertLog()
-- create log statement, and position the cursor to enter a message
require("chainsaw").messageLog()
-- prints the stacktrace of the current call
require("chainsaw").stacktraceLog()
-- Minimal log statement, with an emoji for differentiation. Intended for
-- control flow inspection, i.e. to quickly glance whether a condition was
-- triggered or not. (Inspired by AppleScript's `beep` command.)
require("chainsaw").beepLog()
-- 1st call: start measuring the time
-- 2nd call: logs the time duration since
require("chainsaw").timeLog()
-- debug statements like `debugger` in javascript or `breakpoint()` in python
require("chainsaw").debugLog()
---------------------------------------------------
-- remove all log statements created by chainsaw
require("chainsaw").removeLogs()
These features can also be accessed with the user command :ChainSaw
.
Each option corresponds to the commands above. For example, :ChainSaw variableLog
is same as :lua require("chainsaw").variableLog()
.
When the variable under the cursor is an object with fields, chainsaw
attempts
to automatically select the correct field.
myVariable.myF[i]eld = "foobar"
-- prints: myVariable.myField
myVa[r]iable.myField = "foobar"
-- prints: myVariable
Filetypes currently supporting this feature:
- Lua
- Python
- JavaScript / TypeScript / TypeScriptReact / Vue / Svelte
PRs adding support for more languages are welcome. The relevant code section can be found here.
-- default settings
require("chainsaw").setup {
-- The marker should be a unique string, since `.removeLogs()` will remove
-- any line with it. Emojis or strings like "[Chainsaw]" are recommended.
marker = "πͺ",
-- emojis used for `.beepLog()`
beepEmojis = { "π΅", "π©", "β", "β", "π", "π²" },
}
Custom log statements are added in the setup()
call. The values are formatted
lua strings, meaning %s
is a placeholder that is dynamically replaced
with the actual value. See
log-statements-data.lua for examples.
PRs adding log statements for more languages are welcome.
require("chainsaw").setup ({
logStatements = {
variableLog = {
javascript = 'console.log("%s %s:", %s);',
otherFiletype = β¦ -- <-- add the statement for your filetype here
},
-- the same way for the other log statement operations
},
})
A common problem is that formatters like prettier
break up the log
statements, making them hard to read and also breaking removeLogs()
, which
relies on each line containing the marker emoji.
The simplest method to deal with this is to customize the log statement in
your configuration to include /* prettier-ignore */
:
require("chainsaw").setup {
logStatements = {
variableLog = {
javascript = {
"/* prettier-ignore */ // %s", -- adding this line
'console.log("%s %s:", %s);',
},
},
},
}
The other plugins are more feature-rich, while, while nvim-chainsaw
tries to
achieve the core functionality in a far more lightweight manner to keep
maintenance minimal.
In my day job, I am a sociologist studying the social mechanisms underlying the digital economy. For my PhD project, I investigate the governance of the app economy and how software ecosystems manage the tension between innovation and compatibility. If you are interested in this subject, feel free to get in touch.
I also occasionally blog about vim: Nano Tips for Vim
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