Make a specific VSCode output view visible? - visual-studio-code

Question

In the VSCode "panel" there are the tabs "problems", "output", "terminal", debug console". Within the output tab is a drop-down menu containing many different output views, such as "Tasks", "Extensions", "Git", etc.
I would like to have it make a specific output view visible automatically. For example, when starting a debug session, VSCode may have made the "Adapter Output" view visible, but I'd like to hit a hotkey (or fully automate it) to switch to a different output view.
I'm not certain if this can be done through a task or if it would require an extension, but I cannot find any information on it. Presumably it's possible, though, since VSCode obviously switches panel tabs automatically, and it will make different output views visible depending on the situation.
In this specific case, I'm using the cortex-debug add-on, and SWO text output is sent to an output view during debug sessions. I'm interested in having that output view made visible automatically when I launch the debug session.
Thanks!

Answer 1

Changing the Output View
"So obviously, as you have already mentioned, the way most people switch output views is by opening the drop-down reading the list, until they see the output-view they are looking for, which they then select... Which is slow. Drop downs are counter-productive when attempting to Navigate your Editor quickly. For me, it is easy to see why you want an alternate method for selecting the output's view."
There's a Better way.
For starters your going to need to access, and create custom keybindings. The command hooks are their for you to switch to the outputs you want, but they haven't been added to the default commands yet, and they may not be added ever (which is why you are going to add them now). Below is a simple guide explaining how to make a keybinding in VSCode:
Note: This is part 1 of 2 parts
PART #1
Creating Keybindings
Each Keybinding Has 3 Essential Properties:
key: this describes the pressed keys.
command: Contains the actual command that is to be executed, a limited list can be found in the VSCode Docs. (Click here to see them)
when: This is the when-context, which sets conditional True or False clause which is evaluated upon execution of the command you wrote.
as a reference, this is one of my keybindings I use for disabling ESLint on specific lines where I intentionally break Es-Lints rules.
// ~/.config/Code/User/keybindings.json
// This allows me to pin and unpin editor tabs using the same exact keys
// It is the when clause that makes these keybindings I created possible.
// ctrl+shift+space (& then) ctrl+shift+space (again)
{
"key": "ctrl+shift+space ctrl+shift+space",
"command": "workbench.action.pinEditor",
"when": "!activeEditorIsPinned"
},
{
"key": "ctrl+shift+space ctrl+shift+space",
"command": "workbench.action.unpinEditor",
"when": "activeEditorIsPinned"
},
Note: Sometimes their is an args property.
Moving on...
Part #2
Creating the Keybinding that is Specific to what you want:
Okay so now that you know how, I will give you the clauses, which are slightly hard to locate at first (or at-least they were for me), but once I found them I now always know where to look:
If you drop open the Command-Palette via the [F1] KEY and type "Keyboard Shortcuts", two options for "Keyboard Shortcuts" will popup:
One of the options will read: "Default Keyboard Shortcuts"
The other will simply read: "Keyboard Shortcuts"
They will both open keybindings.json files, but they are two different files in two different locations. The DEFAULT keybindings.json file will be Read-only (its not writable), it is the default keybindings that come with VS-Code. The Default one is important because it contains the long list of commands that can be used when creating keybindings. It is currently the best resource for Keybinding commands anywhere.
The regular keybindings.json file will be empty if you never used it, and this is where you can define your keybindings. To start while focused on the keybindings.json file, hit [Ctrl+k] [Ctrl+k] (twice back to back). An input will pop up where you can define a keybinding, by pressing any keys you want. Once you have defined your keybinding press enter and it will create a preformatted keybinding block for you, it will pre-type the Key Combination you designed as well. In the block enter the When clause you want (you have to figure out when this keybinding is going to be executed, you may or may not be able to leave it blank. A blank "when": "" clause is like telling the editor...
_"This keybinding is to be executed at anytime I use the Key Combination that is associated with it via the key-property".
Last but not least the good stuff:
The output commands:
git.showOutput
notebook.diff.showOutputs
npm-script.showOutput
eslint.showOutputChannel
testing.openOutputPeek
testing.showMostRecentOutput
There may be more, but that's what I was able to find in the Default Keybindings.json file.