VSCode, Define custom variables to use in tasks, lauch and cpp properties - visual-studio-code

Question

I am setting up VSCode for Embedded development with Nordic NRF52.
I have noticed that in the nrf_sdk there are examples for several boards and several soft devices.
I have seen that it is possible to reference env variables that have been previously defined both in tasks, launch and extension properties, such as: c_cpp, stm32-for-vscode. But what about having a section in the workspace file defined as my_vars so the workspace file looks like this?
{
"my_vars": {
"BOARD_NAME": "NRF52840_MDK_USB_DONGLE",
"MCU_NAME": "NRF52840",
"SOFT_DEVICE": "S140",
"BOARD_VARIANT_PATH": "/pca10059/mbr"
},
"launch": {
"version": "0.2.0",
"configurations": [
{
"name": "Cortex Debug",
"cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
"executable": "${workspaceFolder}${my_vars:BOARD_VARIANT_PATH}/armgcc/_build/${my_vars:MCU_NAME}_xxaa.out",
"request": "launch",
"type": "cortex-debug",
"servertype": "jlink",
"device": "nrf52",
"interface": "swd",
"ipAddress": null,
"serialNumber": null,
"armToolchainPath": "${env:VSARM}/armcc/bin/"
},
]
},
"folders": [
{
"path": "."
}
],
"settings":{
// "C_Cpp.name": "nRF52840 DK",
"C_Cpp.default.includePath": [
"${workspaceFolder}/**",
"${env:GNU_GCC}/arm-none-eabi/include",
"${env:NRF_SDK}/modules/**",
"${env:NRF_SDK}/components/**"
],
"C_Cpp.default.defines": [
"${my_vars:BOARD_NAME}",
"CONFIG_GPIO_AS_PINRESET",
"INITIALIZE_USER_SECTIONS",
"FLOAT_ABI_HARD",
"NRF52",
"${my_vars:MCU_NAME}_XXAA",
"NRF_SD_BLE_API_VERSION=6",
"${my_vars:SOFT_DEVICE}",
"SOFTDEVICE_PRESENT",
"SWI_DISABLE0"
],
"C_Cpp.default.compilerPath": "${env:GNU_GCC}/bin/arm-none-eabi-gcc",
"C_Cpp.default.cStandard": "c11",
"C_Cpp.default.cppStandard": "c++17",
"C_Cpp.default.intelliSenseMode": "clang-x64"
},
"tasks": {
"version": "2.0.0",
// See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=733558
// for the documentation about the tasks.json format
"tasks": [
{
"label": "nRF52 build",
"type": "shell",
"command": "make",
"options": {
"cwd": "${workspaceFolder}${my_vars:BOARD_VARIANT_PATH}/armgcc"
},
"problemMatcher": [],
"group": {
"kind": "build",
"isDefault": true
}
},
{
"label": "nRF52 build clean",
"type": "shell",
"command": "make clean",
"options": {
"cwd": "${workspaceFolder}${my_vars:BOARD_VARIANT_PATH}/armgcc"
},
"problemMatcher": [],
"group": {
"kind": "build",
"isDefault": true
}
},
{
"label": "nRF52 flash",
"type": "shell",
"command": "make flash",
"options": {
"cwd": "${workspaceFolder}${my_vars:BOARD_VARIANT_PATH}/armgcc"
},
"group": {
"kind": "build",
"isDefault": true
},
"problemMatcher": []
},
{
"label": "nRF52 dfu upload",
"type": "shell",
"command": "make bootload",
"options": {
"cwd": "${workspaceFolder}${my_vars:BOARD_VARIANT_PATH}/armgcc"
},
"group": {
"kind": "build",
"isDefault": true
},
"problemMatcher": []
},
{
"label": "nRF52 flash_softdevice",
"type": "shell",
"command": "make flash_softdevice",
"options": {
"cwd": "${workspaceFolder}${my_vars:BOARD_VARIANT_PATH}/armgcc"
},
"problemMatcher": [],
"group": {
"kind": "build",
"isDefault": true
},
},
{
"label": "nRF52 sdk_config",
"type": "shell",
"command": "make sdk_config",
"options": {
"cwd": "${workspaceFolder}${my_vars:BOARD_VARIANT_PATH}/armgcc"
},
"problemMatcher": []
},
{
"label": "nRF52 erase",
"type": "shell",
"command": "make erase",
"options": {
"cwd": "${workspaceFolder}${my_vars:BOARD_VARIANT_PATH}/armgcc"
},
"problemMatcher": [],
"group": {
"kind": "build",
"isDefault": true
},
}
]
}
}
I tried having a task which is set_env, which in my case, since I am in Windows, run a batch script that does:
set BOARD_NAME=NRF52840_MDK_USB_DONGLE
set MCU_NAME=NRF52840
set SOFT_DEVICE=S140
set BOARD_VARIANT_PATH=/pca10059/mbr
This will ease a lot playing around with the SDK examples and could be potential work for a NRF52 VSCode extension, as https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=bmd.stm32-for-vscode does.

Answer 1

You've undoubtedly solved this problem by now, but hopefully I can save someone else some searching.
There is a top-level section called env that holds global variables that you can reference in your configs.
Here's an example from MSDN.
{
"env": {
"myDefaultIncludePath": ["${workspaceFolder}", "${workspaceFolder}/include"],
"myCompilerPath": "/usr/local/bin/gcc-7"
},
"configurations": [
{
"name": "Mac",
"intelliSenseMode": "clang-x64",
"includePath": ["${myDefaultIncludePath}", "/another/path"],
"macFrameworkPath": ["/System/Library/Frameworks"],
"defines": ["FOO", "BAR=100"],
"forcedInclude": ["${workspaceFolder}/include/config.h"],
"compilerPath": "/usr/bin/clang",
"cStandard": "c11",
"cppStandard": "c++17",
"compileCommands": "/path/to/compile_commands.json",
"browse": {
"path": ["${workspaceFolder}"],
"limitSymbolsToIncludedHeaders": true,
"databaseFilename": ""
}
}
],
"version": 4
}

Answer 2

Have a look at the extension Command Variable.
It can use the content of a file as key-value pairs.