VS Code reference
Packata Language Support uses a bundled server in a trusted local workspace. Install a platform-specific VSIX as described in the extension README.
| Command | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Packata: Validate… | Choose Schema, Semantic or both for the active or right-clicked YAML/JSON descriptor. |
| Packata: Run Last Validation | Repeat this workspace’s confirmed scope for the document format, or open the picker if none is available. |
| Packata: Inspect Contract | Inspect the current buffer without certifying validation. |
| Packata: Preview Resource Data… | Select a file resource and a positive maximum number of data rows (default 20). |
| Packata: Refresh Contracts | Rediscover contracts across workspace folders. |
| Packata: Restart Language Server | Restart and resynchronize open buffers. |
Both checks start selected. Choices persist per workspace and format across restarts. Empty selection cannot run; Escape leaves saved choices unchanged. The editor status-bar action exposes the remembered scope in its tooltip. New validators never silently enter existing selections; unavailable saved checks require confirmation.
Schema checks concern descriptor structure, not dataset records. Semantic checks cover the documented declaration rules. The Packata Validation output identifies the file and each check’s outcome. Schema-only success says Schema checks passed · Semantic not run. Syntax errors block checks; selected schema failure blocks selected semantics. Semantic-only does not enable schema. Cancellation and execution errors report incomplete validation.
Problems use Packata · Schema, Packata · Semantic, or Packata · Syntax categories with source navigation where available. Reruns replace prior diagnostics; edits mark results outdated. Validation does not read datasets or execute quality rules or SLA evaluations.
Resource previews
Open an ODCS or Data Package JSON/YAML descriptor and run Packata: Preview Resource Data…, or right-click a supported asset in either Packata tree projection. Choose the resource binding when prompted, then enter a positive row limit; the default is 20. A table shows column names, declared or detected types, and up to that many data rows. Headers do not count. Loading is cancellable; access, unsupported-format and parsing failures produce sanitized messages. Source edits during selection require a new selection.
Preview supports CSV, TSV, PSV and Excel (XLS/XLSX) using Packata’s existing readers and descriptor dialect settings. Only local files and HTTP/HTTPS file URLs are eligible. Public and pre-signed URLs use the existing HTTP transport without custom authentication headers or interactive login. Database endpoints, native cloud-storage schemes and declared custom authentication requirements have no active tree preview action. Other formats, including Parquet (whose reader requires full row-group decoding), are currently unavailable for bounded editor preview.
Relative references resolve against the original descriptor location, including unsaved buffers. Ambiguous or missing endpoint bindings produce a diagnostic; Packata never silently chooses another server. Inspection, discovery and tree refresh read metadata only; resource access starts with an explicit preview request after row-limit selection.
The limit bounds data rows read, not transferred bytes. Readers may buffer input; Excel may require metadata reads or temporary disk staging, bounded to 256 MiB for non-seekable inputs. Readers, streams and staging files are released on completion, failure or cancellation. Dataset values appear in the table; diagnostics omit source excerpts, credentials and sensitive URL components.
See the VS Code quickstart and language-server protocol.