Prepro Light - Mesh Preprocessing Extension for VS Code

A lightweight VS Code extension for visualizing finite element meshes, contact surface pairs, and material assignments.

Features

• Mesh Visualization: View VTK, STL, and OBJ mesh files directly in VS Code
• Material Assignment Viewing: Visualize material properties assigned to mesh elements
• Contact Surface Pairs: Identify and highlight contact surfaces in FEA meshes
• Multiple Format Support: .vtp, .vtu, .vti, .stl, .obj files

Supported File Formats

• VTK PolyData (.vtp) - Surface meshes
• VTK UnstructuredGrid (.vtu) - Finite element meshes
• VTK ImageData (.vti) - Structured grids
• STL (.stl) - Stereolithography files
• Wavefront OBJ (.obj) - Object files

Development Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18 or higher)
• npm (v9 or higher)
• VS Code (v1.85.0 or higher)

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd prepro-light

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Build the extension:

   npm run compile

Running the Extension

1. Open the project in VS Code
2. Press F5 to launch the Extension Development Host
3. In the new VS Code window, open a mesh file (.vtp, .vtu, .vti, .stl, or .obj)
4. The mesh viewer will open automatically

Development Workflow

• Build: npm run compile - Compile TypeScript to JavaScript
• Watch: npm run watch - Watch for changes and recompile automatically
• Lint: npm run lint - Run ESLint on source files
• Package: npm run build - Build for production

Building a .vsix Package

To create a distributable .vsix package for installation:

1. Install the vsce packaging tool (if not already installed):

   npm install -g @vscode/vsce

2. Build the .vsix package:

   vsce package

   This will create a file like prepro-light-0.1.0.vsix in the project root.

3. Install the .vsix package:

   Via command line:

   code --install-extension prepro-light-0.1.0.vsix

   Via VS Code UI:

   • Open the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X)
   • Click the "..." menu at the top
   • Select "Install from VSIX..."
   • Choose your .vsix file

Debugging

1. Set breakpoints in the source code
2. Press F5 to start debugging
3. The debugger will attach to the Extension Development Host
4. Open a mesh file to trigger the extension

Project Structure

prepro-light/
├── src/                    # Extension source code
│   ├── extension.ts        # Main extension entry point
│   ├── meshEditorProvider.ts  # Custom editor provider
│   ├── parsers/            # File format parsers
│   ├── utils/              # Utility functions
│   └── types/              # TypeScript type definitions
├── webview/                # Webview source code
│   ├── main.ts             # Webview entry point
│   ├── ui/                 # UI components
│   ├── styles/             # CSS styles
│   └── utils/              # Webview utilities
├── media/                  # Icons and media assets
├── samples/                # Sample mesh files for testing
├── test/                   # Test files
├── .vscode/                # VS Code configuration
├── dist/                   # Compiled output (generated)
├── package.json            # Extension manifest
├── tsconfig.json           # TypeScript configuration
└── webpack.config.js       # Webpack configuration

Technology Stack

• Language: TypeScript
• Visualization: VTK.js (@kitware/vtk.js)
• Framework: VS Code Extension API
• Build Tool: Webpack
• Testing: VS Code Extension Test Runner

Development Roadmap

See PLAN.md for detailed implementation phases and task breakdown.

Current Status: Phase 1 Complete - Project setup and foundation

Contributing

This is an internal development project. Please refer to the development plan for feature priorities and upcoming work.

Resources

• VS Code Extension API
• VTK.js Documentation
• VTK File Formats

License

Private - Internal Use Only

Version

Current Version: 0.1.0 (Phase 1 - Foundation)