Show HN: VS Code extension to edit the filesystem like a text buffer (opens in new tab)

You can switch to wdired and then edit the filenames etc. But true you can't create/delete files. Creating empty files is rarely useful or necessary, though, so not sure why you'd want that. Deleting files is more useful but that seems perfect in normal dired as you can see what you've marked rather than try to mentally keep track of lines you've already deleted.

I obviously love oil.nvim and that's why I ported it to vscode. But I think in some ways voil is even more powerful than oil. Specifically:

- It can work across multiple vscode windows

- The top line (that shows the current directory) can be used to filter files. For example, if you add "*.{txt,md}" to the end of that line, it will only show the txt and markdown files.

- The ability to defined custom shell commands and bind keybindings to them. For example, I can create a command that zips selected files and run it with a single keybinding in voil.

- Undo functionality

I’m Iranian too and our names get people a lot more concerned.

If your name sounded English the implicit bias would make you sound more trust worthy.

I have high 2 digits of extensions in my VS Code, and yours is the only one that wouldn't have a verified publisher. And I certainly have more than one from solo developers.

Qt organization (because you mentioned it) also has verification. It displays a different message (because I haven't installed anything from them):

> The extension Qt Core is published by Qt Group. This is the first extension you're installing from this publisher.

> Qt Group has verified ownership of qt.io.

> Visual Studio Code has no control over the behavior of third-party extensions, including how they manage your personal data. Proceed only if you trust the publisher.

EDIT: I'm sure there are other extensions that are also by unverified publishers. It was the first time I was hit with that message though.

The burden isn't just when I install it, I need to validate every time it's updated as well. But let's be realistic, the fact that I intrinsically trust extensions published by Microsoft isn't any better.

> view the source code and package the extension yourself

The problem is that nobody will do that. Even if it were 500 LOC.

And this is why supply chain attacks are on the rise.

If you need complex file manipulation, all of that can be achieved by writing a shell script. That's what I've been doing. You also automatically get access to flow control statements and tools like sed/awk/find.

> all the text editing features that I have in vscode as opposed to the barebones text editing features in the terminal.

VSCode is a very primitive text editor compared to vim, emacs or helix. You don't need to edit the command line right there in the shell prompt, nor do you need to create any files — press Ctrl+X + Ctrl+E and hack away. Save and close the file (ZZ in vim, for example), and it gets executed by the shell.

> then oil.nvim would not have been such a popular extension

Popularity is a bad metric, most people don't bother to learn the tools they're using.

1. There is an inbuilt terminal in VS code. Its almost always active for me and even if it isnt focusing it/bringing it up is the same distance as firing up voil. The benefit here is that it doesnt occupy your editor 2. What complex file names do you need text editing features for? 3. fzf and zoxide covers most of it

I dont want to return the favor of speculate on intent of comment as yours would be petulant and stubborn without focusing on meaningful rebuttal. Im placing this in my comment as based on your other responses there does seem to be a pattern.

yup ! thanks i read it all. have been using Emacs for longer than i care to admit.

just like fvwm, there is nothing better than :o) !