Combine Files for Visual Studio Code

Combines several files spread over several folders. This is useful in many cases.

1. Combine SQL scripts from your repo into a single file you can use for deployment.
2. Easily create an API doc from Markdown files stored in a folder structure.
3. You get the idea.

Features

Just use Ctrl and Shift to select multiple files and folders, then right-click and choose Combine Files.

If you select a folder, all matching files in subfolders will also be included.

The result will be a single file containing the content of all the selected files. By default, there will also be headers and footers for each included file, as well as a table of contents at the top. You can configure all of this either in user settings, or a configuration file.

Installation

Search for Combine Files in the VS Code extensions marketplace.

Alternatively, you can install it from this link: Visual Studio Code Marketplace

Configuration

You can change the default configuration in user/workspace settings, or you can place a configuration file named .combinefilesrc.json in the workspace root.

The file looks like this:

{
    "fileGroups": [/*...*/]
}

Each entry in fileGroups can have one or more of the following properties:

• groupName - Not used. Use this to label multiple configurations.
• outputFileName - The name of the output file. If this is not specified, a temporary file is created.
• fileGlobs - A list of glob patterns to match. A file is included if it matches any glob pattern. Defaults to **/*.sql if none is specified.
• fileHeader - The lines of text to be placed at the beginning of the output.
• fileFooter - The lines of text to be placed at the end of the output.
• includeToc - A table of contents will be written after fileHeader but before the first entryHeader if this is true. Defaults to false.
• tocHeader - If includeToc === true, the lines of text to be placed after the fileHeader, but before the first tocEntry.
• tocEntry - If includeToc === true, the single line of text that is added once for each included file. Defaults to '\t${lineNo}\t\t${entryPath}', which will show the line number and original file name for each entry.
• tocFooter - If includeToc === true, the lines of text to be placed after the last tocEntry, but before the first entryHeader.
• entryHeader - The lines of text to be placed at the beginning of each file entry. You can also include the ${entryPath} variable anywhere in this value.
• entryFooter - The lines of text to be placed at the end of each file entry. You can also include the ${entryPath} variable anywhere in this value.

For an example, here is the default configuration for SQL files:

{
    "fileGroups": [{
        "fileGlobs": [
            "**/*.sql"
        ],
        "fileHeader": [
            "/**********************************************************************************",
            "* This is a concatenation of all the selected files, including files in subfolders.",
            "* The start and end of each file contains a comment with its name, as well as a",
            "* print statement.",
            "***********************************************************************************"
        ],
        "includeToc": true,
        "tocHeader": [
            "* These are the line numbers for the included files:"
        ],
        "tocEntry": "* ${lineNo}\t\t${entryPath}",
        "tocFooter": [
            "***********************************************************************************/"
        ],
        "entryHeader": [
            "/*********************************************************************************",
            "* Start: ${entryPath}",
            "**********************************************************************************/",
            "print 'Start: ${entryPath}'",
            "GO"
        ],
        "entryFooter": [
            "GO",
            "/*********************************************************************************",
            "* End: ${entryPath}",
            "**********************************************************************************/",
            "print 'End: ${entryPath}'",
            "GO",
            "/*********************************************************************************/"
        ],
        "fileFooter": []
    }]
}

See Also

• Combine Scripts for Azure Data Studio is the Azure Data Studio version of this extension. The two are nearly identical, except that the Azure Data Studio version comes configured with defaults for .sql files. You can use it to combine other types as well.
• Combine Files NPM Package (GitHub) is an NPM package that combines files with all the same features as this extension.