Compound preLaunchTask

[isidorn]

Refs: #45676

• macOS: @weinand
• windows: @alexr00

Complexity: 3

Have a compound configuration, which references a preLaunchTask.
Example of a compound configuration can be found here
Verify:

• The compound preLaunchTask gets executed before the launch configurations get launched
• You can have a compound configuration in the workspace settings file. This compound configuration can reference a task that is defineind in the workspace configuration file.
• In case of a task error, none of the compound configurations are started

[coyoteecd]

It looks like with the current insiders build, I can now define "tasks" inside the .code-workspace file (in the normal build it complains it is not allowed). According to the description here, a compound can use one of these tasks as preLaunchTask; out of curiosity I downloaded the build and got it working.

However, a configuration defined in the .code-workspace file may have a preLaunchTask as well - but I cannot use it because it complains with the same error as in this comment: #58818 (comment). Is there a particular reason you're implementing the more complicated feature while the simple one (i.e. preLaunchTask for individual configs) is not supported/broken? I would expect that since tasks can now be defined in a .code-workspace file, they can also be referenced by both launch configs and compounds.

[alexr00]

Tasks are specific to the location in which they are defined an cannot be referenced outside of that location. Example: a task defined in a tasks.json cannot be referenced from another folder's tasks.json or from a code-workspace file. Tasks are currently very tied to a folder, so any change to make them cross-folder is currently out of scope.

[coyoteecd]

What I see in the insiders build is that I can define tasks in a workspace file, and I can reference them as preLaunchTask from the compounds section defined in that same workspace file => the very same thing that is described in this issue.

What I do not understand - and was trying to clarify in the previous comment - is why I cannot reference those tasks as preLaunchTask from the configurations section defined also in the same workspace file. I mean, if the tasks are tied to a folder, you've already solved this problem when deciding tasks in the workspace file are acceptable...

What am I missing here?

[alexr00]

You're right, looks like that doesn't work. New issue for that: #83992