formalist — a Positron extension

Important

The extension is designed to work ONLY in Positron IDE starting from version 2025.01.0, as it heavily depends on the Positron API.

Features

Note

All features work on selected text. If no text is selected, you'll receive a notification to make a selection first.

Make R Function Calls Explicit

Formalist can make R function calls explicit, instead of implicit ones, using the {pedant} R package. In other words, it checks the currently attached packages, i.e., the ones already loaded using library(), and transforms R function calls like select(mtcars, mpg, cyl) into dplyr::select(mtcars, mpg, cyl).

Fix Lints

Warning

Deprecated: The Fix All Lints feature is deprecated as of v0.3.0 and will be removed in v0.4.0. The underlying R package flir is no longer actively maintained. We recommend migrating to jarl, a next-generation R linter written in Rust. Learn more at: https://github.com/etiennebacher/jarl

Configuration

You can configure Formalist via the Positron settings (search for @ext:atsyplenkov.formalist in Settings).

formalist.showContextMenu

Controls whether Formalist commands appear in the editor's right-click context menu.

formalist.ignoredPackages

A list of R package names that pedant will skip when making function calls explicit. Useful for packages you always attach and don't want to qualify. For example, adding dplyr means select(mtcars, mpg) stays as-is instead of becoming dplyr::select(mtcars, mpg).

formalist.ignoredFunctions

A list of R function names that pedant will leave unchanged, regardless of which package exports them. Useful for specific functions you want to keep implicit even if their package is being made explicit. For example, adding plot prevents it from being rewritten as sf::plot(...) or sp::plot(...), or terra::plot(...). You got it :)

Installation

The extension is published on the Open VSX Registry: just click Install there or manually install it with:

1. Start the Positron.

2. Inside Positron, go to the extensions view either by executing the View: Show Extensions command (click View -> Command Palette...) or by clicking on the extension icon on the left side of the Positron window.

3. In the extensions view, simply search for the term Formalist in the marketplace search box, then select the extension named Formalist and click the install button.

Alternatively, you can install the latest version from the Releases page. Download the latest .vsix file and install it as described here.

Dependencies

Formalist depends on the R package {pedant} for making function calls explicit.

Warning

Support for the {flir} linting feature has been deprecated. The {flir} package is no longer actively maintained. Please use {jarl} for linting instead — a next-generation R linter written in Rust.

If {flir} is missing, you will still be prompted to install it until the feature is removed in v0.4.0.

Questions and Feature Requests

There's a lot going on with the development of new features in Formalist. If you have any questions or something is not working, feel free to open an issue or start a conversation on Mastodon.

Contributions

Contributions are welcome! If you'd like to contribute, please, fork, submit a PR and I'll merge it.