Windows environment variables in powershell.scriptAnalysis.settingsPath

[o-l-a-v]

Prerequisites

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Summary

I'd like to be able to use Windows environment variables inside settings.json powershell.scriptAnalysis.settingsPath.

From my testing it does not currently seem possible.

Why?

I'd like to be able to easily sync both Visual Studio Code settings.json and PSScriptAnalyzer settings file between devices.

Windows explorer

Path in Windows Explorer that resolves:

• %OneDriveConsumer%\_Share\AppData\PowerShell\Settings-PSScriptAnalyzer.psd1

Settings.json

In settings.json I've tried the following.

Works (hard coded)

"powershell.scriptAnalysis.settingsPath": "C:/Users/<removed>/OneDrive/_Share/AppData/PowerShell/Settings-PSScriptAnalyzer.psd1"

Does not work

Neither of these works.

"powershell.scriptAnalysis.settingsPath": "${env:OneDriveConsumer}/_Share/AppData/PowerShell/Settings-PSScriptAnalyzer.psd1"
"powershell.scriptAnalysis.settingsPath": "${env:OneDriveConsumer}\\_Share\\AppData\\PowerShell\\Settings-PSScriptAnalyzer.psd1"
"powershell.scriptAnalysis.settingsPath": "${userHome}/OneDrive/Share/AppData/PowerShell/Settings-PSScriptAnalyzer.psd1"
"powershell.scriptAnalysis.settingsPath": "${userHome}\\OneDrive\\Share\\AppData\\PowerShell\\Settings-PSScriptAnalyzer.psd1"
"powershell.scriptAnalysis.settingsPath": "%OneDriveConsumer%/_Share/AppData/PowerShell/Settings-PSScriptAnalyzer.psd1"
"powershell.scriptAnalysis.settingsPath": "%OneDriveConsumer%\\_Share\\AppData\\PowerShell\\Settings-PSScriptAnalyzer.psd1"

Proposed Design

• Add this ability if it does not exist already
  • Preferably in the same syntax used for environment variables inside the terminal.integrated.profiles.windows setting.
    • Example: "path": "${env:LOCALAPPDATA}\\Microsoft\\WindowsApps\\Microsoft.PowerShell_8wekyb3d8bbwe\\pwsh.exe"
• Document how to use it
  • Path separator?
    • \, \\, /
    • Does it vary per OS?
  • How to represent a environmental variable?
    • %APPDATA%, ${APPDATA}, ${env:APPDATA}
    • Does it vary per OS?

Relevant doc

• https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/variables-reference
  • https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/variables-reference#_environment-variables
• https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/getstarted/settings
• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/utility-modules/psscriptanalyzer/using-scriptanalyzer
  • https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/utility-modules/psscriptanalyzer/using-scriptanalyzer#using-custom-rules-in-visual-studio-code

[andyleejordan]

Unfortunately, extension-provided settings such as this are explicitly not parsed for variable resolution by VS Code, and doing so in a post-processing manner would be quite difficult to get right. It's a neat idea, and I see the desire for it, but probably not something we're prioritizing at this point.

I would point you toward VS Code setting profiles as a different approach to solve your problem.

[andyleejordan]

Please see microsoft/vscode#46471 for more context as to my contributed settings (like ours) can't support VS Code built-in (nor environment, through env:) variables.

[ghost]

This issue has been marked as external. It has been automatically closed for housekeeping purposes.

[o-l-a-v]

In case it help others: I've got this working using a symlink from %PUBLIC%\PSSCriptAnalyzer.psd1, which will be the same path on multiple systems. I symlinked it like so:

# Assets
$Source      = [string] '{0}\PSScriptAnalyzer.psd1' -f $env:PUBLIC
$Destination = [string] '{0}\_Share\AppData\PowerShell\Settings - PSScriptAnalyzer.psd1' -f $env:OneDriveConsumer

# Create symlink (requires admin unless Windows developer mode is enabled)
New-Item -ItemType 'SymbolicLink' -Path $Source -Value $Destination -Force

Then in VSCode settings.json:

{
  ...
  "powershell.scriptAnalysis.settingsPath": "C:\\Users\\Public\\PSScriptAnalyzer.psd1",
  ...
}

---

I'd prefer if VSCode could use environment variables inside VSCode settings.json:

• 2016-02-09: Support variables when resolving values in settings microsoft/vscode#2809
• 2018-03-24: Expose API for variable substitution in contributed configuration microsoft/vscode#46471

Or the ability to configure PSScriptAnalyzer for vscode-powershell inside VSCode settings.json:

• 2018-07-20: Allow VSCode configuration of PSScriptAnalyzer rules #1443