OpenEdge DataDigger — Quick Start

Browse, query and edit your OpenEdge databases without leaving VS Code.
It is inspired by the classic DataDigger tool by Patrick Tingen.

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Prerequisites

Requirement	Details
VS Code	1.96 or newer
Node.js	v20 or newer — required to run the DataDigger backend server
OpenEdge	Any supported Progress OpenEdge installation
ABL extension	The OpenEdge ABL VS Code extension must be installed and abl.configuration.runtimes must point to your DLC directory

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Install

Install OpenEdge DataDigger from the VS Code Marketplace or from the .vsix file provided by your team.

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Configure a database connection

Connections can be set up in three scopes:

Scope	Where	Use case
Project	openedge-project.json in your project root	Shared with the team via source control
Workspace	VS Code workspace settings	Shared across all folders in a .code-workspace
User	VS Code user settings	Personal / machine-specific connections
Folder	Per-folder VS Code settings	Per-project overrides inside a multi-folder workspace

Project scope example — add to openedge-project.json:

{
  "dbConnections": [
    {
      "name": "sports2020",
      "connect": "-db sports2020 -H localhost -S 10001"
    }
  ]
}

User / Workspace / Folder scope — manage connections directly inside DataDigger via Settings → Connections (no file editing required).

For full details on connection scopes see docs/USERGUIDE.md → Connection scopes.

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Open DataDigger

Three ways to launch it:

1. Click the DataDigger icon in the Activity Bar (left sidebar).
2. Right-click any .p / .cls file in the Explorer → 🔍 DataDigger.
3. Run the command palette command DataDigger.

The backend starts automatically. The first launch may take a few seconds while OpenEdge initialises.

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What you can do

• Browse tables and fields across all connected databases.
• Query data with a custom WHERE clause and navigate results.
• Add / Edit / Delete records directly from the data grid.
• Export data to a .d dump file or copy it to the clipboard.
• Import .d dump files back into a table.
• Favorite tables for quick access.
• Switch between project, workspace and user-level connection scopes.

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Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
Backend fails to start	Check the DataDigger Backend output channel
"No OpenEdge runtime configured"	Set abl.configuration.runtimes in VS Code settings
"No openedge-project.json found"	Create the file with a valid dbConnections entry

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See docs/USERGUIDE.md for a full feature reference.