FIGLet Comment Generator

A Visual Studio and VS Code extension that allows developers to generate ASCII art comments using FIGLet fonts. Add beautiful, eye-catching header comments to your code with just a few keystrokes!

Planned Features

• 🎨 Generates ASCII art comments in any programming language
• 🔤 Supports for multiple FIGLet fonts
• ⚙️ Automatically uses the correct comment syntax for different file types
• 📐 Multiple layout modes (Full Size, Kerning, Smushing)
• 🎯 Intelligent character compression with customizable smushing rules
• 💡 Context-aware comment insertion
• ⌨️ Configurable keyboard shortcuts

Installation

Visual Studio

1. Open Visual Studio
2. Go to Extensions > Manage Extensions
3. Search for "FIGLet Comment Generator"
4. Click Download and restart Visual Studio

VS Code - Upcoming

1. Open VS Code
2. Press Ctrl+P (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+P (macOS)
3. Type ext install FIGLet-comment-generator
4. Press Enter and reload VS Code

Usage

1. Place your cursor where you want to insert the ASCII art comment
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+F (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+F (macOS)
3. Type your text in the input box
4. Select a font from the dropdown (optional)
5. Press Enter to generate and insert the comment

Example

Input:

Hello, World!

Output (using "small" font):

• C#

/*
 *   _  _     _ _          __      __       _    _ _
 *  | || |___| | |___      \ \    / /__ _ _| |__| | |
 *  | __ / -_) | / _ \_     \ \/\/ / _ \ '_| / _` |_|
 *  |_||_\___|_|_\___( )     \_/\_/\___/_| |_\__,_(_)
 *                   |/
 */

• Visual Basic

'   _  _     _ _          __      __       _    _ _
'  | || |___| | |___      \ \    / /__ _ _| |__| | |
'  | __ / -_) | / _ \_     \ \/\/ / _ \ '_| / _` |_|
'  |_||_\___|_|_\___( )     \_/\_/\___/_| |_\__,_(_)
'                   |/

• Python

#   _  _     _ _          __      __       _    _ _
#  | || |___| | |___      \ \    / /__ _ _| |__| | |
#  | __ / -_) | / _ \_     \ \/\/ / _ \ '_| / _` |_|
#  |_||_\___|_|_\___( )     \_/\_/\___/_| |_\__,_(_)
#                   |/

Configuration

Visual Studio

Go to Tools > Options > FIGLet Comment Generator to configure:

• Font folder, for additional fonts.
• See examples of the available fonts.

VS Code - Upcoming

1. Open Settings (Ctrl+, or Cmd+,)
2. Search for "FIGLet"
3. Adjust settings as needed

Supported Languages

The extension automatically detects the file type and uses the appropriate comment syntax:

• C-style languages (C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript): // or /* */
• Python: #
• HTML/XML: <!-- -->
• SQL: --
• PowerShell: #
• And many more!

Technical Details

The extension is built on a robust FIGLet implementation that includes:

• Full support for the FIGLet font format (.flf)
• Multiple layout modes (FullSize, Kerning, Smushing)
• Comprehensive smushing rules:
  • Equal character smushing
  • Underscore smushing
  • Hierarchy smushing
  • Opposite pair smushing
  • Big X smushing
  • Hardblank smushing
• Efficient string manipulation using StringBuilder
• Thread-safe design

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• FIGLet (http://www.org/) for the original FIGLet specification
• The FIGLet font designers for their creative contributions
• The Visual Studio and VS Code extension ecosystem

Support

If you encounter any issues or have feature requests, please:

1. Check the FAQ
2. Search existing issues
3. Create a new issue if needed

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Made with ❤️ by Paulo Santos