How to enable in vscode

[stephan-klein]

I read all the guides still im puzzled how to enable the plugin in vscode.

I execute

npm install --save-dev --save-exact prettier prettier-plugin-java

I have the prettier extension installed.

and now ? how can i enable the formatting ? Still my other java formatter is executed by default. Format Document with... action does not detect it.

when i put

"[java]": {
        "editor.defaultFormatter": "esbenp.prettier-vscode"
    },

in settings.json

i get

How to link the plugin to formatting action ?

[clementdessoude]

Hello @stephan-klein !

Do you have a Prettier configuration file ?
If not, can you try creating one like this one (you can convert this one from yaml to any other format) and see if if fixes your issue ?

# Prettier configuration
plugins:
  - prettier-plugin-java
overrides:
  - files:
      - "*.java"
    options:
      printWidth: 100
      tabWidth: 4
      useTabs: false
      trailingComma: "none"

[furti]

Also note that there is a regression in the latest version 2.6.6 that prevents Vscode to load the prettier-plugin-java plugin: #711.

You either need to downgrade to 2.6.5 or update node_modules/prettier-plugin-java/package.json with the code mentioned in the linked issue.

[bottlerocketjonny]

I'm seeing the same error as OP. I usually run this via Spotless Maven plugin when committing but would be great to be able to format in the editor too.

I have a .prettier-java.json file similar to the yaml above in my project/backend dir and have the same VSCode settings config.

The prettier formatter works fine on other file formats, just not Java. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks!

[janson403]

@stephan-klein
@bottlerocketjonny
I find a method to enable plugins in vscode globally, even without installing prettier globally, just using the bundled prettier:

{
  "plugins": [
    "file:///D:/save_files/vscode-prettier-eslint-xml/node_modules/prettier-plugin-java/dist/index.js"
  ]
}

You still have to install the prettier plugin using npm, but choose any directory you want. Create a .prettierrc file in any directory and fill in the prettier.configPath your .prettierrc file directory. Remember write file:///{Your Directory To node_modules}/prettier-plugin-java/dist/index.js.
I believe this method could be used to all plugins, but maybe another file name. For example, for plugin-xml, it's file:///{Your Directory To node_modules}/@prettier/plugin-xml/src/plugin.js.