VS Code: Command MDK: Open Mobile App Editor not found when working with SAP MDK project

[aelsiar]

Description
I am working on an SAP Mobile Development Kit (MDK) application using Visual Studio Code and the MDK VS Code extension.

When I try to execute the command:

MDK: Open Mobile App Editor
(from the Command Palette or via a documented workflow), VS Code displays the error:

Command 'mdk:openMobileAppEditor' not found

My Environment
Visual Studio Code:1.118.1
MDK VS Code Extension: 1.32.1
OS: Windows

Question
Is mdk.openMobileAppEditor still a valid command in the current MDK VS Code extension, or has it been deprecated / renamed?
If deprecated, what is the recommended way to open or manage the MDK Mobile App Editor functionality in VS Code?
Are there specific prerequisites or activation conditions required for this command to be registered?
Any guidance or confirmation from someone who has faced this issue would be really helpful.

[bill_froelich]

Do you have your local development environment setup to create branded MDK clients? 

If not, you may need to install Node and then Nativescript.  We are in the process of releasing an new version of the MDK VSCode extension that should address this issue, but in the meantime you can try installing the dependencies.  I personally would recommend using nvm for windows to manage your node environments but you can also just install node directly.  You can look at the Install Required Tooling section of this tutorial.

There are some additional steps you will also need.  I would recommend installing the Cloud Foundry Tools extension and make sure to install the cf-cli prerequisite dependency.  This will let you use the CF: Login to Cloud Foundry command in VSCode to sign in and select your org/space (required for the Mobile App Editor).  Additionally you may also want to just to install the Application Wizard extension which will be needed for the new version being released.

In testing this allowed me to get the window open but it also appears the UI5 version used by the 1.32.1 extension is no longer available which means you will get a blank window within VSCode now.  You can work around this in the short term by editing the index.html in your <user directory>/.vscode/extensions/sapse.vsc-extension-mdk.1.32.1/web directory and changing the version in the UI5 urls from 1.120.27 to 1.120.45.  Save the file and restart VSCode and the editor should now open.

[RACHID_AITBOUALE]

Hi @aelsiar,

I've seen this happen after recent updates to the MDK VS Code Extension. The mdk:openMobileAppEditor command is sometimes hidden from the Command Palette if the extension hasn't 'seen' an MDK file yet.

Quick fix:

• Open your Application.app file.

• Instead of the Palette, right-click the file in the Explorer and look for 'MDK: Open Editor'.

• Also, check if the MDK Activity Bar icon is visible on the left. Opening the editor through that view is now the preferred 'Clean Core' workflow for SAP Mobile Services.

In my research on Smart Ports, we rely heavily on these editors to build real-time asset tracking screens—if the UI doesn't activate, usually it's because the MDKProject.json is missing from the root directory!"

Are you working on a project migrated from the SAP Web IDE, or was this created directly within VS Code using the MDK template?

[aelsiar]

Thank you for your response. I am able to see the MDK: Open Mobile Editor. But it is giving an error when I try to execute the command