Automatically format Curly Braces on Same Line in C++ VSCode - c++

Question

I have a problem with the way intellisense autocompletes snippets in VSCode, currently, when I write an if statement, it autocompletes to:
if (condition)
{
// some code
}
However, I would like it to autocomplete to:
if (condition) {
// some code
}
If I use my formatter in VSCode, it formats it to the convention above, however I would like to avoid having to press a separate command for this to occur. Optimally the intellisense snippet would just format it like this by default.
Any help with this would be appreciated.

Answer 1

This is a bigger subject than you might think
So typically with C++, the preferred formatter is the CLang Formatter. CLang's tool is so good, ECMAScript's ESLint has been taking notes, and has implemented many of the same rules found in the CLang formatter, specifically the rules that have to do with brackets.
VSCode has a default formatter that can be used for C++. And this really comes down to what your using.
Problem:
What your asking for, essentially, is for your brackets to be inserted using a certain style, rather than to be auto formatted to a specific style.
Solution
The snippets you are using are obviously predefined, and VSCode supports writing your own snippets.
Like this:
// FILE: #(".../.config/code/user/snippets/cpp.json")
{
"Print to console": {
"prefix": "if(",
"body": ["if($1){\n$2\n}", "$2"],
"description": "If Condition"
}
}
The problem with snippets is: You would need to defined every snippet you use, styling each one.
VSCode Snippets Documentation (official)
Snippet files are extensible, meaning they can be turned into VSCode extensions. Because a snippet library is quick & easy to write in comparison to most other extensions, there are a lot of them available in the Visual Studio Marketplace, and are all 100% Free to download.
You could download a pack that contains the snippets you wont, and then just ad the '\n' line character where needed, throughout the document.
Preferred Solution
It may not be what you want. But the best way to do this, is to do what 90% of C/Cpp developers do who write c/cpp in VSCode; use CLang formatter, and configure VSCode to format your code when you save. I am always hitting CTRL + S because I don't like throwing work down the drain because I forgot to save. And my if statements are all auto formatted exactly as you displayed the example in your question.