Troubleshooting Guide

By Lex Li

If any error happens, please follow the steps below to locate the possible causes.

Reboot The Computer

In some cases (though rarely), Visual Studio Code background processes can be left behind. These background processes are involved in tasks such as rendering HTML preview.

Find The Logs

  1. Use “View -> Output” menu item to open Visual Studio Code OUTPUT panel.

  2. On the dropdown list in the upper right area of the OUTPUT panel that says “Search” by default, choose “reStructuredText” or “Esbonio Language Server” from the list to switch to reStructuredText logging pages.

The logs show many hidden information, such as

  • What compiler command line is used by this extension to execute a Python task

  • Which HTML file is being used as preview.

They should indicate what might be wrong.

Use Developer Tools

In rare cases you need to use Help | Toggle Developer Tools menu item to enable Visual Studio Code’s hidden Console tab. Then when you reproduce a certain issue, you can see relevant errors recorded.

Locate The Conf.py Folder

  1. Open Integrated Terminal in Visual Studio Code code by clicking “View | Integrated Terminal”.

  2. If you have .vscode/settings.json in the workspace, find the value of restructuredtext.confPath setting. Assume its value is src, execute cd src at terminal to switch to the folder.

Test The Generated HTML files

When the make process succeeds, the generated HTML pages should present in ${workspaceFolder}/_build/html.

If you cannot find this folder or the extension indicates it cannot find certain HTML page, then the make process might generate them at another location. You have to set restructuredtext.builtDocumentationPath.

Note

This should be an absolute path.