IRIS Table Editor

Excel-like grid editing for InterSystems IRIS database tables. Available as a VS Code extension, a standalone desktop application (Electron), and a web application (Express + WebSocket).

Features

Connection & Browsing

Connect to InterSystems IRIS servers via the Atelier REST API (HTTP)
Browse namespaces and tables in a schema-organized tree view
Schema folders group related tables; standalone tables and folders are alphabetized together
Open multiple tables simultaneously (tabs in desktop, separate panels in VS Code)
Connection status indicator with disconnect support

Grid Display

Excel-like data grid with sticky column headers
Type-aware column formatting:
- Numbers: Right-aligned with thousands separators
- Booleans: Interactive checkboxes (checked/unchecked/null)
- Dates/Times/Timestamps: Locale-formatted display
- NULL values: Gray italic placeholder
Adjustable column width via toolbar slider
Alternating row colors and hover highlighting
Theme support (dark, light, and high contrast)

Inline Cell Editing

Double-click or press Enter/F2 to edit any cell
Type-specific editors:
- Date columns: Text input with calendar popup (supports YYYY-MM-DD, MM/DD/YYYY, natural language)
- Time columns: Validates HH:MM:SS, 12-hour and 24-hour formats
- Timestamp columns: Combined date-time input with ISO 8601 support
- Numeric columns: Validates integers and decimals per column type
- Boolean columns: Click to toggle; right-click to set NULL
Auto-save on blur or Enter with optimistic UI feedback
Ctrl+Z to undo, Escape to cancel, Ctrl+Shift+N to set NULL
Visual save confirmation (success flash) and error indicators (red border + toast)

Row Operations

Insert: Ctrl+N adds a new row with yellow highlight; edit fields and Ctrl+S to save
Duplicate: Ctrl+D copies current row (excluding auto-generated primary key)
Delete: Ctrl+- with confirmation dialog showing the row’s primary key value

Column Filtering

Filter row below headers with per-column text input
Wildcard support: * (any characters) and ? (single character)
Case-insensitive matching with AND logic across columns
Filter panel showing active filters with remove buttons
Ctrl+F to focus filter, Ctrl+Shift+F to clear all filters
Auto-refresh after cell save to reflect filter changes

Column Sorting

Click column header to cycle: none, ascending, descending
Sort indicator arrows in header
Combined with filtering (filter first, then sort)

Pagination

Configurable page size (default 50 rows)
First/Previous/Next/Last navigation buttons
Direct page input field for jumping to specific pages
Row count display with thousands separators
Keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl+PageDown/PageUp
Ctrl+G to go to a specific row number

CSV & Excel Export

Export dropdown with three options per format:
- Current page: Export visible rows
- All data: Export entire table across all pages
- Filtered data: Export only rows matching active filters
CSV format (RFC 4180 compliant, UTF-8)
Excel format (.xlsx with formatted headers and borders)
Progress bar with cancel button for large exports

CSV & Excel Import

Import from CSV or Excel (.xlsx) files
Column mapping UI: map CSV/Excel columns to table columns
Auto-mapping by matching column names (excludes read-only columns)
Identity and computed columns detected and marked as read-only
Data preview showing first 5 rows
Optional pre-import validation with error report
Import valid rows only (skip invalid) or cancel on errors
Progress bar with cancel button for large imports

Keyboard Shortcuts

Press ? or F1 to view the full shortcuts help dialog.

Note: On Mac, use Cmd instead of Ctrl for all shortcuts below.

Category	Shortcut	Action
Navigation	Arrow keys	Move to adjacent cell
	Tab / Shift+Tab	Next / previous cell
	Home / End	First / last cell in row
	Ctrl+Home / Ctrl+End	First / last cell in grid
	Page Up / Page Down	Scroll one page
Editing	Enter / F2	Enter edit mode
	Escape	Cancel edit
	Shift+Enter	Save and move up
	Ctrl+Enter	Save and stay
	Ctrl+Z	Undo edit
	Delete	Clear cell
	Backspace	Clear and edit
	Ctrl+Shift+N	Set cell to NULL
Row Ops	Ctrl+N	New row
	Ctrl+D	Duplicate row
	Ctrl+-	Delete row
	Ctrl+S	Save new row
Data	Ctrl+R / F5	Refresh data
	Ctrl+G	Go to row
	Ctrl+F	Focus column filter
	Ctrl+Shift+F	Clear all filters
	Ctrl+E	Toggle export menu
Pagination	Ctrl+Page Down	Next page
	Ctrl+Page Up	Previous page

Accessibility

Full keyboard navigation (no mouse required)
ARIA roles and attributes (grid, row, gridcell, dialog, checkbox)
Screen reader announcements for selections, edits, saves, and errors
Focus trap in dialogs with focus restoration on close
High contrast theme support (Windows forced-colors mode)

Installation

Web Application

A browser-based version that runs as a standalone web server — no VS Code or Electron required. Connect to any IRIS instance from any device with a web browser.

Clone and build:

git clone https://github.com/jbrandtmse/iris-table-editor.git
cd iris-table-editor
npm install
npm run compile

Start the server:

# Development mode (auto-reload on changes)
npm run start:web

# Production mode
NODE_ENV=production SESSION_SECRET=your-secret-key npm run start --workspace=packages/web

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser
Enter your IRIS server host, port, namespace, and credentials to connect

Environment variables:

Variable	Default	Description
`PORT`	`3000`	Server listening port
`SESSION_SECRET`	random	Secret for session cookies (required in production)
`SESSION_TIMEOUT`	`1800`	Session expiry in seconds (30 min)
`ALLOWED_ORIGINS`	—	CORS origins, comma-separated
`TLS_CERT` / `TLS_KEY`	—	Paths to TLS certificate and key for HTTPS
`FORCE_HTTPS`	`false`	Redirect HTTP to HTTPS
`TRUST_PROXY`	auto	Trust `X-Forwarded-*` headers (auto-enabled in production)

Docker:

# Basic
docker compose -f packages/web/docker-compose.yml up --build

# With TLS
docker compose -f packages/web/docker-compose.yml -f packages/web/docker-compose.tls.yml up --build

Requirements: Node.js 20+ (or Docker). Connects to InterSystems IRIS 2021.1+ via the Atelier REST API.

Desktop Application (Windows)

For users who don’t use VS Code — a standalone application with the same feature set.

Download IRIS Table Editor Setup 0.2.0.exe from the latest release
Run the installer — no admin rights required (per-user install)
Launch IRIS Table Editor from the Start Menu
Click + or File → New Connection to add an IRIS server

Note: The installer is not code-signed. Windows SmartScreen may show a warning on first launch — click “More info” → “Run anyway” to proceed.

Requirements: Windows 10 or later. Connects to InterSystems IRIS 2021.1+ via the Atelier REST API.

VS Code Extension

Download iris-table-editor-0.2.0.vsix from the latest release
In VS Code, open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) and run Extensions: Install from VSIX…
Select the downloaded .vsix file
Reload VS Code when prompted

Alternatively, install from the command line:

code --install-extension iris-table-editor-0.2.0.vsix

Requirements:

VS Code 1.85.0 or higher
InterSystems Server Manager extension
Access to an InterSystems IRIS instance (2021.1+)

Development

Prerequisites

Node.js 20 or higher
VS Code 1.85.0 or higher (for extension development)

Setup

git clone https://github.com/jbrandtmse/iris-table-editor.git
cd iris-table-editor
npm install

Project Structure

This is an npm workspaces monorepo:

packages/
├── core/       # Shared services, models, and utilities (TypeScript)
├── webview/    # Shared grid UI: HTML, CSS, and vanilla JS
├── vscode/     # VS Code extension wrapper
├── desktop/    # Electron desktop application
└── web/        # Express + WebSocket web application server

Build Commands

# Build all packages (type-check + esbuild)
npm run compile

# Run linter across all packages
npm run lint

# Run tests (VS Code extension + desktop + web)
npm run test

# Watch mode for VS Code extension development
npm run watch

VS Code Extension Development

Open this repository in VS Code
Run npm run watch in a terminal
Press F5 to launch the Extension Development Host
The IRIS Table Editor icon appears in the Activity Bar

Desktop App Development

# Run the desktop app in dev mode
npm run start:desktop

# Build the Windows installer (.exe)
npm run dist:win --workspace=packages/desktop

# Build a directory (unpacked, for testing)
npm run pack --workspace=packages/desktop

Web App Development

# Run the web server in dev mode (auto-reload via tsx watch)
npm run start:web

# Run web package tests
npm run test --workspace=packages/web

# Production start (compile first)
npm run compile
npm run start --workspace=packages/web

The web server runs on http://localhost:3000 by default. It serves the shared webview UI and proxies Atelier API requests to the IRIS server specified in the browser connection form.

Packaging

# VS Code extension → .vsix
cd packages/vscode && npx vsce package --no-dependencies

# Desktop app → platform installer
npm run dist:desktop

# Web app → Docker image
docker build -f packages/web/Dockerfile -t iris-table-editor-web .

Technical Overview

API: Atelier REST API over HTTP — no superserver port required
Security: Parameterized SQL queries for all database operations; Content Security Policy enforcement in webviews; channel validation allowlists for IPC; CSRF protection and rate limiting in the web server
VS Code: Integrates with InterSystems Server Manager for connection and credential management
Desktop: Electron with context isolation and sandbox enabled; encrypted credential storage; auto-update via GitHub Releases
Web: Express server with WebSocket command routing; session-based auth; optional TLS; Docker-ready with health checks
Build: TypeScript, esbuild bundling, npm workspaces monorepo

License

MIT

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues and pull requests.

iris-table-editor Works