contributing

Contributing

Thanks for your interest in improving ROM Validator.

Reporting bugs

1. Reproduce the problem so it is captured in the log.
2. Open a GitHub issue and include:
   • what you did,
   • what you expected to happen,
   • what actually happened,
   • the application version (see the About window),
   • the relevant log file from %LOCALAPPDATA%\ROM Validator\Logs,
   • a screenshot (press F8) when it helps.

Warnings, errors and fatal events are forwarded automatically to the developer, but an issue with context is still the best way to get a fix.

Requesting features

Open an issue and describe the use case, not only the solution. Include examples of ROM collections or DAT files when relevant.

Submitting changes

1. Fork the repository and create a topic branch.

2. Follow the existing code style:

   • the build must stay at zero warnings (Meziantou and Roslynator analyzers are enabled),
   • public types and members require XML documentation,
   • keep methods small and prefer existing helpers (FileSystemHelper, AppPaths, ArchiveService, TempDirectoryHelper).

3. Add or update tests in RomValidator.Tests for behavior changes.

4. Run the full test suite:

   dotnet test CSharp_RomValidator.sln --configuration Release --nologo

5. Update the documentation in docs/ when user-visible behavior changes.

6. Open a pull request that describes the change and references the related issue.

Documentation

The documentation site is built from the docs/ folder with Jekyll (just-the-docs theme) and mirrored to the repository wiki. Add front matter to every page:

---
title: Page Title
parent: User Guide   # optional, groups the page in the navigation
nav_order: 1
---

Use relative links without the .md extension (for example [FAQ](faq)) so the links work on GitHub Pages, in the wiki and in the repository.

License

By contributing you agree that your contributions are licensed under the GPLv3, the license of this project.