Testing Debugging And Release Workflow

Testing Debugging And Release Workflow

Practical validation model for ongoing Arma 2 Operation Arrowhead 1.64 mission development.

This repo cannot lean on a modern SQF unit-test suite. The safe workflow is a mix of source checks, local tooling checks, RPT-driven smoke tests and careful release gates. Every future change should record what was actually verified, not just what was source-reviewed.

Scope: gameplay edits start in Missions/[55-2hc]warfarev2_073v48co.chernarus; generated mission behavior is handled through Tools/LoadoutManager unless a skip-list file needs hand mirroring.

Machine schema for test evidence: agent-test-plan.schema.json.

Test Levels

Level	Use when	Evidence to record
source-only	Static defects: missing files, commented compiles, compile registries, PV channel maps, IDD conflicts, generated drift.	Exact paths, line refs, search command or script, and whether the issue is confirmed or only a lead.
local-tool	LoadoutManager generation, PerformanceAuditAnalyzer parsing, DiscordBot/Extension build or config shape.	Command, cwd, exit code, generated files or expected non-blocking failure such as missing 7za.
hosted-smoke	Locality-sensitive behavior where hosted server also runs client code.	Scenario, mission params, RPT snippets, observed player/server behavior.
dedicated-smoke	Server-authority, PV/PVF, economy, town AI, cleanup loops, BattlEye-sensitive behavior.	Dedicated server RPT, client RPT if available, result and regressions checked.
jip-smoke	Any state that late joiners must see: towns, markers, HQ, commander, supply cooldowns, MASH, endgame.	Join timing, expected replicated variables/events, client observations after join.
hc-smoke	AI delegation, town AI, static defenses and HC registration.	HC connection timing, connected-hc handling, delegated units, server FPS/load effect.
live-server-sensitive	BattlEye, AntiStack DB, public server economy authority, Discord token/data paths, extensions.	Owner approval, backup/rollback path, exact server config, and redacted logs only.

System Test Matrix

System	Source paths	Minimum validation	Notes
Boot/lifecycle	description.ext, initJIPCompatible.sqf, Common/Init/*, Server/Init/Init_Server.sqf, Client/Init/Init_Client.sqf, Headless/Init/Init_HC.sqf, mission.sqm	source-only, then hosted or dedicated boot smoke for reordered init.	Check version.sqf, WFBE_Parameters_Ready, commonInitComplete, townInit, serverInitFull, clientInitComplete. mission.sqm town object init is part of runtime.
PV/PVF networking	Common/Init/Init_PublicVariables.sqf, Server/Functions/Server_HandlePVF.sqf, Client/Functions/Client_HandlePVF.sqf, Server/PVFunctions/*, Client/PVFunctions/*	source-only for registry, dedicated smoke for changed handlers, JIP smoke for stateful effects.	PVF dispatch hardening must test one server-bound and one client-bound message. Direct PV channels are outside the PVF list.
Economy authority	Client/GUI/GUI_Menu_BuyUnits.sqf, Client/Functions/Client_BuildUnit.sqf, Server/PVFunctions/RequestStructure.sqf, Server/Functions/Server_ProcessUpgrade.sqf, Server/PVFunctions/RequestUpgrade.sqf, gear/EASA GUI files	source-only, then dedicated smoke for each migrated spend path.	Record whether the server or client owns final funds/effect. Client menu checks are not authority.
Towns and town AI	mission.sqm, Common/Init/Init_Town*.sqf, Server/FSM/server_town.sqf, Server/FSM/server_town_ai.sqf, Common/Functions/Common_CreateTownUnits.sqf	Dedicated smoke; JIP smoke for town state; HC smoke when delegation is enabled.	For Town AI vehicle safety, test occupied and empty vehicle despawn cases.
Construction and CoIn	Client/Module/CoIn/coin_interface.sqf, Server/PVFunctions/RequestStructure.sqf, Server/PVFunctions/RequestDefense.sqf, Server/Functions/Server_Build*	Dedicated smoke for accepted/rejected builds.	Validate commander/repair authority, funds, base area, dead HQ and side ownership server-side after hardening.
Factories and purchases	Client/GUI/GUI_Menu_BuyUnits.sqf, Client/Functions/Client_BuildUnit.sqf, Server/Functions/Server_BuyUnit.sqf	Hosted and dedicated smoke for spawn markers, queues and empty-vehicle cases.	DR-33 queue leak needs repeated empty-vehicle buy attempts to prove decrement behavior.
Upgrades	Client/GUI/GUI_Menu_Upgrade.sqf, Server/PVFunctions/RequestUpgrade.sqf, Server/Functions/Server_ProcessUpgrade.sqf	Dedicated smoke for valid upgrade, invalid id, insufficient funds, wrong-side/role.	Server must recompute level, dependency and cost after hardening.
Supply missions	Client/Module/supplyMission/*, Server/Module/supplyMission/*, Server/Init/Init_Server.sqf	Dedicated smoke, JIP cooldown smoke, PR #1 vehicle reuse/destruction smoke when relevant.	Keep the pull-based cooldown model; fix dead twin/casing/trust issues before expanding heli behavior.
Respawn and MASH	Client/GUI/GUI_RespawnMenu.sqf, Client/Functions/*MASH*, Server/Module/MASH/*, Client/Init/Init_Client.sqf	Source-only for dead marker path; JIP smoke if markers are revived.	Current MASH marker chain is dead/orphaned; revival needs server-held list and replay.
Supports and specials	Client/Module/Nuke/*, Server/Functions/Server_HandleSpecial.sqf, Server/Support/*, attack-wave files	Dedicated smoke for authority-sensitive actions; live-server-sensitive for ICBM and BattlEye.	ICBM and attack waves are high-risk because forged PV payloads can create server-side effects.
AI and HC delegation	Headless/Init/Init_HC.sqf, Client/Functions/Client_Delegate*.sqf, Common/Functions/Common_Delegate*.sqf, Server/Functions/Server_OnPlayerDisconnected.sqf	HC smoke for delegation and reconnect/disconnect behavior.	Init_HC.sqf uses sleep 20, not waitUntil {serverInitFull}.
UI/HUD/dialogs	Rsc/*.hpp, Client/GUI/*, Client/Init/Init_Client.sqf, Client/Module/RHUD/*	Source-only for IDD/resource conflicts; hosted smoke for display open/close and long text.	Duplicate IDDs exist; use display handles and avoid assuming IDD uniqueness.
WASP overlay	WASP/*, Client/Init/Init_Client.sqf, initJIPCompatible.sqf commented WASP block	Hosted/JIP smoke for per-client actions; source-only for dead old init path.	Live WASP features are wired from client init, not the old commented WASP/Init_Client.sqf block.
Tooling and generated missions	Tools/LoadoutManager/*, Tools/PerformanceAuditAnalyzer/*, Missions_Vanilla/*, Modded_Missions/*	local-tool, source-only drift checks.	Run LoadoutManager from a correctly named a2waspwarfare checkout. Missing 7za is packaging-only unless deployment packaging is required.
Integrations	Extension/*, DiscordBot/*, BattlEyeFilter/*, Server/Module/AntiStack/*	source-only, local build/config checks, live-server-sensitive for production.	Do not expose secrets. Distinguish in-repo GLOBALGAMESTATS extension from out-of-repo AntiStack DB DLL.

Static Analysis Checklist

Run these before any major gameplay patch and after large generated changes:

Check	What it catches
Compile/preprocess registry scan	Commented or missing functions in Init_Common.sqf, Init_Server.sqf, Init_Client.sqf, Init_PublicVariables.sqf.
Missing file scan	Dead execVM, preprocessFile, #include and dialog onLoad references.
PV channel inventory	New direct publicVariable, publicVariableServer, addPublicVariableEventHandler channels not covered by PVF docs.
Client-authority scan	New client-side createVehicle, createUnit, setDammage, ChangePlayerFunds, side supply or upgrade mutations.
JIP replay scan	New transient PV events that should have replicated object variables or pull-based state requests.
IDD/resource scan	Duplicate display/title IDDs and missing Rsc class references.
Generated drift scan	Chernarus versus Takistan outside the LoadoutManager skip-list; modded missions are separate forks/stubs.
Extension trust scan	callExtension return handling, call compile, serialization settings and missing DLL/config assumptions.

RPT Logging Conventions

Use the existing logging helper instead of ad hoc hint debugging:

Log type	Use
WFBE_CO_FNC_LogContent with INFORMATION	Successful state transitions testers need to confirm in RPT, such as accepted high-value server transactions.
WFBE_CO_FNC_LogContent with WARNING	Rejected malformed/unauthorized network payloads, missing generated files or degraded but recoverable state.
WF_Debug-gated detail logs	Noisy values: prices, side IDs, object refs, queue ids, player occupancy decisions, PV payload summaries.
Performance audit records	Long-running loops or known hot paths such as town AI, supply mission tracking and UI/map loops.

Do not add constant always-on logs inside hot loops. For tester-visible changes, one small always-on line at the transition point is better than frame-by-frame tracing.

Minimal Smoke Packs

Pack	Steps
Boot and JIP	Start hosted or dedicated mission, verify no init hang, join a second client after time > 30, confirm town markers, HQ state, commander/vote state and spawn location.
PVF dispatcher hardening	Trigger one server request such as RequestJoin or RequestVehicleLock; trigger one client message such as LocalizeMessage; confirm rejected bogus handler logs once and does not execute.
Town AI vehicle despawn	Wake a town, board a town-AI vehicle as passenger/gunner, force inactivity or lower WFBE_C_TOWNS_UNITS_INACTIVE, confirm occupied vehicle survives and empty AI-only vehicles despawn.
Factory queue	Buy repeated empty/crewless vehicles from the relevant factory, confirm local queue count decrements and future buys are not soft-locked.
Supply mission	Start a truck mission, complete it once, repeat after cooldown, JIP during cooldown query, destroy tracked vehicle once if PR #1 interdiction logic is in scope.
Victory/endgame	Simulate HQ/factory elimination and all-town capture paths, confirm one winner, one endgame broadcast and one stats log.
LoadoutManager	In correctly named checkout, run dotnet run; inspect generated EASA/balance outputs, Takistan copy, version.sqf, and whether packaging failed only because 7za is missing.

Release Checklist

Gate	Requirement
Source state	Gameplay edits are in Chernarus source mission; generated targets are propagated or skip-listed files are hand-mirrored deliberately.
Documentation	Feature status, hardening roadmap, relevant atlas page and Agent worklog updated.
Machine evidence	A test record matching agent-test-plan.schema.json is added or linked from agent files.
Runtime smoke	Required hosted/dedicated/JIP/HC smoke packs completed for the changed subsystem.
RPT review	No new scheduler, undefined variable, missing file or extension errors in relevant RPT logs.
Tooling	LoadoutManager run or explicitly not required; missing 7za handled according to deployment need.
BattlEye/server config	Public-server release has reviewed publicvariable.txt, scripts.txt, server config and any production-only filters. Current repo does not ship a complete BE hardening set.
Integrations	DiscordBot tokens/configs and extension DLLs are present only in deployment, never committed.
Rollback	Previous mission PBO/package and server config can be restored.

Agent Test Record Schema

Use agent-test-plan.schema.json for future machine-readable test evidence. The important distinction is coverageLevel: a finding marked source-only is useful, but it is not proof of in-game behavior.

Minimal record example:

{
  "schema": "a2waspwarfare-agent-test-plan-v1",
  "id": "town-ai-vehicle-despawn-smoke-2026-06-02",
  "status": "planned",
  "coverageLevel": ["dedicated-smoke"],
  "subsystems": ["town-ai", "vehicle-cleanup"],
  "sourceRefs": [
    "Missions/[55-2hc]warfarev2_073v48co.chernarus/Server/FSM/server_town_ai.sqf:211-216"
  ],
  "steps": [
    "Wake town AI with a vehicle template.",
    "Put player in cargo or turret.",
    "Force inactivity despawn.",
    "Confirm occupied vehicle survives and empty AI-only vehicles despawn."
  ],
  "evidence": [],
  "result": "not-run"
}

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