AI working notes for mars-nwe

This file is for future ChatGPT sessions. It records general working rules and local build/test notes only. It should not be used as the current project status log; the current patch stack and task context should be pasted into a new chat separately.

Start of a new chat

When the user says this is a new chat or asks to continue mars-nwe work, first read this file before proposing patches or making assumptions. Then ask for, or use, the current project status that the user pasted into the chat.

Patch workflow

Produce patches that apply with exactly:
```
git am patchname.patch
```
Assume the user has already applied and committed accepted earlier patches. Build every new patch against the current tree the user provides.
Do not ask the user to apply a long patch chain unless they explicitly say earlier patches were not committed.
Keep follow-up patches small and reviewable. Do not mix functional changes, cleanup, and logging refactors unless the user asks for that.
If a patch is only documentation or test cleanup, keep it that way.

mars-nwe coding style rules

Prefer existing mars_nwe / NetWare functions over new helper code.
Before adding a helper, search the tree for an existing equivalent.
Do not introduce parallel mechanisms for paths, trustees, xattrs, AFP metadata, copy/write/restore, u16/u32 packing, or logging.
Use existing integer and wire-format macros such as GET_16, GET_32, U16_TO_16, U32_TO_32, and related mars_nwe helpers instead of open-coded byte parsing/serialization.
Use existing namespace/path conversion and basehandle logic instead of parsing NetWare paths by hand.
For file restore/copy/write behavior, prefer the existing Novell/mars_nwe file functions over direct POSIX operations. Use POSIX only where there is no suitable internal mechanism, and keep it clearly isolated.
Do not add a new trustee or xattr database. Salvage JSON is a snapshot; real restore should feed existing mars_nwe trustee/xattr/AFP mechanisms.

NCP path and hidden repository notes

Normal NCP path resolution intentionally treats Unix dot path components as hidden/special. In the classic path resolver (build_dir_name() in connect.c), a component beginning with . is accepted only for ./.. semantics; a component such as .recycle or .salvage returns invalid path (0x899c).
nwattrib.c also marks Unix dot files/directories hidden by default when no explicit NetWare attributes are stored.
Therefore .recycle and .salvage are backend repositories, not user-visible NCP paths. Tests must not expect SYS:.recycle/... or SYS:.salvage/... to open through ordinary NCP file calls.
Use the official salvage endpoints (87/16 scan, 87/17 recover, 87/18 purge, and old 22/27-22/29) to observe or operate on salvage entries. Verify recovered payload content by reading the restored live file through NCP, not by opening backend repository paths through NCP.

Salvage endpoint rules

NCP 0x2222 / 87 / 16 is decimal 87/16, implemented as function 0x57, subfunction 0x10.
NCP 0x2222 / 87 / 17 is decimal 87/17, function 0x57, subfunction 0x11.
NCP 0x2222 / 87 / 18 is decimal 87/18, function 0x57, subfunction 0x12.
Keep 0x57 subfunction dispatch in handle_func_0x57() / namespace code, not as a second subfunction switch in nwconn.c.
Versioned backend payload names follow Samba vfs_recycle literally: Copy #1 of NAME, Copy #2 of NAME, ... . Do not localize this string and do not run it through gettext; the NCP scan reply still reports the original deleted filename for every version.
Versioned salvage entries may have different .recycle/.salvage names but 87/16 returns the original deleted filename for every version. Do not match recover/purge by display name alone.
Scan must treat .salvage JSON as a sidecar for the matching .recycle payload. If an external tool such as Samba or an administrator removes the payload, 87/16 must not return the stale sidecar and should remove the JSON.
Scan, recover, and purge should share the same scan/sequence/basehandle view so that a sequence returned by scan identifies the exact sidecar used later.
Append salvage endpoint tests to tests/salvage/salvage_smoke_suite.sh rather than creating unrelated top-level scripts.

Logging rules

Desired future server log format:

<LVL4> <AREA> <DEC-CODE> <EVENT> key=value ...

LVL4 is exactly four characters: INFO, DBUG, WARN, ERRR.
AREA examples: NCP, SALVAGE, AFP, MAP, BIND, TRUST, AUTH, CONN, FILE, QUEUE.
The front code should be human/protocol decimal where applicable, for example 87/16, 87/17, 87/18.
Exact wire values should still be logged later as key/value hex fields, for example fn=0x57 sub=0x10 seq=0x00000000 base=0x00000004 result=0x89ff.

Unknown or unimplemented endpoints should be easy to grep, for example:

INFO NCP 87/18 UNKNOWN fn=0x57 sub=0x12 msg="not implemented"
INFO NCP 87/255 UNKNOWN fn=0x57 sub=0xff msg="unknown subfunction"
INFO NCP 136 UNKNOWN fn=0x88 msg="unknown function"

Do not invent a parallel logger casually. Reuse existing mars_nwe logging functions/macros and normalize message format gradually.

Build and test notes

Dependencies used during local checks in this conversation:

gdbm-1.26.tar.gz
Linux-PAM-1.7.2.tar.xz for PAM headers; link against system PAM if present
ncpfs-master.zip for the salvage smoke helper client build
yyjson under third_party/yyjson

If CMake finds GDBM but a target still cannot see gdbm.h, pass include paths explicitly for local verification, for example:

CFLAGS="-I/path/to/gdbm/include -I/path/to/Linux-PAM-1.7.2/libpam/include" \
cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build --target nwconn ncp_salvage_scan_smoke ncp_salvage_recover_smoke

Useful quick checks:

bash -n tests/salvage/salvage_smoke_suite.sh
cc -DLINUX -fsyntax-only -Iinclude -Isrc -Ithird_party/yyjson/src src/nwsalvage.c src/namspace.c

Runtime smoke suite:

tests/salvage/salvage_smoke_suite.sh

The suite may run pre-clean warning-only when .recycle or .salvage artifacts are server/root-owned. Treat the final summary (failures=0, ncp_warnings=0) as the important signal.

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