mars-nwe/TODO.md

TODO

This file collects follow-up work that is known but intentionally not part of the current patches. It is meant for project-level items that are too broad or too low-priority to keep as inline source TODO comments.

Server / NCP compatibility

Console privilege model

Current status:

• NCP 23/200 Check Console Privileges is implemented as a protocol-compatible status check.
• For now, console privileges are mapped to the existing supervisor-equivalence state computed for the connection.
• Callers with supervisor equivalence get success; other callers get 0xc6 (No Console Rights).

Follow-up:

• Add a real console-operator privilege model instead of treating console rights as identical to supervisor equivalence.
• Decide where the console privilege map should live:
  • a bindery property,
  • a server configuration option,
  • or a small explicit internal list similar to queue operator handling.
• Check how NetWare 3.x tools such as PCONSOLE, SYSCON, and console utilities expect console operators to be represented.
• Keep NCP 23/200 as a completion-code-only endpoint; only the privilege source should change.

Queue spool path case handling

Current status:

• Queue job paths can still be rebuilt from DOS/bindery path spelling such as SYS:SYSTEM/EPSON.QDR.
• On a case-sensitive Unix filesystem this can differ from the existing directory, for example system/epson.qdr.

Follow-up:

• Resolve queue job file paths case-insensitively in the queue connection/path resolver, or use the queue object's already-resolved Unix spool directory instead of rebuilding it from the DOS path.
• Avoid creating duplicate directories that differ only by case.

NCP 17/4C test coverage

Current status:

• NCP 17/4C List Relations of an Object is implemented server-side.
• Existing DOS and Linux tools do not reliably trigger it for all useful set properties such as GROUP_MEMBERS and GROUPS_I'M_IN.

Follow-up:

• Add a small direct test utility to mars-dosutils / NWTESTS that sends NCP 17/4C directly.
• Suggested test cases:
  • TESTGRP1 type 0x0002, property GROUP_MEMBERS
  • TESTGRP2 type 0x0002, property GROUP_MEMBERS
  • MARIO type 0x0001, property GROUPS_I'M_IN
  • NOPASSUSER type 0x0001, property GROUPS_I'M_IN
  • GUEST type 0x0001, property GROUPS_I'M_IN

NCP endpoint SDK documentation / stub audit

Current status:

• Several legacy NCP endpoints in src/nwconn.c are implemented only as disabled stubs, explicit 0xfb unsupported replies, or success/no-op dummies.
• The known candidates now have inline SDK-context comments so future work can start from the documented wire semantics instead of from guesswork.

Follow-up:

• Implement or deliberately reject remaining endpoint gaps after client evidence or direct protocol tests.
• Keep SDK details close to the corresponding endpoint in nwconn.c, and keep broader prioritization/status here in TODO.md.

NCP endpoint audit tracking

Current status:

• src/nwconn.c contains a mix of implemented, forwarded, partial, dummy, and intentionally unsupported NCP endpoints.
• Endpoint comments should be aligned with the Novell SDK Web documentation, SDK headers, the Rust nwserver implementation, lwared, and the existing mars_nwe admin/Pascal code where those sources cover the same call.

Follow-up:

• Keep inline TODO: comments only where endpoint behavior is incomplete, approximate, intentionally dummy/no-op, or still needs SDK layout verification.
• Mirror every real incomplete endpoint in this file so follow-up work remains visible outside the source code.
• Do not treat every return(-1) in nwconn.c as incomplete: many of those paths intentionally forward bindery/global-server work to nwbind.

NCP synchronization endpoint audit

Current status:

• The old NCP synchronization endpoint family in src/nwconn.c is now annotated with Novell SDK endpoint names.
• The existing source already marked this area as not well tested, so the comments intentionally keep that compatibility warning visible.
• NCP 0x03, 0x05, 0x06, 0x07, 0x08, 0x09, 0x0a, 0x0b, 0x0d, 0x0e, 0x1a, and 0x1e have local implementations.

Follow-up:

• Verify the implemented file/logical-record/physical-record calls against the Novell SDK request/reply layouts and a real DOS requester or direct test caller.
• Continue direct requester or NWTESTS coverage for the file, logical-record, and physical-record synchronization calls that are now wired.
• Verify timeout and error-code behavior for set-oriented locking calls against a real requester, especially where MARS-NWE currently relies on the existing underlying share implementation.

Extended volume information field mapping

Current status:

• NCP 0x16/0x33 Get Extended Volume Information returns the documented NWVolExtendedInfo reply and fills the core fields that can be derived from generic Unix filesystem statistics.
• NetWare-specific fields that MARS-NWE does not currently model are returned as zero for now instead of guessed values.

Follow-up:

• Fill additional NWVolExtendedInfo fields when reliable data is available from the backing filesystem or from MARS-NWE metadata.
• Candidate fields include suballocation, deleted-file/limbo accounting, compression counters, migration counters, EA counters, Directory Services object id, and last-modified timestamp data.
• Treat compression-related fields as real follow-up work rather than permanent zeroes; populate them only when the backing filesystem exposes trustworthy compressed-file or compressed-block accounting.

Object disk restriction fallback coverage

Current status:

• NCP 0x16/0x29 Get Object Disk Usage And Restrictions keeps the existing QUOTA_SUPPORT split.
• With quota support enabled, the endpoint is routed through nwbind so the bindery Object ID can be mapped to a Unix uid before querying the quota backend.
• Without quota support, the endpoint returns the SDK-compatible fallback: unrestricted (0x40000000) and no space in use.

Follow-up:

• Add direct tests for both build modes.
• Verify the quota-enabled path against a real Unix quota setup.
• Verify that the quota-disabled fallback remains compatible with requesters and with the WebSDK rule for invalid object IDs.

Server logging schema

Current status:

• Server logging is useful during protocol work, but output is still noisy and not formatted consistently across NCP, namespace/path mapping, AFP, bindery, file, queue, trustee, and salvage code.
• During salvage endpoint development, verbose logs are preferred over missing diagnostic information, but the messages should become easier to grep and compare across subsystems.

Follow-up:

• Normalize new server log lines toward this shape:

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

• Use four-character levels so columns do not jump around:

  • INFO
  • DBUG
  • WARN
  • ERRR

• Put the level first, then the subsystem/function area, for example NCP, SALVAGE, AFP, MAP, BIND, TRUST, AUTH, CONN, FILE, or QUEUE.

• Use decimal/protocol-facing endpoint identifiers near the front when they are what the documentation uses, for example 87/16, 87/17, and 87/18.

• Keep exact wire values as hex key/value fields later in the same line, for example fn=0x57 sub=0x10 ns=0x00 seq=0x00000000 vol=0x0000 base=0x00000004 result=0x89ff.

• Mark missing or unimplemented endpoints with a stable UNKNOWN event, 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"
  

• Prefer existing mars_nwe logging functions/macros. Do not introduce a second logging subsystem just to change the message format.

• Convert noisy areas gradually, starting with NCP function/subfunction dispatch and the salvage endpoints.

Printing / Queue backend

Q_UNIX_PRINT backend status

Current status:

• Queue metadata handling and the Q_UNIX_PRINT backend are intentionally separate.
• The backend can already call /usr/bin/lp, lpr, or a custom script.

Follow-up:

• Improve logging around queue job submission to the Unix print command.
• Capture and expose backend exit status where possible.
• Consider direct CUPS integration only if MARS_NWE needs CUPS job IDs, cancellation, or status polling. Do not add a hard CUPS dependency for basic queue compatibility.

Transaction Tracking System (TTS)

Current status:

• NCP 0x22/0x00 TTS Is Available reports the WebSDK-documented unavailable status.
• MARS-NWE does not currently implement TTS rollback semantics, transaction files, transaction status tracking, or the begin/end/abort transaction state machine.
• Other TTS subfunctions remain unsupported instead of pretending to succeed without real transaction tracking.

Follow-up:

• Implement TTS only if a concrete client requires it.
• Treat this as a real transaction subsystem, not as a completion-code shim: the WebSDK TTS calls include begin/end/abort transaction, status, threshold, and control/statistics operations.

AFP / Mac namespace backend

Current status:

• The active AFP compatibility slice is implemented and covered by the smoke tests under tests/afp/. Endpoint inventory, WebSDK audit notes, and AFP implementation history live in that directory instead of this project-level TODO file.
• The shared NCP salvage backend is now available and tested, including versioned scan/recover/purge and stale-sidecar cleanup. It should be the backing data source for AFP deleted-file compatibility work.

Current AFP focus:

• AFP 0x13 Get Macintosh Info On Deleted File is now implemented as a salvage/deleted-entry adapter and covered by the AFP smoke suite.
• Keep future AFP deleted-file work on the shared salvage backend; do not expose .recycle or .salvage through normal AFP/NCP path opens.
• Keep AFP metadata restore/lookup paths tied to the existing mars_nwe AFP and nwatalk mechanisms, not a new side database.
• Keep the detailed AFP inventory and audit notes in tests/afp/.

Deferred / optional protocol work

• Basic Packet Burst file transfer support is implemented and verified with a diagnostics-enabled DOS client test.
• Packet Burst support is built by default, but runtime use remains controlled by nwserv.conf.
• Packet Burst/NDS fragmentation support remains out of scope unless a concrete client requires it.