Arma Dev

Building Arma 3 mod made easier using the Arma Dev tooling extension This Visual Studio Code extensions will optimize your workflow on building and signing pbo's, preview dialog controls and automate execution and installation.

Features

• Build your extension or add existing into the Arma-Dev configuration
• Pack server and client pbo files (incl. signing) with a single command
• Preview Dialog control files (*.hpp)
• Generate private keys
• Install the client mod into the correct game directory
• Run and debug (using *.RPT file) on the fly

Usage

Before using the Arma Dev extension, please make sure you have properly installed the Arma 3 Tools from Steam.

Open your existing Arma (server / client) and run the Arma 3: Configure command to setup the project. Please refer to the Configuration section for further details

Below you can find all available commands

• Arma 3: Configure: to setup the project
• Arma 3: Build: to pack / build pbos defined in your configuration file
• Arma 3: Binarize: binarize cpp files from explorer context menu
• Arma 3: UnBinarize: Unbinarize bin files from explorer context menu
• Arma 3: Run Server: start the arma3server with server mod path included
• Arma 3: Run Client: to start the game from your local computer
• Arma 3: Run Client (With Logging): to start the game and display the logfile
• Arma 3: Generate Key: generate a private key to sign the client pbo's
• Arma 3: Transfer Files: transfer server pbos to destination server using SFTP
• Arma 3: Toggle Code Live: please read the below "Toggle Code Live" section for further details

Configuration

The configuration file is located in .vscode/arma-dev.json and contains the following options.

• title: The title of your project (no used yet)
• name: The short name of the addon (this name is used as output folder)
• author: author name
• steamPath: The default steam path used for this project (default: auto-detect)
• buildPath: destination folder of all pbo files being generated
• privateKey: the private key path being used to sign the client addon
• serverDir: all server directories a pbo files should be created for (E.g. core and core_config)
• serverUse32bit: use legacy 32bit version of arma3server.exe
• serverMods: additional server mods being loaded when running arma3server
• clientDirs: all client directories a pbo files should be created for (ussualy its one or none)
• clientMods: additional client mods being loaded when running arma 3
• version: a version number to track possible changes (not immplemented)
• ftpConnection: setup SFTP connection using host, username and password (optionally path)
• ftpConnectionFile: setup SFTP connection by using a separate file
• postProcess: run some additional scripts once a command has been successfully executed - see "Post Processing"

Toggle Code Live

PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY

With "Code live" you can edit *.sqf files while Arma is running. It uses symlinks (refering to its workspace source) and the -filePatching startup parameter.

A proper configured $PBOPREFIX$ for every addon file is required

So, how to use it

• Run the command Arma 3: Toggle Code Live to create all necessary symlinks into "Arma 3\x" directory
• use Arma 3: Run Client to start Arma with all necessary parameters (-filePatching)
• use Arma 3: Run Server to prepare a server configuration and run it
• Customize the files defined in your workspace source folder.
• Open the in-game debug console and either use execVM or preprocessFile* to "reload" the changes.
• If you use a preInit script (which DOES NOT use compileFinal) you can use execVM too

Please be aware of the following

• Server config.cfg requires allowedFilePatching = 2; (which is ussually the case when running with Arma 3: Run Server)
• No server side signatur verification will work, so verifySignatures = 0; to bypass it
• You can toggle Code Live to either use the source or PBO file (located in buildPath)
• Some commands / settings (like compileFinal / config.cpp) cannot be overwritten (anti cheat)

HINT: Use [] spawn { compile preProcessFile "x\youraddon\yourfile.sqf" }; instead of execVM "x\youraddon\yourfile.sqf" from console to update file modifications

Post Processing

The post processing option (defined in .vscode/arma-dev.json) can be helpful to run additional tasks once a command has been successfully executed. An example of running a script when for instance all files are transfered to the remote can look the following:

"postProcess": {
    "transferFiles": "./restart-server.ps1"
}

Please note these commands are always executed locally

Requirements

• Arma 3 Tools (http://store.steampowered.com/app/233800/Arma_3_Tools/)
• Visual Studio Code

PLEASE MAKE SURE STEAM IS RUNNING AS IT IS REQUIRED FOR PACKING

Extension Settings

• arma-dev.logLevel: setup the log level (Info | Debug | Error)
• arma-dev.dialogAxisMode: How to display the dialog control axis (0 = truncated, 1 = original) restart required
• arma-dev.steamPath: The default steam path used for arma-dev (default: auto-detect)