Build STROOP on Linux platforms (with Mono and Docker)

[norbjd]

Hello ✋,

I'd like to help on this project but I am not working on a Windows platform. I'm not an expert in C# too. I'm just a regular developer impressed by the work made on this project to find new strategies for the different challenges (ABC and others).

So, I'm trying to build the application under Linux environment using Mono, an open-source implementation of Microsoft's .NET Framework. I'm using a Docker image to create reproducible builds, using an official base Mono image based on Debian 9 (Stretch).

You can see the different updates I've made here on my fork of STROOP and the branch (linux-build) I've created : Development...norbjd:6f219e3c6efa509a045504f4163db9c8c43ceb70.

To summarize quickly, here are the steps I have made :

• copy STROOP/STROOP.csproj to STROOP/STROOP_linux.csproj to avoid side effects with current builds. I'll use and modify this STROOP/STROOP_linux.csproj for the Linux build.
• rename some files in STROOP/TTC folder (apparently, Windows does not matter about case but Linux does), precisely replacing Ttc to TTC
• change PreBuildEvent and PostBuildEvent to match Linux commands (cp instead of xcopy and rm instead of del). Not sure that the PostBuildEvent makes sense, but I did it just for the sake of consistency

The difference between STROOP/STROOP.csproj and STROOP/STROOP_linux.csproj can be seen using diff tool :

437,461c437,461
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcPendulum2.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcRng2.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcSaveStateByteIterator.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcUtilities.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcSimulation.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcRng.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcMain.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcSaveState.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcWheel.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcTreadmill.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcThwomp.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcSpinningTriangle.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcSpinner.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcRotatingTriangularPrism.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcPusher.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcRotatingBlock.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcPitBlock.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcPendulum.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcHand.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcElevator.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcDust.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcCog.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcBobomb.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcAmp.cs" />
<     <Compile Include="Ttc\TtcObject.cs" />
---
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCPendulum2.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCRng2.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCSaveStateByteIterator.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCUtilities.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCSimulation.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCRng.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCMain.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCSaveState.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCWheel.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCTreadmill.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCThwomp.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCSpinningTriangle.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCSpinner.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCRotatingTriangularPrism.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCPusher.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCRotatingBlock.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCPitBlock.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCPendulum.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCHand.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCElevator.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCDust.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCCog.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCBobomb.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCAmp.cs" />
>     <Compile Include="TTC\TTCObject.cs" />
1026,1029c1026,1029
<     <PostBuildEvent>del "$(TargetDir)OpenTK.dll.config"
< del "$(TargetDir)OpenTK.GLControl.xml"
< del "$(TargetDir)OpenTK.xml"
< del "$(TargetDir)STROOP.exe.config"
---
>     <PostBuildEvent>rm -f "$(TargetDir)OpenTK.dll.config"
> rm -f "$(TargetDir)OpenTK.GLControl.xml"
> rm -f "$(TargetDir)OpenTK.xml"
> rm -f "$(TargetDir)STROOP.exe.config"
1033c1033
<     <PreBuildEvent>xcopy /E /Y /I "$(ProjectDir)Resources" "$(TargetDir)Resources" /D</PreBuildEvent>
---
>     <PreBuildEvent>cp -R "$(ProjectDir)Resources" "$(TargetDir)Resources"</PreBuildEvent>

When building, I've got some errors :

"/app/STROOP.sln" (default target) (1) ->
"/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj" (default target) (2) ->
(CoreCompile target) -> 
  Controls/VisualLinkLineText.cs(10,28): error CS0234: The type or namespace name 'TextFormatting' does not exist in the namespace 'System.Windows.Media' (are you missing an assembly reference?) [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/DecompilerView.xaml.cs(11,22): error CS0234: The type or namespace name 'Controls' does not exist in the namespace 'System.Windows' (are you missing an assembly reference?) [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/DecompilerView.xaml.cs(13,22): error CS0234: The type or namespace name 'Documents' does not exist in the namespace 'System.Windows' (are you missing an assembly reference?) [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/DecompilerView.xaml.cs(16,28): error CS0234: The type or namespace name 'Imaging' does not exist in the namespace 'System.Windows.Media' (are you missing an assembly reference?) [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/DecompilerView.xaml.cs(17,22): error CS0234: The type or namespace name 'Navigation' does not exist in the namespace 'System.Windows' (are you missing an assembly reference?) [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/DecompilerView.xaml.cs(18,22): error CS0234: The type or namespace name 'Shapes' does not exist in the namespace 'System.Windows' (are you missing an assembly reference?) [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/VisualLinkLineText.cs(43,25): error CS0246: The type or namespace name 'TextRun' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?) [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/VisualLinkLineText.cs(59,47): error CS0246: The type or namespace name 'QueryCursorEventArgs' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?) [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/VisualLinkLineText.cs(68,45): error CS0246: The type or namespace name 'MouseButtonEventArgs' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?) [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/VisualLinkLineText.cs(43,33): error CS0012: The type 'TextRun' is defined in an assembly that is not referenced. You must add a reference to assembly 'PresentationCore, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35'. [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/DecompilerView.xaml.cs(26,43): error CS0246: The type or namespace name 'UserControl' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?) [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]

I have fixed some of them by removing some unused (maybe?) using imports, more precisely in STROOP/Controls/DecompilerView.xaml.cs (see this commit : norbjd@c217ea5). This may be wrong (it may add some side effects?), but it removed some errors :

"/app/STROOP.sln" (default target) (1) ->
"/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj" (default target) (2) ->
(CoreCompile target) -> 
  Controls/VisualLinkLineText.cs(10,28): error CS0234: The type or namespace name 'TextFormatting' does not exist in the namespace 'System.Windows.Media' (are you missing an assembly reference?) [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/DecompilerView.xaml.cs(21,43): error CS0246: The type or namespace name 'UserControl' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?) [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/VisualLinkLineText.cs(43,25): error CS0246: The type or namespace name 'TextRun' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?) [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/VisualLinkLineText.cs(59,47): error CS0246: The type or namespace name 'QueryCursorEventArgs' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?) [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/VisualLinkLineText.cs(68,45): error CS0246: The type or namespace name 'MouseButtonEventArgs' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?) [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/VisualLinkLineText.cs(43,33): error CS0012: The type 'TextRun' is defined in an assembly that is not referenced. You must add a reference to assembly 'PresentationCore, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35'. [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]

I have also noticed that some warnings appeared before the errors (which may explain the errors) :

"/app/STROOP.sln" (default target) (1) ->
"/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj" (default target) (2) ->
(ResolveAssemblyReferences target) -> 
  /usr/lib/mono/msbuild/Current/bin/Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2101,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "PresentationCore". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  /usr/lib/mono/msbuild/Current/bin/Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2101,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "PresentationFramework". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  /usr/lib/mono/msbuild/Current/bin/Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2101,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "UIAutomationProvider". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  /usr/lib/mono/msbuild/Current/bin/Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(2101,5): warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "WindowsFormsIntegration". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors. [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]

The build could not locate the assemblies PresentationCore, PresentationFramework, UIAutomationProvider and WindowsFormsIntegration. Indeed, WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) APIs are not implemented by Mono. That explains why PresentationCore is not available for example.

By not using WPF APIs, it will be possible to build STROOP for Linux (and probably MacOS). It may (or not) attract some developers like me to contribute to this project. The problem is : I don't know how many efforts one have to make to not use WPF APIs. @scob will probably be able to answer this question. Do you think it's worth it? Maybe I'm chasing ghosts here.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Thank you very much and great job on this tool once again. 👍

[onlymx13]

From what I’ve heard, STROOP builds fine on wine. I don’t think Pannen has any plans to make it build natively.

[norbjd]

@onlymx13 Thanks for your answer.

It will run probably fine on Wine, but this was just a question I had looking at the project. Using Mono, a developer using a GNU/Linux distribution would have directly all the tools to develop/debug the application in an IDE (example : VS Code with Mono debug plugin) without using Wine every time to build the software and not be able to debug effectively.

In fact, this is also more a question of curiosity, to understand what is the effort to refactor STROOP to not use the WPF APIs (I mean, if there is for example only ten files to change, then it won't probably be too difficult to migrate - I can help on this 😃 - but I may be wrong). Using Mono also opens the door for using technologies like Docker to create reproducible builds and images. And it may attract also GNU Linux/MacOS developers for contributing.

[norbjd]

I made further researches, and it looks like hopefully Mono supports WinForms. The 4 missing assemblies used by WPF and missing are the following, as the last warning message suggests in my first message :

• PresentationCore.dll
• PresentationFramework.dll
• UIAutomationProvider.dll
• WindowsFormsIntegration.dll

I figured out that each one is bound to a particular namespace :

• PresentationCore.dll : System.Windows
• PresentationFramework.dll : System.Windows.Media
• UIAutomationProvider.dll : System.Windows.Automation
• WindowsFormsIntegration.dll : System.Windows.Forms.Integration

The 2 last namespaces are not used in the entire STROOP project.

Imports of System.Windows and System.Windows.Media are used in only 4 files (7 matches) :

$ echo; grep -Ern 'using System.Windows;|using System.Windows.Media' . | sort

./STROOP/Controls/DecompilerView.xaml.cs:10:using System.Windows;
./STROOP/Controls/DecompilerView.xaml.cs:14:using System.Windows.Media;
./STROOP/Controls/VisualLinkLineText.cs:10:using System.Windows.Media.TextFormatting;
./STROOP/Controls/VisualLinkLineText.cs:7:using System.Windows;
./STROOP/Controls/VisualLinkLineText.cs:9:using System.Windows.Media;
./STROOP/Utilities/MoreMath.cs:9:using System.Windows;
./STROOP/Utilities/SubtitleUtilities.cs:11:using System.Windows;

Concerned C# files are :

• Controls/DecompilerView.xaml.cs
• Controls/VisualLinkLineText.cs
• Utilities/MoreMath.cs
• Utilities/SubtitleUtilities.cs

I believe (although not sure) that without these imports, STROOP could be build natively on Linux with Mono.

I'll try to see what I can do.

[norbjd]

I removed Controls\DecompilerView.xaml.cs and Controls\VisualLinkLineText.cs, and their dependencies (Controls\DecompilerView.xaml and Controls\VisualRegexLinkGenerator.cs) from the .csproj build file. These files are not used widely in STROOP, so this is fine.

But I got new build errors now (more) :

"/app/STROOP.sln" (default target) (1) ->
"/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj" (default target) (2) ->
(CoreCompile target) -> 
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(335,31): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(336,31): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(337,31): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(338,31): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(339,31): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(340,31): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(341,31): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(342,31): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(343,31): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(344,31): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(345,31): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(346,31): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(347,31): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(348,31): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(349,31): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(351,35): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(352,28): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(353,32): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(354,31): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(746,17): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(747,17): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs(748,17): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs(18,17): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs(19,17): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs(20,17): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs(21,17): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs(22,17): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs(23,17): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs(24,17): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs(25,17): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs(26,17): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs(27,17): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs(38,20): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs(38,56): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs(43,20): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs(43,57): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs(48,20): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs(48,55): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs(53,20): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs(54,17): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs(55,17): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/ObjectSlot.cs(568,84): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/ObjectSlot.cs(570,88): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/ObjectSlot.cs(573,90): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/ObjectSlot.cs(576,82): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Controls/ObjectSlot.cs(587,71): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Utilities/SubtitleUtilities.cs(19,36): error CS0103: The name 'Clipboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Managers/MemoryManager.cs(389,21): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Managers/MemoryManager.cs(390,21): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Managers/MemoryManager.cs(391,21): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]
  Managers/MemoryManager.cs(392,21): error CS0103: The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context [/app/STROOP/STROOP.csproj]

There are 2 distinct error messages :

• The name 'Keyboard' does not exist in the current context (50 errors)
• The name 'Clipboard' does not exist in the current context (1 error)

Keyboard class is indeed present in PresentationCore.dll , like Clipboard class.

So, my last message was wrong, my mistake (not a C# expert) : DLL hides many namespaces. PresentationFramework.dll hides other namespaces, for example System.Windows.Documents. Same for PresentationCore.dll :

• System.Windows.Ink
• System.Windows.Input
• ...

There are probably other namespaces hidden behind these DLLs, but having no Windows system, I can't find what's behind all these 4 missing DLLs (maybe a kind Windows user could "decompile" them to help me find all namespaces behind 🙏).

Unfortunately, System.Windows.Input (across Keyboard class mainly) is widely used across STROOP :

$ echo; grep -Ern 'using System.Windows.Input' . | sort

./STROOP/Controls/DecompilerView.xaml.cs:13:using System.Windows.Input;
./STROOP/Controls/ObjectSlot.cs:17:using System.Windows.Input;
./STROOP/Controls/VisualLinkLineText.cs:8:using System.Windows.Input;
./STROOP/Controls/WatchVariableControl.cs:11:using System.Windows.Input;
./STROOP/Managers/CellsManager.cs:13:using System.Windows.Input;
./STROOP/Managers/CoinManager.cs:13:using System.Windows.Input;
./STROOP/Managers/MemoryManager.cs:13:using System.Windows.Input;
./STROOP/Managers/ObjectSlotsManager.cs:15:using System.Windows.Input;
./STROOP/Managers/SearchManager.cs:14:using System.Windows.Input;
./STROOP/Utilities/DictionaryUtilities.cs:10:using System.Windows.Input;
./STROOP/Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs:10:using System.Windows.Input;

There are many dependencies to these files (except Controls/DecompilerView.xaml.cs and Controls/VisualLinkLineText.cs, already removed from the build), so, sadly 😞, I don't think I'll be able to fix these errors.

[norbjd]

I was able to make some progress to make STROOP Mono-compatible (thus, natively GNU/Linux compatible).

As for the Keyboard references, I've moved them to Utilities/KeyboardUtilities.cs to centralize all keyboard interactions within a single class. I've changed all the references to Keyboard.[...] to KeyboardUtilities.[...] (no big changes). But, as for now, the methods are not implemented, I just wanted to know if the application could be launched with Mono first.

There was also an error with Clipboard in Utilities/SubtitleUtilities, so I removed the reference. I am aware that this needs to be fixed, but I repeat here, my goal was just to see if STROOP could be built with Mono.

At this step, after fixing the errors, I was finally able to build STROOP with Mono in a Docker container by running :

docker build . -t 'stroop'

I then tried to run STROOP :

# enable app to be displayed on the host
xhost +local:stroop

# run the image
docker run \
    --name stroop \
    --hostname stroop \
    --rm -i -t  \
    -e DISPLAY \
    -v /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix \
    -w /app/STROOP/bin/Debug/ \
    stroop \
    mono STROOP.exe

# remove X display permission on the host
xhost -local:stroop

Basically here, STROOP is running in a container but the GUI is run on the host by sharing the X11 socket (/tmp/.X11-unix) and exporting DISPLAY. This is the simplest way to run GUI apps with Docker AFAIK.

But there was an issue with some resources. Indeed, the separator used for directories in Config/*.xml files was \ (for Windows). But, for GNU/Linux, this separator is /. When running STROOP, consequences were that resources under directories could not be found. Rather than replacing in *.xml files, I've simply replaced programmatically in Utilities/XmlConfigParser.cs, only when needed, the \ character to Path.DirectorySeparatorChar (on GNU/Linux, this is /, and on Windows, there is no change), like this :

--- a/STROOP/Utilities/XmlConfigParser.cs
+++ b/STROOP/Utilities/XmlConfigParser.cs
@@ -255,16 +255,16 @@ namespace STROOP.Utilities
                             switch(subElement.Name.ToString())
                             {
                                 case "ImageDirectory":
-                                    imageDir = subElement.Value;
+                                    imageDir = subElement.Value.Replace('\\', Path.DirectorySeparatorChar);
                                     break;
                                 case "DefaultImage":
                                     defaultImagePath = subElement.Value;
                                     break;
                                 case "MapImageDirectory":
-                                    mapImageDir = subElement.Value;
+                                    mapImageDir = subElement.Value.Replace('\\', Path.DirectorySeparatorChar);
                                     break;
                                 case "OverlayImageDirectory":
-                                    overlayImageDir = subElement.Value;
+                                    overlayImageDir = subElement.Value.Replace('\\', Path.DirectorySeparatorChar);
                                     break;
                                 case "EmptyImage":
                                     emptyImagePath = subElement.Value;
@@ -697,15 +697,15 @@ namespace STROOP.Utilities
                             {
                                 case "ClassicInputImageDirectory":
                                     guiList.Add(CreateInputImageAssoc(
-                                        path, subElement.Value, InputDisplayTypeEnum.Classic));
+                                        path, subElement.Value.Replace('\\', Path.DirectorySeparatorChar), InputDisplayTypeEnum.Classic));
                                     break;
                                 case "SleekInputImageDirectory":
                                     guiList.Add(CreateInputImageAssoc(
-                                        path, subElement.Value, InputDisplayTypeEnum.Sleek));
+                                        path, subElement.Value.Replace('\\', Path.DirectorySeparatorChar), InputDisplayTypeEnum.Sleek));
                                     break;
                                 case "VerticalInputImageDirectory":
                                     guiList.Add(CreateInputImageAssoc(
-                                        path, subElement.Value, InputDisplayTypeEnum.Vertical));
+                                        path, subElement.Value.Replace('\\', Path.DirectorySeparatorChar), InputDisplayTypeEnum.Vertical));
                                     break;
                             }
                         }
@@ -934,7 +934,7 @@ namespace STROOP.Utilities
                             switch (subElement.Name.ToString())
                             {
                                 case "FileImageDirectory":
-                                    fileImageDir = subElement.Value;
+                                    fileImageDir = subElement.Value.Replace('\\', Path.DirectorySeparatorChar);
                                     break;
                             }
                         }
@@ -1177,7 +1177,7 @@ namespace STROOP.Utilities
                                     assoc.MapImageFolderPath = subElement.Value;
                                     break;
                                 case "BackgroundImageDirectory":
-                                    assoc.BackgroundImageFolderPath = subElement.Value;
+                                    assoc.BackgroundImageFolderPath = subElement.Value.Replace('\\', Path.DirectorySeparatorChar);
                                     break;
                                 case "DefaultImage":
                                     var defaultMap = new MapLayout() { ImagePath = subElement.Value };
@@ -1290,7 +1290,7 @@ namespace STROOP.Utilities
                             switch (subElement.Name.ToString())
                             {
                                 case "ScriptDirectory":
-                                    scriptDir = subElement.Value;
+                                    scriptDir = subElement.Value.Replace('\\', Path.DirectorySeparatorChar);
                                     break;
                                 case "FreeMemoryArea":
                                     parser.FreeMemoryArea = ParsingUtilities.ParseHex(subElement.Value);
@@ -1336,7 +1336,7 @@ namespace STROOP.Utilities
                             switch (subElement.Name.ToString())
                             {
                                 case "HackDirectory":
-                                    hackDir = subElement.Value;
+                                    hackDir = subElement.Value.Replace('\\', Path.DirectorySeparatorChar);
                                     break;
                             }
                         }

After this fix, I faced another issue here, the loading screen was launched correctly (until the end) :

But then an exception was thrown. After debugging (mono --trace:N=STROOP STROOP.exe), I found out that error :

[0x7faf18d08bc0: 21.46603 2] LEAVE: STROOP.StroopMainForm:buttonRefresh_Click (object,System.EventArgs)
[0x7faf18d08bc0: 21.46749 1] LEAVE: STROOP.StroopMainForm:StroopMainForm_Load (object,System.EventArgs)
[0x7faf18d08bc0: 21.46837 1] ENTER: STROOP.ObjectSlot:get_Text ()(this:0x7faeeb8026e0[STROOP.ObjectSlot STROOP.exe])
[0x7faf18d08bc0: 21.46837 1] LEAVE: STROOP.ObjectSlot:get_Text ()[OBJECT:(nil)]
[0x7faf18d08bc0:] EXCEPTION handling: System.ArgumentNullException: Value cannot be null.
Parameter name: s

There is a similar issue an other Github project, fixed by this commit. Apparently, Mono does not like uninitialized string. I don't know more about this. So I just replaced (stupidly) in Controls/ObjectSlot.cs the following :

--- a/STROOP/Controls/ObjectSlot.cs
+++ b/STROOP/Controls/ObjectSlot.cs
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ namespace STROOP
         Image _bufferedObjectImage;
         Point _textLocation = new Point();
         Point _objectImageLocation = new Point();
-        string _text;
+        string _text = "";
         int _fontHeight;
         #endregion

And this hopefully solved the error. After the loading screen, I was able to see the connection screen :

By bypassing this step, I was able to have STROOP running under GNU/Linux (in a Docker container) with Mono :

You can compare all the modifications on my fork :

Development...norbjd:6b3a768b4c0c9b0315074281ec11ec3a7e56d3b5.

[norbjd]

Just a little update, I've made some modifications : Development...norbjd:21c38cf798e402bafac085f32f8268bd17e54f53.

STROOP builds fine with Mono. As of now, I cannot connect to an emulator since there is no other process in the container, only STROOP. I'm working on this.

When bypassing the connect step, the UI works fine but no values are shown in the different tabs. I think it's the normal behavior because STROOP is not connected. But, sometimes, STROOP also hangs when clicking on tab or buttons with no particular errors.

Loading save states

I've tried to install mupen64plus (mupen64plus-ui-console on Debian) on the container along with STROOP. This runs fine, I've made a save state from here (.st2 file, renamed with extension .st). STROOP loads the save state and "works", but no values are shown anywhere. In that save state, I've collected 1 star (Big Bob-omb on the Summit), get into BoB another time, grab some coins, and did the save state. But the results in STROOP does not show anything :

Also, you can see that objects are not shown in the part below.

@scob @onlymx13 : does loading save states is actually working on Windows with the latest version (Development branch)?

Connection to mupen64plus

Also, I'm not able to connect directly to mupen64plus process because it is not declared in Config/Config.xml (Emulators tag). I made another issue to see if you could support mupen64plus (#73). As of now, I've tried to add the following line :

<Emulator name="Mupen64Plus" processName="mupen64plus" ramStart="0x008EBA80" endianness="little"/>

(I copied ramStart value from another Emulator (mupen64-rerecording), but I'm pretty sure this won't work like this).

After rebuilding, STROOP is now able to detect the mupen64plus emulator on the connect page :

But when clicking Connect, I got the following error :

Unhandled Exception:
System.EntryPointNotFoundException: CloseHandle assembly:<unknown assembly> type:<unknown type> member:(null)
  at (wrapper managed-to-native) STROOP.Utilities.Kernal32NativeMethods.CloseHandle(intptr)
  at STROOP.Utilities.Kernal32NativeMethods.CloseProcess (System.IntPtr processHandle) [0x00001] in <38a03fe220d245f3b3d5e7486135e053>:0 
  at STROOP.Utilities.WindowsProcessRamIO.Dispose (System.Boolean disposing) [0x0003f] in <38a03fe220d245f3b3d5e7486135e053>:0 
  at STROOP.Utilities.WindowsProcessRamIO.Finalize () [0x00002] in <38a03fe220d245f3b3d5e7486135e053>:0 
[ERROR] FATAL UNHANDLED EXCEPTION: System.EntryPointNotFoundException: CloseHandle assembly:<unknown assembly> type:<unknown type> member:(null)
  at (wrapper managed-to-native) STROOP.Utilities.Kernal32NativeMethods.CloseHandle(intptr)
  at STROOP.Utilities.Kernal32NativeMethods.CloseProcess (System.IntPtr processHandle) [0x00001] in <38a03fe220d245f3b3d5e7486135e053>:0 
  at STROOP.Utilities.WindowsProcessRamIO.Dispose (System.Boolean disposing) [0x0003f] in <38a03fe220d245f3b3d5e7486135e053>:0 
  at STROOP.Utilities.WindowsProcessRamIO.Finalize () [0x00002] in <38a03fe220d245f3b3d5e7486135e053>:0

The error refers to native methods (extern methods). Indeed, some of the C# files use DllImport directive :

• Controls/CarretlessTextBox.cs
• Controls/RichTextBoxEx.cs
• Utilities/Stream/ProcessStream.cs
• Utilities/Kernal32NativeMethods.cs

Notably with the following DLLs :

• user32.dll (6 calls) : Controls/CarretlessTextBox.cs (2 calls), Controls/RichTextBoxEx.cs (1 call), Utilities/Stream/ProcessStream.cs (3 calls)
• kernel32.dll (8 calls) : Utilities/Kernal32NativeMethods.cs
• psapi (1 call) : Utilities/Kernal32NativeMethods.cs

Obviously, those DLLs could not be found on GNU/Linux environments. https://www.pinvoke.net/ can be used to find replacement to unmanaged API code to managed API code, but unfortunately, for methods I have searched for, there are no replacements that could be found.

I think that the most important files to be replaced are Utilities/Stream/ProcessStream.cs and Utilities/Kernal32NativeMethods.cs, so it may be necessary to create some for GNU/Linux equivalents.

But in a first time, if I could load a save state from STROOP, that will be a great progress. @scob @onlymx13 : do you have an idea of what can be wrong here?

Thank you very much.

[onlymx13]

I don’t know too much about mupen64plus or STROOP. However, what I will ask is whether the mupen64plus .st2 files are the same format as regular mupen64 .st files. If not, they won’t work with STROOP. I think you can get the correct RAM start value using Cheat Engine somehow. Try to find the value of Mario’s coin count or something, and you could convert that into a RAM start. I’m not sure if the issues you’re experiencing with Bypass are normal or not. What kind of buttons and tabs were causing errors? I ask since for Bypass, really M64 is the only useful tab, unless you just want the address of a variable. Not showing variables is normal. I’m pretty sure regular mupen64-rr can be built for Linux; have you looked into that?

[norbjd]

@onlymx13 Thanks for your answer.

When using Bypass mode, or with .st2 file, the M64 tab is empty :

Indeed, it can be a problem with .st2 format.

Some errors occurs sometimes when resizing the window, or clicking too fast on some different tabs.

I guess building mupen64-rr for GNU/Linux is possible, but the repo seems unmaintained : https://github.com/TASVideos/mupen64-rr (last commit it 2013). Is that this emulator? If yes, I'll take a look.

@onlymx13 Before that, could you please share with me a .st file if you have one, just to see if it works with STROOP on Linux? Thank you very much.

[onlymx13]

The M64 tab is supposed to be like that until you press “Open” to open a mupen64-rr TAS file, or .m64 file. Last commit in 2013? Sadly, I’m gonna say that’s the wrong version because that’s too new. I guess it depends on which version of mupen you want. Are you in the SM64 TASing and ABC Discord server? I would advise joining that. Link is on the sidebar of https://ukikipedia.net. I don’t have an st file right now, but you could use Discord’s search to find one in that server. Some of your questions would be better put there. I’m MMMMMMMMMMMMM#2694 and scob is pannenkoek2012.

[norbjd]

@onlymx13 Thanks for the links. I joined quickly the SM64 TASing and ABC Discord (I'll create an account later 😄) just to get a valid .st file that I could load in GNU/Linux STROOP :

So mupen64plus format (.st2) is probably not supported (yet 😄).

Objects are loaded in the below part, but I don't see values for Life Count, Life Display, etc. Is it normal?

The Memory tab seems to work correctly, when clicking on an object :

I'll join the Discord as soon as possible and try to get the conversation continued here 😄. Thanks again for your help 👍, that was very appreciated.

[norbjd]

Also, I found last version of mupen64-rr on Github : https://github.com/SM64-TAS-ABC/mupen64-rr. Last commit had been made on Apr 14, 2018, so this is indeed a more recent version 😄. At first glance, I think it can build on GNU/Linux and Windows, that's great news!

[onlymx13]

No no no, you misunderstand. 2013 is too new. You want one from 2005 or 2006. The 2018 one might still work though. I'm not exactly sure.

[norbjd]

Ok, my bad, I misread that. In fact, the code was hosted here before http://code.google.com/p/mupen64-rr, and initial commit is from 2009 (not 2005 or 2006 though 🤔). The migration to Github was done in 2013, hence this date on Github. I'll try to build an old version and see if it works, but I'm very sceptical because dependencies packages have been updated since.