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)

ole1986/vscode-arma-dev