Contributing

Thank you for your interest in contributing to applanch.

Prerequisites

• .NET 10 SDK
• Windows 10 or Windows 11
• A C# IDE (Visual Studio 2022+ or Rider recommended)

Clone & Build

git clone https://github.com/ChanyaVRC/applanch.git
cd applanch
dotnet build

Run Tests

dotnet test

Focus on tests relevant to changed areas first, then run the full suite before submitting.

Format Check

All code must pass the formatter before committing:

dotnet format applanch.slnx --verify-no-changes --no-restore --verbosity minimal

If verification fails, apply formatting automatically:

dotnet format applanch.slnx --no-restore --verbosity minimal

Then re-run the verification step.

Branching & Commits

• Work on a feature branch forked from master.
• Keep one logical concern per commit.
• Use concise imperative commit messages (e.g., Fix launch fallback for Riot VALORANT).
• Do not mix behavior changes with unrelated formatting edits in a single commit.

Code Conventions

• One type per file.
• Avoid ref/out parameters; prefer return values.
• All user-facing strings must come from localized resource files (Properties/Resources.resx and Properties/Resources.ja.resx).
• Do not hard-code UI text in XAML or C#.
• Follow existing naming conventions: PascalCase for types and members, _camelCase for private fields.

Adding Tests

• Add or update tests for every bug fix or behavior change.
• Tests that instantiate WPF controls must run on an STA thread.
• Keep control tests isolated from global application resources.

Project Structure

src/applanch/
  App.xaml / App.xaml.cs          # Application entry point
  MainWindow.xaml / .cs           # Main window (host)
  SettingsWindow.xaml / .cs       # Settings window (host)
  Controls/                       # Reusable WPF user controls
  ViewModels/                     # View models (ObservableObject-based)
  Events/                         # AppEvents pub/sub bus
  Infrastructure/
    Dialogs/                      # Dialog abstraction
    Integration/                  # Windows shell / context menu integration
    Items/                        # Item CRUD workflows
    Launch/                       # Launch execution and fallback resolution
    Resolution/                   # App path resolution
    Storage/                      # Settings persistence (JSON)
    Theming/                      # Theme palette loading
    Updates/                      # GitHub Releases update check
    Utilities/                    # Shared helpers
  Properties/                     # Resource files (Resources.resx, Resources.ja.resx)
  Config/                         # Bundled default config files
tests/applanch.Tests/             # xUnit test project (mirrors src/ structure)
src/applanch.ResourceGenerator/   # Source generator for typed resource access

Loose conventions:

• AppEvents is a typed pub/sub bus. Components publish and subscribe using strongly-typed AppEventKey<T> keys.
• Infrastructure/ contains all I/O and platform concerns. View models depend on infrastructure through thin interfaces where testability matters.
• ViewModels/ contains no direct I/O — all side effects go through AppEvents or injected services.

Pull Requests

1. Ensure dotnet build and dotnet test both pass.
2. Ensure dotnet format --verify-no-changes passes.
3. Open a pull request against the master branch.
4. Describe what changed and why in the PR description.

Localization

applanch targets English and Japanese. When adding a user-facing string:

1. Add the key and English value to Properties/Resources.resx.
2. Add the Japanese translation to Properties/Resources.ja.resx.
3. Reference the key through LocalizedStrings.Instance in XAML or C#.

Documentation

Project documentation lives under docs/ and is built with MkDocs + Material for MkDocs.

Local preview:

python -m pip install -r docs/requirements.txt
python -m mkdocs serve

Each documentation page has both an English version (<page>.md) and a Japanese version (<page>.ja.md). When adding or updating a page, update both versions.