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Joseph Doherty 0e1dcc119e Remove native-launcher fallbacks for the four Dockerized fixtures — Docker is the only supported path for Modbus / S7 / AB CIP / OpcUaClient integration. Native paths stay in place only where Docker isn't compatible (Galaxy: MXAccess COM + Windows-only; TwinCAT: Beckhoff runtime vs Hyper-V; FOCAS: closed-source Fanuc Fwlib32.dll; AB Legacy: PCCC has no OSS simulator). Simplifies the fixture landscape + removes the "which path do I run" ambiguity; removes two full native-launcher directories + the AB CIP native-spawn path; removes the parallel profile-as-CLI-arg-builder code from AbServerFixture.

Modbus — deletes tests/.../Modbus.IntegrationTests/Pymodbus/ (serve.ps1, standard.json, dl205.json, mitsubishi.json, s7_1500.json, README.md). Profile JSONs live only under Docker/profiles/ now. Docker/README.md loses its "Native-Python fallback" section; docs/drivers/Modbus-Test-Fixture.md "What the fixture is" bullet flipped from "primary launcher is Docker, native fallback under Pymodbus/" to "Docker is the only supported launch path".

S7 — deletes tests/.../S7.IntegrationTests/PythonSnap7/ (server.py, s7_1500.json, serve.ps1, README.md). Docker/README.md loses "Native-Python fallback"; docs/drivers/S7-Test-Fixture.md updated to match.

AB CIP — the biggest simplification because the native-binary spawn had the most code. AbServerFixture.cs rewrites: drops Process management (no more Process _proc + Kill/WaitForExit), drops LocateBinary() PATH lookup, drops the IAsyncLifetime initialize-spawns-server behavior. Fixture is now a thin TCP probe against localhost:44818 (or AB_SERVER_ENDPOINT override) — same shape as Snap7ServerFixture / ModbusSimulatorFixture / OpcPlcFixture. IsServerAvailable() simplifies to a single 500 ms probe. AbServerProfile.cs drops AbServerPlcArg + SeedTags + BuildCliArgs + ToCliSpec + the entire AbServerSeedTag record — the compose file is the canonical source of truth for which tags + which --plc mode each family gets; the profile record now carries just Family + ComposeProfile (matches the docker-compose service key) + Notes. KnownProfiles.ForFamily + .All stay for tests that iterate families. AbServerProfileTests.cs rewrites to match: drops BuildCliArgs_* + ToCliSpec_* + SeedTags_* tests; keeps the family-coverage contract tests + verifies the ComposeProfile strings match compose-file service names (a typo in either surfaces as a unit-test failure, not a silent "wrong family booted" at runtime). Docker/README.md loses "Native-binary fallback" section; docs/drivers/AbServer-Test-Fixture.md "What the fixture is" flipped to Docker-only with clearer skip rules.

dev-environment.md §Docker fixtures — the "Native fallbacks" subsection goes away; replaced with a one-line note that Docker is the only supported path for these four fixtures + a fresh clone needs Docker Desktop and nothing else.

Verified: whole-solution build 0 errors, AB CIP profile unit tests 6/6, AB CIP Docker smoke 4/4 (all family theory rows), S7 Docker smoke 3/3. Container lifecycle clean. The deleted native code surface was already redundant — every fixture the native paths served is now covered by Docker; keeping them invited drift between the two paths (the original AB CIP native profile had three undetected bugs per the #162 commit message: case-sensitive --plc, bracket tag notation, --path=1,0 requirement — noise the Docker path now avoids by never running the buggy code).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

2026-04-20 12:27:44 -04:00

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ab_server test fixture

Coverage map + gap inventory for the AB CIP integration fixture backed by libplctag's ab_server simulator.

TL;DR: ab_server is a connectivity + atomic-read smoke harness for the AB CIP driver. It does not benchmark UDTs, alarms, or any family-specific quirk. UDT / alarm / quirk behavior is verified only by unit tests with FakeAbCipTagRuntime.

What the fixture is

Binary: ab_server — a C program in libplctag's src/tools/ab_server/ (libplctag/libplctag, MIT).
Launcher: Docker (only supported path). Docker/Dockerfile multi-stage-builds ab_server from source against a pinned libplctag tag + copies the binary into a slim runtime image. Docker/docker-compose.yml has per-family services (controllogix / compactlogix / micro800 / guardlogix); all bind :44818.
Lifecycle: AbServerFixture TCP-probes 127.0.0.1:44818 at collection init + records a skip reason when unreachable. Tests skip via [AbServerFact] / [AbServerTheory] which check the same probe.
Profiles: KnownProfiles.{ControlLogix, CompactLogix, Micro800, GuardLogix} in AbServerProfile.cs — thin Family + ComposeProfile + Notes records; the compose file is the canonical source of truth for which tags get seeded + which --plc mode the simulator boots in.
Tests: one smoke, AbCipReadSmokeTests.Driver_reads_seeded_DInt_from_ab_server, parametrized over all four profiles via [AbServerTheory] + [MemberData].
Endpoint override: AB_SERVER_ENDPOINT=host:port points the fixture at a real PLC instead of the local container.

What it actually covers

Read path: driver → libplctag → CIP-over-EtherNet/IP → simulator → back.
Atomic Logix types per seed: DINT, REAL, BOOL, SINT, STRING.
One DINT[16] array tag (ControlLogix profile only).
--plc controllogix and --plc compactlogix mode dispatch.
The skip-on-missing-binary behavior (AbServerFactAttribute) so a fresh clone without the simulator stays green.

What it does NOT cover

Each gap below is either stated explicitly in the profile's Notes field or inferable from the seed-tag set + smoke-test surface.

1. UDTs / CIP Template Object (class 0x6C)

ControlLogix profile Notes: "ab_server lacks full UDT emulation."

Unverified against ab_server:

PR 6 structured read/write (AbCipStructureMember fan-out)
#179 Template Object shape reader (CipTemplateObjectDecoder + FetchUdtShapeAsync)
#194 whole-UDT read optimization (AbCipUdtReadPlanner + AbCipUdtMemberLayout + the ReadGroupAsync path in AbCipDriver)

Unit coverage: AbCipFetchUdtShapeTests, CipTemplateObjectDecoderTests, AbCipUdtMemberLayoutTests, AbCipUdtReadPlannerTests, AbCipDriverWholeUdtReadTests — all with golden Template-Object byte buffers

offset-keyed FakeAbCipTag values.

2. ALMD / ALMA alarm projection (#177)

Depends on the ALMD UDT shape, which ab_server cannot emulate. The OnAlarmEvent raise/clear path + ack-write semantics are not exercised end-to-end.

Unit coverage: AbCipAlarmProjectionTests — fakes feed InFaulted / Severity via ValuesByOffset + assert the emitted AlarmEventArgs.

3. Micro800 unconnected-only path

Micro800 profile Notes: "ab_server has no --plc micro800 — falls back to controllogix emulation."

The empty routing path + unconnected-session requirement (PR 11) is unit-tested but never challenged at the CIP wire level. Real Micro800 (2080-series) on a lab rig would be the authoritative benchmark.

4. GuardLogix safety subsystem

GuardLogix profile Notes: "ab_server doesn't emulate the safety subsystem."

Only the _S-suffix naming classifier (PR 12, SecurityClassification.ViewOnly forced on safety tags) runs. Actual safety-partition write rejection — what happens when a non-safety write lands on a real 1756-L8xS — is not exercised.

5. CompactLogix narrow ConnectionSize cap

CompactLogix profile Notes: "ab_server lacks the narrower limit itself."

Driver-side AbCipPlcFamilyProfile caps ConnectionSize at the CompactLogix value per PR 10, but ab_server accepts whatever the client asks for — the cap's correctness is trusted from its unit test, never stressed against a simulator that rejects oversized requests.

6. BOOL-within-DINT read-modify-write (#181)

The AbCipDriver.WriteBitInDIntAsync RMW path + its per-parent SemaphoreSlim serialization is unit-tested only (AbCipBoolInDIntRmwTests). ab_server seeds a plain TestBOOL tag; the .N bit-within-DINT syntax that triggers the RMW path is not exercised end-to-end.

7. Capability surfaces beyond read

No smoke test for:

IWritable.WriteAsync
ITagDiscovery.DiscoverAsync (@tags walker)
ISubscribable.SubscribeAsync (poll-group engine)
IHostConnectivityProbe state transitions under wire failure
IPerCallHostResolver multi-device routing

The driver implements all of these + they have unit coverage, but the only end-to-end path ab_server validates today is atomic ReadAsync.

When to trust ab_server, when to reach for a rig

Question	ab_server	Unit tests	Lab rig
"Does the driver talk CIP at all?"	yes	-	-
"Is my atomic read path wired correctly?"	yes	yes	yes
"Does whole-UDT grouping work?"	no	yes	yes (required)
"Do ALMD alarms raise + clear?"	no	yes	yes (required)
"Is Micro800 unconnected-only enforced wire-side?"	no (emulated as CLX)	partial	yes (required)
"Does GuardLogix reject non-safety writes on safety tags?"	no	no	yes (required)
"Does CompactLogix refuse oversized ConnectionSize?"	no	partial	yes (required)
"Does BOOL-in-DINT RMW race against concurrent writers?"	no	yes	yes (stress)

Follow-up candidates

If integration-level UDT / alarm / quirk proof becomes a shipping gate, the options are roughly:

Extend ab_server upstream — the project accepts PRs + already carries a CIP framing layer that UDT emulation could plug into.
Swap in a richer simulator — e.g. OpenPLC or pycomm3's test harness, if either exposes UDTs over EtherNet/IP in a way libplctag can consume.
Stand up a lab rig — physical 1756-L7x / 5069-L3x / 2080-LC30 / 1756-L8xS controllers running Rockwell Studio 5000 projects; wire into CI via a self-hosted runner. The only path that covers safety + narrow ConnectionSize + real ALMD execution.

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