VRIO/.claude/skills/verify/SKILL.md

name, description

name	description
verify	Build, launch, and drive the vRIO WinForms app to verify changes at the GUI surface — screenshots via PrintWindow, input via PostMessage, no focus stealing.

Verifying vRIO changes

Build + tests (tests are CI's job; run the app for verification):

dotnet build vrio.sln -v q -nologo          # Debug
# exe: src\VRio.App\bin\Debug\net48\VRio.App.exe

Driving the GUI without touching the user's desktop

This is the user's live desktop — never use SetForegroundWindow + SendKeys/mouse_event: focus-stealing prevention leaves the app behind VS Code and your clicks land in the user's windows. Instead:

• Screenshots: PrintWindow(hwnd, dc, 2) (PW_RENDERFULLCONTENT) — captures the window even when occluded. CopyFromScreen captures whatever is on top; don't use it.
• Canvas input (stick drags, cell clicks): PostMessage WM_LBUTTONDOWN/WM_MOUSEMOVE/WM_LBUTTONUP straight to the canvas child HWND. Find it by descending RealChildWindowFromPoint from the form. Canvas geometry is compile-time constant (PanelCanvas.cs): CellW=66, BoxXY = x 416..496, y 6..74 (X/Y stick box). The first posted drag after launch can half-land (only the button-down registers); do a throwaway drag first, then the measured one, screenshot while held (spring-back recenters on up).
• Checkboxes/buttons: WinForms controls expose no UIA TogglePattern (they surface as bare Panes) and don't answer BM_GETCHECK — but SendMessage(hwnd, BM_CLICK, 0, 0) works. Get the HWND from the UIA element's NativeWindowHandle (find by Name).
• Pattern that works: Add-Type user32 P/Invokes, Start-Process the exe, drive via messages, PrintWindow screenshot to the scratchpad, kill the process in finally.

Environment gotchas

• Bindings load from %APPDATA%\vRIO\bindings.txt (the user's file), not the built-in defaults — arrow keys are bound to Hat buttons, not the joystick axis. Drive axes via the X/Y box.
• A real XInput gamepad is connected on this machine ("Controller #1 connected"); the router only writes an axis when its composed value changes, so a centered pad won't fight a canvas drag.
• The wire readout (top center, green) shows GetWireAxis values — joystick Y is natively negated on the wire (stick up = −80) unless "Invert Y" is checked.