Tooling built to recover editable source for six 'Mech chassis that exist
in the parallel FS_Build_V4H build but not in this repo. Reverse-engineers
every compiled record type in the .mw4 package format back to the .data /
.instance / .subsystems / .damage / .contents / .torso / .engine /
.armature sources the content pipeline consumes.
Nothing here is wired into the game build. It is a standalone analysis
harness run from Linux.
Package format
--------------
"#VBD" container. Directory records are [len][name][FILETIME][origSize]
[storedSize][offset], payload base at dword 0x0C. A record is stored raw
when storedSize == origSize, otherwise LZW (9->12-bit LSB-first codes,
256=clear, 257=EOF, dict from 258), per Database.cpp:451.
GameModel records are flat /Zp4 structs following the C++ inheritance
chain Entity(0) -> Mover(28) -> MWObject(80) -> Vehicle(664) -> Mech(756),
1636 bytes total. CreateMessage records follow Replicator -> Entity ->
Mover -> MWMover -> MWObject -> Vehicle -> Mech from start=16 (the
undeclared Connection__Message header), ending at 341 and padded to 344.
tools/decompile/
----------------
datamap.py header-driven layout engine; CHAIN + ANCHORS
{Vehicle:664, Mech:756} assert the struct offsets
mw4msg.py CreateMessage reader/walker
data.py .data constants.py define/table symbol resolution
damage.py .damage contents.py .contents
smallmodel.py .torso + .engine instance.py .instance
armature.py / armature_parts.py .armature + armaturedata/armaturevideo
assembly.py joint hierarchy renderer
make_generic_doll.py builds generic MFD/Radar damage dolls
verify_*.py per-type round-trip verifiers
Verified round-trip across all 64 shared chassis:
.armature 2938/2976 pages .subsystems 7579/7585 keys
.data map 6071/6071 values .data trip 8291/8306 keys
.damage 6605/6605 keys .contents 7480/7480 keys
.torso+.engine 1280/1280 keys .instance 896/896 keys, 64/64 pages
armature_parts 1202/1202 .data, 1149/1202 .video
Layout-discovery lessons (documented in DECOMPILING.md)
-------------------------------------------------------
- Never let a field map be discovered by the values that verify it. A
value-matching pass reported 4288/4288 while mis-assigning 34 keys. The
map was rebuilt from header declaration order, anchored on uniquely
resolved fields.
- Read the factory, not the data. 12 .data fields and 5 Torso fields are
declared plain Stuff::Scalar but multiplied by Radians_Per_Degree in
Mech_Tool.cpp:889 / Torso_Tool.cpp.
- Strip typedefs before walking a header. A stray `typedef int AttributeID;`
masked a missing ClassID - two 4-byte errors cancelling out, caught only
by the ANCHORS assertion.
- A verifier that silently narrows its own input reports success. Braced
blocks must be hidden before splitting pages, replacing both CR and LF,
because a `Shadow={...}` block contains a line reading `[shadow]` and
splitlines() also splits on bare CR.
- NSWIZZLE is undefined, so the #else branch is live and orders members
differently. bool is 1 byte; char x[MaxStringLength] is 256.
- V4H carries stale Mech IDs (their Atlas is 5, ours 6), so 64 of 65 shared
chassis are off by one; --retarget-ids emits $(M_<Chassis>)/$(IDS_<Chassis>).
reports/ holds generated diffs. The two ~5 MB manifest-*.tsv intermediates
are gitignored; regenerate everything with run-comparison.sh.
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 5 (Anthropic) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-authored-by: GitHub Copilot <copilot@github.com>
226 lines
6.8 KiB
Python
226 lines
6.8 KiB
Python
#!/usr/bin/env python3
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"""
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armature_parts.py - generate a mech's `armaturedata/` and `armaturevideo/` files.
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Every joint in a mech's `.contents` points at `armaturedata\\<part>.data`, which
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in turn points at `armaturevideo\\<part>.video`, which names the geometry. Both
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are packed as compiled records -- the `.data` becomes a 12-byte stub and the
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`.video` becomes a binary renderer graph -- so neither survives extraction as
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text and both have to be regenerated.
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They are formulaic. Measured over the 89 shipped mechs:
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* `armaturedata/<part>.data` -- **one single shape** across all 1336 files,
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parameterised only by the part name.
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* `armaturevideo/<part>.video` -- three shapes cover 91% of 1354 files:
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with a damaged LOD, without one, and with a running-lights block.
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Rules, and their measured accuracy:
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* A `DAMLOD` block iff `<part>_dam.erf` exists next to the mech. This holds for
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1327 of 1354 shipped files. **All 27 exceptions run the same way**: the
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`_dam.erf` exists but the author's `.video` ignores it. No shipped `.video`
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ever references a `_dam.erf` that is absent, so generating by this rule is
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safe by construction -- it can never produce a dangling reference, only
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occasionally more damage-state switching than the original author chose.
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The exceptions are mostly `_gun` and `_toe` parts and follow no clean rule.
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* A running-lights block iff the part is the torso and a running-lights `.erf`
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is present. 68 of the 71 torsos carry it; almost nothing else does.
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python3 armature_parts.py <mech-source-dir>
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python3 armature_parts.py --verify
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"""
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import argparse, os, re, sys, collections
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DATA_TEMPLATE = """[gamedata]
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Class=MechWarrior4::MWMover
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[renderers]
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VideoRenderer=armaturevideo\\{part}.video
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"""
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LIGHT_BLOCK = """[lightlod]
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Type=ShapeComponent
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Geometry={lights}
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Unique=true
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[lightwatcher]
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Type=AttributeWatcherOfInt
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Attribute=IsDark
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SimulationShouldExecute=1
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[lightswitch]
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Type=SwitchComponent
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Input=LightWatcher
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Child=LightLOD
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"""
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LOD_BLOCK = """[lod]
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Type=ShapeComponent
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Geometry={part}.erf
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Unique=true
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"""
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DAM_BLOCK = """[damlod]
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Type=ShapeComponent
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Geometry={part}_DAM.erf
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Unique=true
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"""
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# joint_cage has its own shape: two empty group components, then the cage
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# geometry twice (intact and destroyed), shadow-disabled.
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CAGE_TEMPLATE = """[fake1]
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Type=GroupComponent
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[fake2]
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Type=GroupComponent
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[cage]
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Type=ShapeComponent
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Geometry={cage}
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Unique=true
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DisableShadow=true
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[destroyedcage]
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Type=ShapeComponent
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Geometry={cage}
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Unique=true
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DisableShadow=true
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[watcher]
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Type=AttributeWatcherOfInt
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Attribute=VisualRepresentation
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SimulationShouldExecute=1
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[damageappearance]
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Type=SwitchComponent
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Input=Watcher
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Child=Fake1
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Child=Fake2
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Child=Cage
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Child=DestroyedCage
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[locator]
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Child=DamageAppearance
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"""
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def parts_of(mech_dir):
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"""Part names referenced as armaturedata\\<part>.data by the .contents."""
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out = []
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for fn in os.listdir(mech_dir):
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if not fn.lower().endswith(".contents"):
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continue
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t = open(os.path.join(mech_dir, fn), "rb").read().decode("latin-1")
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for m in re.finditer(r'armaturedata[\\/]([A-Za-z0-9_\-]+)\.data', t, re.I):
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if m.group(1) not in out:
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out.append(m.group(1))
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return out
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def video_text(mech_dir, part):
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files = {f.lower(): f for f in os.listdir(mech_dir)}
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cage = next((files[f] for f in files if f.endswith("_cage.erf")), None)
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if part.lower() == "joint_cage" and cage:
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return CAGE_TEMPLATE.format(cage=cage)
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has_dam = f"{part.lower()}_dam.erf" in files
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lights = next((files[f] for f in files
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if f.startswith("runninglights") and f.endswith(".erf")), None)
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is_torso = part.lower().endswith("torso")
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text = ""
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if lights and is_torso:
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text += LIGHT_BLOCK.format(lights=lights)
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text += LOD_BLOCK.format(part=part)
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if has_dam:
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text += DAM_BLOCK.format(part=part)
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text += """[watcher]
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Type=AttributeWatcherOfInt
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Attribute=VisualRepresentation
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SimulationShouldExecute=1
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[damageappearance]
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Type=SwitchComponent
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Input=Watcher
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Child=LOD
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"""
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if has_dam:
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text += "Child=DAMLOD\n"
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text += "\n[locator]\n"
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if lights and is_torso:
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text += "Child=LightSwitch\n"
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text += "Child=DamageAppearance\n"
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return text
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def generate(mech_dir, write=True):
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"""-> {relativePath: text} for every part."""
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out = {}
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for part in parts_of(mech_dir):
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out[f"armaturedata/{part}.data"] = DATA_TEMPLATE.format(part=part)
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out[f"armaturevideo/{part}.video"] = video_text(mech_dir, part)
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if write:
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for rel, text in out.items():
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p = os.path.join(mech_dir, rel)
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os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(p), exist_ok=True)
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with open(p, "wb") as fh:
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fh.write(text.replace("\n", "\r\n").encode("latin-1"))
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return out
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def norm(text, part):
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t = re.sub(r'//[^\n]*', '', text).replace("\r", "")
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t = re.sub(re.escape(part), "PART", t, flags=re.I)
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return re.sub(r'\n+', "\n", t).strip().lower()
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def verify():
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import glob
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MECHS = "/home/rich/Repositories/firestorm/Gameleap/mw4/Content/Mechs"
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t = collections.Counter()
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diffs = collections.Counter()
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for d in sorted(glob.glob(MECHS + "/*")):
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if not os.path.isdir(d) or not glob.glob(d + "/armaturedata/*.data"):
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continue
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gen = generate(d, write=False)
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for rel, text in gen.items():
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p = os.path.join(d, rel)
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part = os.path.basename(rel).rsplit(".", 1)[0]
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kind = rel.split("/")[0]
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if not os.path.exists(p):
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t[kind + " absent"] += 1
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continue
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t[kind] += 1
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want = open(p, "rb").read().decode("latin-1")
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if norm(want, part) == norm(text, part):
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t[kind + " ok"] += 1
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else:
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diffs[kind] += 1
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print(f"armaturedata : {t['armaturedata ok']}/{t['armaturedata']} reproduced")
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print(f"armaturevideo: {t['armaturevideo ok']}/{t['armaturevideo']} reproduced")
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if t["armaturedata absent"] or t["armaturevideo absent"]:
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print(f" referenced but absent on disk: "
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f"{t['armaturedata absent']} data, {t['armaturevideo absent']} video")
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def main():
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ap = argparse.ArgumentParser()
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ap.add_argument("mech_dir", nargs="?")
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ap.add_argument("--verify", action="store_true")
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args = ap.parse_args()
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if args.verify:
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verify()
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return
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if not args.mech_dir:
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ap.error("mech_dir required")
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out = generate(args.mech_dir)
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print(f"wrote {len(out)} files into {args.mech_dir}")
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if __name__ == "__main__":
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main()
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