### Summary
- `GenericEntityPersistence` is now a type of `GenericPersistence`. This allows developers to serialize both entities and non-entities in the same system. 🎉
- Each `SerializationThreadWorker` now allocates 1MB of heap for serialization _permanently_. If more memory is needed, that thread will double it's memory, not to exceed increments of 64MB.
- Several bugs with serialization introduced with the pure MMF implementation have been fixed.
- `BinaryFileReader` has been added back. 🎉
- Adds `world.useMultithreadedSaves` to allow disabling threaded saves.
> [!IMPORTANT]
> **Developer Note**
> The split file serialization has been deprecated and is no longer used. We have effectively gone back to the same file writing we had before the pure MMF implementation.
### Summary
* Added World.NewVirtual for creating virtual serial numbers
* Reserved range 0x7EEEEEEE to 0x7FFFFFFF for virtual serials
* Hair and Facial hair (for mobiles) now use virtual serials instead of FakeSerial() functions
* Consolidated virtual hair to a single `VirtualHairInfo` class.
Corpse hair and facial hair now persists across save/load and hair and facial hair no longer teleport to newest corpse.
### Summary
Updates the serialization strategy to use `MemoryMappedFile` instead of thick buffers. This has the benefit of being on-par with the current implementation (based on hardware/OS), however won't incur the double-memory issue.
> [!Important]
> **Developer Note**
> The `BinaryFileWriter` and `BinaryFileReader` has been removed in favor of `MemoryMapFileWriter` and `UnmanagedDataReader`
### Summary
- Fixes infinite loop with binary file writer
- Removes extra buffer copying with binary file writer
- Removes storing type counts during world save file writing
- Fixes display cache self-deletion warning during world load
## Breaking Changes
* The Firewall and IP Limiter have been rewritten. Please read the notes carefully!
* `TcpServer.Instances` moved back to `NetState.Instances` - sorry - it was stupid to move it to begin with.
> [!Note]
> Sockets that fail the IP Limiter or Firewall will be immediately and forcibly disconnected.
> This means they will be stuck at "Verifying account..." if it was a real client.
### Summary
- Removes firewall wildcard support.
- Removes `AccessRestrictions`.
- Moves Firewall/IPLimiter to the core.
- Moves `TcpServer` to its own thread.
- Removes the `SocketConnect` and `SocketDisconnect` event sinks.
- Moves `Instances` back to `NetState.Instances`.
- Fixes a long standing bug with bad handling of duplicate listener addresses.
#### Firewall
The firewall has been completely rewritten. There is now an "Admin Firewall" which saves to the config file. Secondarily, there is an internal firewall used exclusively by the TcpServer while processing sockets. The Admin firewall mirrors it's additions/deletions to the internal firewall by adding requests to a queue.
> [!IMPORTANT]
> **Wildcard firewall entries, such as `X`, `*`, `?` are not allowed.**
> **Ranges in between IP classes or sextets are not allowed.**
> **Please make sure to use one of the following:**
> * IP Address - `192.168.1.1`
> * CIDR - `192.168.1.0/24`
> * Range - `192.168.1.1-192.168.1.100`
#### IP Limiter
The IP Limiter has been completely rewritten. The available configurations are:
```json
"ipLimiter.enable": "True",
"ipLimiter.maxConnectionsPerIP": 10,
"ipLimiter.clearConnectionAttemptsDuration": "00:00:00:10",
"ipLimiter.clearThrottledDuration": "00:00:02:00",
```
The IP Limiter is set up to prevent spamming connections from the same IP. Every time an IP connects, it is added to a connection list. After 10 attempts, the IP is added to the throttle list. To keep the system fast, the connection list is entirely wiped every 10 seconds, and the throttle list is entirely wiped every 2 minutes.
### Summary
.NET 8 supports Xoroshiro 256** off the shelf and added Shuffle. Switching to that implementation.
### Developer Notes
* Removed many convenience methods that weren't used.
### Summary
- [X] Fixed a bug where entity persistence was serialized out of order, causing world corruption.
- [X] Fixed LastSerialized not being utilized properly and dangling references still becoming an issue.
- [X] Added a new `GenericEntityPersistence<T>` type to encapsulate `ISerializable` serialization.
- [X] Removing the custom logic and moved Items, Mobiles, Guilds, and Accounts to GenericEntityPersistence.
- [X] Changed serialization to use the singleton pattern to reduce calling methods from stored variables.
### Summary
Adds a generic entity persistence. This can be used to create new entity types that have a `Serial`.
Here is an example:
```cs
public class BOBEntries : GenericEntitySerialization<IBOBEntry>
{
public static void Configure()
{
Configure("BOBEntries");
}
}
```
The annotation tells the system what folder to serialize the entries to. The class/interface (`IBOBEntry`) is the root type that implements `ISerializable`.
## MAJOR CHANGE
Added a champion title system to facilitate the existing champion titles. This should make it easier to extend or create other related game content. Champion titles will be saved in a folder called _ChampionTitles_.
### Motivation
The motivation to refactor was two-folder, but mostly related to performance in two ways.
First, every player had a ChampionTitleInfo object with an array of ChamptionTitleInfo. We want to eliminate the need for this information unless a player actually uses it. This should save a considerable amount of memory.
Second, to facilitate the atrophy mechanic, the champion titles would run atrophy post-world save, adding to the time that the server is frozen. Eliminating this post-world save side effect unlocks our ability to further optimize the world save process since there are no direct side effects.
### Bugs fixed
- [X] Fixed titles getting cut off on the paperdoll
- [X] Fixed champion title not displaying overhead (OPL)
### Screenshots
<img width="216" alt="image" src="https://github.com/modernuo/ModernUO/assets/3953314/8916f895-8d68-4fb0-892e-108a0c43be90">
### Changes
* Implements an AfterSerialize method that is executed synchronously.
* Removes `BeforeSerialize` support since it was dangerous in its current implementation.
* Moves PlayerMobile kill/virtual decay to AfterSerialize.
* Adds kill decay to after Deserialize.
## Changes
* Improves type hashing by introducing xxHash3 (64bit)
* Removes individual `tdb` files in favor of a single `SerializedTypes.db` file. This file is only used to identify a type that is being deserialized, which doesn't exist.
* Adds duplicate type alias detection
* Adds `AssemblyHandler.FindTypeByHash`
View changed files whitespaces: https://github.com/modernuo/ModernUO/pull/1172/files?diff=split&w=1
## SerializedTypes.db
The serialized types file is used to get back the original name of a type in case it no longer exists in code. This can easily be necessary if a class is renamed in code and no `TypeAlias` is provided.
### Format
byte[4] - version
byte[4] - count
--array--
byte[8] - xxHash
byte[1] - flag, 0 - null, 1 - not null
byte[n] - Full class name in UTF8
### Example
<img width="472" alt="SerializedTypes_Example" src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3953314/195255429-31d24293-6bd1-419e-811b-07874dd0f78d.png">
## Benchmarks
Serialized 500 Type fields. The 8192bytes comes from the _ConcurrentQueue_ that would later be used for SerializedTypes.
Note that the queue is never cleared, so it's size grew considerably.
```cs
| Method | Mean | Error | StdDev | Allocated |
|--------------------- |---------:|---------:|---------:|----------:|
| BenchmarkXXHash | 18.44 us | 0.278 us | 0.260 us | 8192 B |
| BenchmarkTypeStrings | 25.09 us | 0.292 us | 0.259 us | - |
```
TODO:
* Add support in the Serialization Generator for `ReadType()` and `Write(Type)`
* Remove `SetTypeRef` from Serialization Generator
**Only one functional change**
* Fixes a bug in LogFactory where `Warning` is being logged as `Information`
Non-functional changes:
* Updates/Fixes copyright headers
* Removes namespace scopes for core files.
View with [whitespace off](https://github.com/modernuo/ModernUO/pull/1187/files?w=1).
* Fixes an issue with moving directories across volumes
* Removes usages of WebClient
* Removes usages of Cryptographic Providers
Note: Even though .NET 6 introduces Xoshiro RNG, there is no way to control the seed. I'll do some reconciliation of Xoshiro so it functions closer to the built in one. For the most part, it has parity though.
Benchmarks show there is nothing odd about the implementations, they are within 1ns of each other.
* Makes EnsureDirectory properly work for relative and absolute paths
* Adds a `PathUtility.GetFullPath` which returns full paths for relative paths to `Core.BaseDirectory`. If the path is absolute, it will return as-is.
* Moves EnsureDirectory to `PathUtility`. So `ScriptsHandler.EnsureDirectory` and `AssemblyHandler.EnsureDirectory` are now `PathUtility.EnsureDirectory`
* Fixes crash guard so that it copies accounts properly.
* Changes world save and auto archive to use a random folder name inside of the temp folder.
* Adds `BeforeSerialized` for entities to handle cleanup.
* Adds `Created` and `LastSerialized` fields to all entities. While this is a big bloat, this will be necessary for identifying dangling references to other invalid entities.
* Changes formula for determining a valid reference to be _not null, not deleted, and reference's created date must be at or before the entities last serialized date_.
* Adds versioning to idx file and serializes `Created` and `LastSerialized`.
* Fixes Save Stats and also disables it by default.
## Adds Auto Archiving
Backups are archived once an hour, day, and month. Archives older than 60 days are pruned automatically.
_Note: Automatic pruning is off by default_
### Archive compression format
The following formats are supported:
* Zstd (The fastest with best compression ratio)
* GZip
* Zip
* None (Tar)
_Note: By default archives use [zstandard](http://facebook.github.io/zstd/) format.
The archive format can be changed in modernuo.json `autoArchive.compressionFormat`_
### Restoring world from archive
Move the archive to the Saves folder (tar.zst file). On startup the server will extract the file and restore the latest save. See pictures below.
### Manually extracting an archives
#### Windows
* Use the latest version of [7-zip w/ ZStandard](https://github.com/mcmilk/7-Zip-zstd/releases/latest)
1. Extract the `.tar.zst` file.
2. Extract the `.tar` file. (Yes you have to do it in two steps)
* On Windows 10 you can use the command line. `zstd.exe` is in the Assemblies folder after building ModernUO.
1. `tar --use-compress-program "Distribution\Assemblies\zstd.exe -d" -xvf "Archives\Hourly\archivefile.tar.zst" -C "path to where you want to extract it"`
#### Mac
* Install [Keka](https://www.keka.io)
1. Drop the .tar.zst onto the keka interface.
#### Linux
1. Install zstd from a package manager
2. Run `tar -I zstd -xvf "Archives\Hourly\archivefile.tar.zst" -C "path to where you want to extract it"`
### Other changes
* Changes Autosave to occur at the same time no matter when the server is booted.
* Adds `[SaveFrequency <delay> [warning]`command to set save frequency and warning frequency in-game.
* Adds support for time zones that are configurable. The system timezone can also be manually configured. Check `TimeZoneHandler.cs` for details.
<img width="257" alt="Screen Shot 2021-09-22 at 11 23 18 PM" src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3953314/134464929-a5bf3cd8-2ef0-4476-a9ad-71d0816a19ac.png">
<img width="241" alt="Screen Shot 2021-09-22 at 11 23 39 PM" src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3953314/134464945-5f6f96dc-3d1e-434d-8256-5c6b3705e786.png">
<img width="836" alt="Screen Shot 2021-09-22 at 11 34 39 PM" src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3953314/134464957-625e57f2-ef47-4ca1-a0a7-cd40c9b6539c.png">
<img width="631" alt="Screen Shot 2021-09-22 at 11 34 50 PM" src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3953314/134464969-b2d65c0d-f8f5-497a-a832-5d805e8e0b22.png">
* Fixed an issue where a timer truncated the link list.
* Fixed an issue where a timer stopped and started itself within an OnTick causing it to remove itself from the link list, but still think it's running.
### Changes/Fixes:
* Adds timer pooling.
* Allows pool to be configurable in ModernUO.json
* Pool replenishes itself asynchronously if depleted.
* Fixes an issue with barkeeps and town criers
* Fixes an issue with incognito buff icons not being removed
* Fixes an issue with polymorph name mod not being removed
* Fixes several places where timers go on forever even after an object is deleted, keeping a reference (memory leak)
* Eliminates the timer for MiningCart altogether.
* Deletes `AcidSlime` since it is a duplicate of `PoolOfAcid`
* Fixes HonorableExecution and standardizes the code for other Bushido moves.
## Changes to the Timer API:
```cs
public class Timer
{
// Creates a timer that will be returned to the pool once execution stops.
public static void StartTimer(Action callback);
public static void StartTimer(TimeSpan delay, Action callback);
public static void StartTimer(TimeSpan delay, TimeSpan interval, Action callback);
public static void StartTimer(TimeSpan interval, int count, Action callback);
public static void StartTimer(TimeSpan delay, TimeSpan interval, int count, Action callback);
// Creates a timer and returns a token for more control. Requires manual cancellation in order for the timer to be returned to the pool.
// If the token is dereferenced, the timer will be dereferenced too. While not returning a timer to the pool is not considered hazardous, it does defeat the purpose of pooled timers.
public static void StartTimer(Action callback, out TimerExecutionToken token);
public static void StartTimer(TimeSpan delay, Action callback, out TimerExecutionToken token);
public static void StartTimer(TimeSpan delay, TimeSpan interval, Action callback, out TimerExecutionToken token);
public static void StartTimer(TimeSpan interval, int count, Action callback, out TimerExecutionToken token);
public static void StartTimer(TimeSpan delay, TimeSpan interval, int count, Action callback, out TimerExecutionToken token);
// If you aren't sure how to use the API above, or you don't care about performance, then you can use the old RunUO Timer.DelayCall
public static DelayCallTimer DelayCall(Action callback);
public static DelayCallTimer DelayCall(TimeSpan delay, Action callback);
public static DelayCallTimer DelayCall(TimeSpan delay, TimeSpan interval, Action callback);
public static DelayCallTimer DelayCall(TimeSpan interval, int count, Action callback);
public static DelayCallTimer DelayCall(TimeSpan delay, TimeSpan interval, int count, Action callback);
}
public struct TimerExecutionToken
{
public bool Running { get; }
public int Index { get; }
public int RemainingCount { get; }
public DateTime Next { get; }
}
```
## When to use `TimerExecutionToken`?
Use tokens when you want to gain the performance benefit of using a pooled timer, but you need one of the following:
* Access to the next time the timer will tick:`token.Next`
* Access to which interval, how many intervals there are, or how many are remaining: `token.Index`, `token.Count`, and `token.RemainingCount`
* Stop a timer manually.
* Determine if the timer is running: `timer.Running`
* See notes below about requirements for using tokens!
## Notes about using the TimerExecutionToken:
When you opt-in to receive a token, you must call `Cancel()` to return the timer. This can be done inside of the callback, or outside of the callback at any time.
If this is not called and your timer is an infinite interval, then you will create a potential memory leak, or null pointer exception in your callback.
If the timer ends and is stopped, but cancel is not called, then the timer will never return to the pool and stay referenced until the token is deleted or cancel is called. (Memory leak)
## Is this thread safe?
No. The ModernUO timer system is not thread safe at all. If you require a thread safe timer system, contact me and I'll help adapt this system. Keep in mind that there is a massive performance hit to make this thread safe when there are literally no use cases for it.
If you need to synchronize execution, meaning you want to execute code from another thread on the core thread. Let's say you have a discord bot that is pushing commands to the game server. Then use `EventLoopContext.Post(SendOrPostCallback callback, object state);`.
- Adds `[ManualDirtyChecking]` for anyone that adds it themselves.
- Adds detection of `[Serializable]` and `[ManualDirtyChecking]` at startup to help identify scripts that need migration.
### Additions
- Automatically opts-out `Item/Mobile/Guild/Accounts` from dirty checking with a new property `UseDirtyChecking`
- Codegen now enables `UseDirtyChecking` via getter. This requires that the property is `virtual` for derived types.
### Fixes
- Fixes `EncodedInt` being broken
- Fixes issues with new custom serializable types that are not derived from Item/Mobile/etc.
- Removes double dirty checking.
### Example of a brand new serializable type that isn't an Item/Mobile/etc.
User created code:
```cs
using System;
namespace Server.Items
{
[Serializable(0)]
public partial class NewTestEntityObject : ISerializable
{
[EncodedInt]
[SerializableField(0)]
private int _someProperty;
public NewTestEntityObject()
{
SetTypeRef(GetType());
// Add to serial tracking like World.Item
/*
Serial = World.NewEntity;
World.AddEntity(this);
*/
}
[AfterDeserialization]
private void AfterDeserialization()
{
Console.WriteLine("This ran!");
}
public int TypeRef { get; }
public Serial Serial { get; }
public void Delete()
{
}
public bool Deleted { get; set; }
public void SetTypeRef(Type type)
{
// Type tracking for persistence goes here
/*
TypeRef = World.NewEntityTypes.IndexOf(type);
if (TypeRef == -1)
{
World.NewEntityTypes.Add(type);
TypeRef = World.NewEntityTypes.Count - 1;
}
*/
}
}
}
```
Generated code:
```cs
namespace Server.Items
{
public partial class NewTestEntityObject
{
#pragma warning disable 0414
private const int _version = 0;
#pragma warning restore 0414
public int SomeProperty
{
get => _someProperty;
set
{
if (value != _someProperty)
{
_someProperty = value;
((ISerializable)this).MarkDirty();
}
}
}
long ISerializable.SavePosition { get; set; } = -1;
BufferWriter ISerializable.SaveBuffer { get; set; }
bool ISerializable.UseDirtyChecking => true;
public NewTestEntityObject(Serial serial)
{
Serial = serial;
SetTypeRef(typeof(NewTestEntityObject));
}
public void Serialize(IGenericWriter writer)
{
writer.WriteEncodedInt(_version);
writer.WriteEncodedInt(SomeProperty);
}
public void Deserialize(IGenericReader reader)
{
var version = reader.ReadEncodedInt();
SomeProperty = reader.ReadEncodedInt();
Timer.DelayCall(AfterDeserialization);
}
}
}
```