defmon-driver

defmon-driver is a Python automation framework for driving defMON — the Commodore 64 cross-platform music editor by Ilkke / defcom — running inside asid-vice, an extension of the VICE C64 emulator that exposes a binary monitor with key-matrix tap and screen- scrape opcodes.

It is designed for the case where you want to programmatically:

• boot defMON in an emulator,
• load a tune from disk,
• press keys (chords, super-commands, modal switches),
• read the screen back as text or screencode bytes,
• edit pattern / sidTAB / seqLIST fields,
• and snapshot CPU state, RAM, or per-instruction code coverage.

The driver's defMON-specific layer is pure-Python and depends only on vice-driver (which itself has no runtime dependencies beyond the standard library). vice-driver provides the binary-monitor wire client, key matrix, screen scrape, container management, coverage harness, and state-assertion helpers; defmon-driver provides everything specific to defMON (mode handlers, field setters, sidTAB calibration, tune navigation, etc.).

defMON is a property of its authors; this project is an independent automation harness and is not affiliated with the defMON project.

Requirements

• Python ≥ 3.10
• Docker, with the published anarkiwi/asid-vice:latest image (pulled automatically on first run, or docker pull anarkiwi/asid-vice:latest) — see anarkiwi/asid-vice for the Dockerfile and build instructions.
• A defMON-formatted .d64 disk image (e.g. defmon-20201008.d64 or defmon-withtunes.d64, both available from csdb.dk).

The package itself does not bundle defMON or any disk image — the user provides their own copy in line with the original distribution terms.

Installation

pip install defmon-driver

Or, for development:

git clone https://github.com/anarkiwi/defmon-driver
cd defmon-driver
pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest tests/unit

Quick start

import logging
from vice_driver import BinMon, DiskMount, ViceContainer
from defmon_driver import Defmon

logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)

# Spin up an asid-vice container that autostarts the defMON disk image.
container = ViceContainer(
    autostart="/work/defmon.d64",
    mounts=[DiskMount("/host/path/to/defmon.d64", "/work/defmon.d64", read_only=True)],
)

with container:
    bm = BinMon("127.0.0.1", 6502)
    bm.connect(timeout=10.0, attempts=80, retry_delay=0.25)
    # Drain the initial halt and resume the CPU.
    bm.exit()

    d = Defmon(bm)
    d.wait_for_defmon_loaded(timeout=90.0)

    # Press F1 to start playback from cursor.
    d.play_from_cursor()
    # Scrape the screen back as 25 lines of ASCII.
    print(d.screen().text())
    d.stop_playback()

    bm.close()

For higher-level workflows there are dedicated sub-modules. The transport / emulator-control layer lives in vice-driver; everything below is defMON-specific.

CLI smoke tests

Several modules expose a python -m … entry point that drives a real asid-vice container end-to-end. They are not part of the CI unit-test suite (CI is offline-only); they exist for manual validation against a local Docker setup:

# End-to-end driver smoke: every documented chord + disk-menu round-trip.
python -m defmon_driver.smoke /path/to/defmon-20201008.d64

# Coverage harness smoke: install 176 page checkpoints, fire F1, verify the
# $80-$9F player band lights up.
python -m defmon_driver.smoke_coverage /path/to/defmon-20201008.d64

# Checkpoint + cpuhistory smoke.
python -m defmon_driver.smoke_checkpoint_cpuhistory /path/to/defmon-20201008.d64

# sidTAB calibration: discover the column → screen-cell mapping for a tune.
python -m defmon_driver.calibrate_sidtab \
    --d64 /path/to/defmon-withtunes.d64 \
    --tune ".GLOW WORM" \
    --out sidtab_calibration.json

# sidTAB driving smoke: load .GLOW WORM, write JP/AD/SR/ACID cells.
python -m defmon_driver.smoke_sidtab \
    --d64 /path/to/defmon-withtunes.d64 \
    --tune ".GLOW WORM" \
    --cal sidtab_calibration.json

# Chord-driven note write smoke: write_note_chord for Z..M, verify the
# expected note byte ($30..$3B) actually lands in pattern memory.
python -m defmon_driver.smoke_note_chord /path/to/defmon-20201008.d64

# Chord-driven sidcall1 smoke: cross-product V0/V1/V2 × {step 0,3,7} ×
# {0x00, 0x57, 0xAB, 0xFF}, verify each chord-driven write lands at the
# runtime cell address (catches the BUGS.md #2 regression class).
python -m defmon_driver.smoke_sidcall /path/to/defmon-20201008.d64

Known limitations

See BUGS.md for outstanding issues, FUTURE.md for features that another contributor could pick up, and CHANGELOG.md for behavioural changes — including any breaking renames or fixes whose impact downstream callers should review.

License

Apache 2.0 — see LICENSE.