FormID Database Manager

FormID Database Manager is a WinUI desktop application that provides a robust and user-friendly interface for creating SQLite databases that store the FormIDs and their associated EditorID or Name value (if any) from Bethesda game plugins.

Supported Games

• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (LE, SE, SE GOG, VR)
• Enderal (LE, SE)
• Fallout 4 (including VR)
• Starfield

Features

• Automatic game detection from directory structure
• Plugin list loading with filtering and selection
• Batch processing of plugins into a SQLite database
• Import from pipe-delimited FormID text files (plugin|formid|entry)
• Update mode to replace existing plugin entries
• Progress reporting with cancellation support

---

Technical Overview

Framework and Technologies

• C# / .NET 10.0
• WinUI 3 / Windows App SDK: Windows desktop UI framework
• CommunityToolkit.Mvvm: MVVM source generators and observable state
• Mutagen: Bethesda plugin parsing library
• Microsoft.Data.Sqlite: SQLite database access
• xUnit + Moq: Testing framework

---

WinUI Migration Checkpoint

Phase 0 was recorded on June 9, 2026 before extracting the UI-neutral core boundary.

• Branch/checkpoint: winui
• Worktree state: existing uncommitted OpenSpec/migration-plan changes were present before Phase 1 extraction work began.
• Baseline build: dotnet build "FormID Database Manager.slnx" succeeded with 0 warnings and 0 errors.
• Baseline tests: dotnet test "FormID Database Manager.Tests" passed with 272 passed and 11 skipped.
• WinUI template status: dotnet new list winui exposes the C# WinUI 3 App, WinUI 3 Blazor App, and WinUI 3 Class Library templates.
• Target deployment model: packaged MSIX is selected for the staged WinUI migration. The WinUI project is now the supported desktop shell.

---

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• .NET SDK 10.0 or later
• Windows 10/11 for default solution and WinUI desktop shell builds

Build

Default solution builds are intentionally Windows-only because the active desktop shell targets WinUI and the Windows App SDK. Linux/macOS solution builds are unsupported.

dotnet build "FormID Database Manager.slnx"

Build only the WinUI desktop shell:

dotnet build "FormID Database Manager.WinUI\FormID Database Manager.WinUI.csproj" -p:Platform=x64

Run

Debug CLI runs pass unpackaged, Windows App SDK self-contained properties so the app can launch directly from dotnet run.

dotnet run --project "FormID Database Manager.WinUI" -p:Platform=x64 -p:WindowsPackageType=None -p:WindowsAppSDKSelfContained=true

Test

dotnet test "FormID Database Manager.Tests"

Coverage (Machine + Human Readable)

pwsh ./scripts/run-coverage.ps1

This generates:

• Cobertura XML: coverage/coverage.cobertura.xml
• JSON: coverage/coverage.json
• HTML report: coverage/report/index.html

Optional (open the HTML report automatically):

pwsh ./scripts/run-coverage.ps1 -OpenReport

Publish

The WinUI project keeps packaged MSIX support enabled by default. Use an explicit publish profile for each release lane.

Packaged MSIX, x64:

dotnet build "FormID Database Manager.WinUI\FormID Database Manager.WinUI.csproj" -c Release -p:Platform=x64 -p:PublishProfile=win-x64-msix.pubxml

Unpackaged framework-dependent, x64:

dotnet publish "FormID Database Manager.WinUI\FormID Database Manager.WinUI.csproj" -c Release -p:Platform=x64 -p:PublishProfile=win-x64-unpackaged-framework-dependent.pubxml

Unpackaged self-contained, x64:

dotnet publish "FormID Database Manager.WinUI\FormID Database Manager.WinUI.csproj" -c Release -p:Platform=x64 -p:PublishProfile=win-x64-unpackaged-self-contained.pubxml

Runtime and distribution notes:

• Packaged MSIX is the Phase 9 packaged lane for direct MSIX verification. Store submission, production certificate selection, AppInstaller feeds, and automatic update flow are not configured yet.
• The packaged profile does not set WindowsPackageType=None; the base project remains MSIX-capable.
• The debug run command sets WindowsPackageType=None and WindowsAppSDKSelfContained=true explicitly without changing the base project default.
• The unpackaged framework-dependent publish profile sets WindowsPackageType=None; target machines must have the matching .NET desktop runtime and Windows App SDK runtime installed.
• The unpackaged self-contained publish profile sets WindowsPackageType=None and WindowsAppSDKSelfContained=true. Its output carries the Windows App SDK runtime with the app and is larger than the framework-dependent output.
• Single-file unpackaged output is not selected for Phase 9 because first-launch extraction behavior still needs clean-machine verification.
• When no database path is selected, generated databases are written under %LOCALAPPDATA%\FormID Database Manager\Databases.

---

Project Structure

• FormID Database Manager.Core/: UI-neutral application core
  • Models/ — Data models
  • ViewModels/ — MVVM view models
  • Services/ — Business logic, dispatcher/file-dialog abstractions, database, plugin processing, and game detection
• FormID Database Manager.WinUI/: Supported WinUI desktop application shell
  • App.xaml / App.xaml.cs — WinUI application startup and resources
  • MainWindow.xaml / MainWindow.xaml.cs — Main UI window and workflow event handlers
  • Services/ — WinUI dispatcher and picker implementations
• FormID Database Manager.Tests/: Unit, integration, UI, and performance tests
• FormID Database Manager.TestUtilities/: Shared test fixtures, mocks, and builders

---

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please follow the steps below to contribute:

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create your branch (git checkout -b feature/new-feature).
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m "Add new feature").
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/new-feature).
5. Open a pull request.

---

License

This project is licensed under the GPL-3.0 License. Feel free to use, modify, and distribute the code as needed.

---

Acknowledgements

• Windows App SDK for the WinUI desktop application framework.
• Mutagen for Bethesda plugin parsing.

---

Contact

For inquiries or support, please contact me at evildarkarchon@gmail.com.