NTFSSecurity/.memory-bank/systemPatterns.md

status	last-verified	owner	source
current	2026-10-04	active-agent	repository evidence

System patterns

Architecture

NTFSSecurity.psd1 ─┬─ ScriptsToProcess: NTFSSecurity.Init.ps1
                   │    Add-Type: Security2.dll, PrivilegeControl.dll,
                   │    ProcessPrivileges.dll, inline NTFS.DriveInfoExt;
                   │    Update-FormatData -PrependPath format.ps1xml
                   ├─ TypesToProcess: NTFSSecurity.types.ps1xml
                   │    (Owner, IsInheritanceBlocked, LengthOnDisk on
                   │    FileInfo/DirectoryInfo; AccountType on ACEs)
                   ├─ RootModule: NTFSSecurity.psm1 (aliases)
                   ├─ NestedModules: NTFSSecurity.dll (36 cmdlets)
                   └─ en-US\NTFSSecurity.dll-Help.xml (Get-Help; generated
                        from Docs/Cmdlets, Decision 8)
NTFSSecurity.dll ── cmdlets ──> Security2.dll (FileSystemAccessRule2,
                                FileSystemAuditRule2, IdentityReference2,
                                FileSystemInheritanceInfo, EffectiveAccess)
                 ── long paths ──> AlphaFS
                 ── privileges ──> PrivilegeControl / ProcessPrivileges

• BaseCmdlet resolves relative paths against $PWD.
• BaseCmdletWithPrivControl (access, audit, inheritance, owner, security descriptor, and privilege cmdlets) enables Backup, Restore, TakeOwnership, and Security in BeginProcessing when PrivateData.EnablePrivileges is $true, and disables the ones it enabled in EndProcessing.
• PrivateData switches: EnablePrivileges (base cmdlet), GetInheritedFrom (Get-NTFSAccess, Get-NTFSAudit), GetFileSystemModeProperty and IdentifyHardLinks (Get-ChildItem2), ShowAccountSid (format file).
• Cmdlets accept either -Path (alias FullName) or -SecurityDescriptor (from Get-NTFSSecurityDescriptor); SD sets change the in-memory object until Set-NTFSSecurityDescriptor writes it back.

Decisions

Each Decision record is a file in decisions/; read only the relevant ones.

#	Decision
1	Use the canonical Memory Bank base
2	Cmdlet reference stays platyPS markdown
3	Document the source at HEAD
4	Online help points to GitHub
5	Document defects, don't fix them in docs work
6	CI checks the docs against a build of the source
7	CHANGELOG lists user-visible changes only
8	Commit the generated help file and check it in CI
9	Keep the documentation on GitHub
10	One version for the manifest, assemblies, and changelog
11	CI and the wiki run on GitHub Actions
12	Releases are built and published by CI on a version tag

Patterns

Verifying documentation

• Run platyPS in Windows PowerShell 5.1 against a module build; a copy of Docs/Cmdlets must round-trip through Update-MarkdownHelp unchanged. platyPS rewrites non-ASCII punctuation, so keep cmdlet pages ASCII-only. It takes a parameter's Position from Get-Help, that is from the shipped help file: after a position change, edit the page YAML, run New-ExternalHelp, rebuild, and check the round trip.
• Links: MarkdownLinkCheck checks relative Docs links (no anchors), Tests\Wiki.Tests.ps1 the wiki links and anchors; neither covers README.md and CHANGELOG.md. The wiki is generated from Docs (never edit it); Docs/README.md becomes Home, its cmdlet groups the sidebar.
• In cmdlet pages, end a sentence with a link (platyPS drops the space after it). Verify examples in a $env:TEMP sandbox, never on real data.

Testing the module

• Pester 5 tests in Tests/*.Tests.ps1 import NTFSSecurity\bin\Release\NTFSSecurity.psd1; CI runs every file of Tests in Windows PowerShell 5.1 and in PowerShell 7 (Decision 11) with .github/scripts/Invoke-Tests.ps1 (job summary, NUnit test-results).
• A test that changes files, links, or security descriptors uses Tests\TestHelpers.psm1: its own sandbox below $env:TEMP\NTFSSecurity.Tests, Assert-TestSandboxPath before each change, Remove-TestSandbox (links first, then ACL reset). Cases that need a privilege skip with Test-PrivilegeHeld and run in CI (elevated); Block-TestReadPermission (OWNER RIGHTS deny) makes a read fail without elevation.
• Get-Help -Online tests use the internal hook BypassOnlineHelpRetrieval, which PowerShell 7 ignores for the help file: 36 tests run only in Windows PowerShell.
• Manifest.Tests.ps1: Test-ModuleManifest clean, exactly 36 cmdlets, one version in manifest and assemblies (Decision 10). Release.Tests.ps1: release notes for the manifest version, and the packages (FileList files, version with label, command tags, zip layout).