Fixed KST4Contest caused disconnect on getting no activities of ON4KST chatservers if no new lines arriving

docs/PROJECT_CONTEXT.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # KST4Contest Project Context
 
-Last reviewed: 2026-08-25
+Last reviewed: 2026-08-27
 
 This file is the durable technical project context for KST4Contest. It is not a user manual and not a replacement for the changelog. Current code, tests and authoritative external specifications remain the source of truth when this document is stale or ambiguous.
 
@@ -65,6 +65,14 @@ Known integration areas include:
 
 CR/LF framing, XML framing, ports/transports, callsign normalization and frequency formatting are protocol behaviour and must not be changed as incidental cleanup.
 
+### ON4KST session liveness
+
+- After 90 seconds without inbound data, the application keeps the established empty CRLF heartbeat.
+- At about 180 seconds of inbound idle time, the TCP session sends one `RDXQ|<main chat id>|` probe. The probe state belongs to the session, so a two-category login still sends only one probe per idle phase.
+- Any subsequent inbound server frame confirms the probe. `DXQ` is accepted as the expected internal response and is not published as chat content.
+- If no inbound frame arrives by about 210 seconds, the existing reconnect flow remains responsible for replacing the session.
+- Probe diagnostics contain the session id, main category, opcode and timing only. They must not include credentials, complete server frames or normal chat messages.
+
 ## User Workflow / UI Invariants
 
 - Contest operating speed and low-friction interaction are primary goals.

src/main/java/kst4contest/controller/MessageBusManagementThread.java

@@ -877,6 +877,12 @@ public class MessageBusManagementThread extends Thread {
 				|| messageToProcess.getMessageText().isEmpty()) {
 			// No processable data.
 		} else {
+			if (On4KstProtocol.isConnectionProbeResponse(
+					messageToProcess.getMessageText())) {
+				// DXQ is the internal response to the active connection probe.
+				// Liveness was already recorded by the session manager.
+				return;
+			}
 
 			if (messageToProcess.getMessageText().startsWith(SRVR_LOGSTAT + "|")) {
 				String[] logstatMessage =
@@ -2177,8 +2183,11 @@ public class MessageBusManagementThread extends Thread {
 //								e.printStackTrace();
 //							}
 
-					System.out.println(messageTextRaw.getMessageText() + " <- RXed"); // Stdout at
+					if (!On4KstProtocol.isConnectionProbeResponse(
-					// Console#######################################################TODO:Wichtig
+							messageTextRaw.getMessageText())) {
+						System.out.println(messageTextRaw.getMessageText() + " <- RXed"); // Stdout at
+						// Console#######################################################TODO:Wichtig
+					}
 
 					try {
 						processRXMessage23001(messageTextRaw);
@@ -2207,4 +2216,4 @@ public class MessageBusManagementThread extends Thread {
 		System.out.println("Msgbusmgt: interrupt");
 		this.interrupt();
 	}
-}
+}

src/main/java/kst4contest/controller/On4KstConnectionManager.java

@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ final class On4KstConnectionManager {
     static final long LOGIN_FALLBACK_MILLIS = 2_000L; //Login-Fallback
     static final long HANDSHAKE_TIMEOUT_MILLIS = 45_000L; //Handshake-Timeout
     static final long APPLICATION_HEARTBEAT_AFTER_MILLIS = 90_000L; //Application-Heartbeat
+    /** Idle duration after which the server is asked for current DX data. */
+    static final long CONNECTION_PROBE_AFTER_MILLIS = 180_000L; //Active connection probe
     static final long INBOUND_STALE_AFTER_MILLIS = 210_000L; //Stale-Timeout - time without rxed data
     static final List<Long> RECONNECT_DELAYS_MILLIS =
             List.of(2_000L, 5_000L, 10_000L, 20_000L, 30_000L); //Reconnect-Backoff if no connection possible
@@ -178,7 +180,19 @@ final class On4KstConnectionManager {
         session.lastInboundMillis.set(now);
         session.lastProgressMillis.set(now);
 
-        String opcode = opcode(line);
+        String opcode = On4KstProtocol.opcode(line);
+        long probeResponseMillis = session.connectionProbe.acknowledge(now);
+        if (probeResponseMillis >= 0L) {
+            LOGGER.log(Level.INFO,
+                    "ON4KST connection probe confirmed: session {0}, "
+                            + "received opcode {1}, response time {2} ms",
+                    new Object[] {
+                            sessionId,
+                            opcode,
+                            probeResponseMillis
+                    });
+        }
+
         if ("CK".equals(opcode)) {
             sendHeartbeat(session);
         }
@@ -244,7 +258,15 @@ final class On4KstConnectionManager {
                     new LinkedBlockingQueue<>();
             LinkedBlockingQueue<ChatMessage> transmitQueue =
                     new LinkedBlockingQueue<>();
-            Session session = new Session(token, socket, receiveQueue, transmitQueue);
+            int mainCategory = controller.getChatPreferences()
+                    .getLoginChatCategoryMain()
+                    .getCategoryNumber();
+            Session session = new Session(
+                    token,
+                    socket,
+                    receiveQueue,
+                    transmitQueue,
+                    mainCategory);
 
             ReadThread readThread = new ReadThread(
                     token, socket, receiveQueue, this::isActiveSession,
@@ -252,8 +274,7 @@ final class On4KstConnectionManager {
                     failure -> onConnectionFailure(token, failure));
             WriteThread writeThread = new WriteThread(
                     token, socket, transmitQueue,
-                    controller.getChatPreferences().getLoginChatCategoryMain()
+                    mainCategory,
-                            .getCategoryNumber(),
                     this::isActiveSession,
                     failure -> onConnectionFailure(token, failure),
                     controller::onOn4KstOutboundFrameRejected);
@@ -535,6 +556,29 @@ final class On4KstConnectionManager {
         session.transmitQueue.offer(heartbeat);
     }
 
+    private void sendConnectionProbe(
+            Session session,
+            long now,
+            long inboundIdle
+    ) {
+        if (session == null || !isActiveSession(session.id)
+                || !session.connectionProbe.tryStart(now)) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        LOGGER.log(Level.INFO,
+                "Sending ON4KST connection probe: session {0}, main category "
+                        + "{1}, inbound idle {2} seconds",
+                new Object[] {
+                        session.id,
+                        session.mainCategory,
+                        inboundIdle / 1_000L
+                });
+        sendControl(
+                session,
+                On4KstProtocol.connectionProbe(session.mainCategory));
+    }
+
     private void onConnectionFailure(long sessionId, Throwable failure) {
         scheduler.execute(() -> failSession(sessionId, failure));
     }
@@ -634,18 +678,47 @@ final class On4KstConnectionManager {
                 return;
             }
 
-            long inboundIdle = now - session.lastInboundMillis.get();
+            long lastInboundMillis = session.lastInboundMillis.get();
-            if (inboundIdle > INBOUND_STALE_AFTER_MILLIS) {
+            long inboundIdle = now - lastInboundMillis;
-                failSession(session.id,
+            IdleAction idleAction = determineIdleAction(
-                        new SocketException("No ON4KST data received for "
+                    inboundIdle,
-                                + inboundIdle / 1_000L + " seconds"));
+                    session.lastHeartbeatMillis.get() >= lastInboundMillis,
+                    session.connectionProbe.isOutstanding());
+
+            if (session.lastInboundMillis.get() != lastInboundMillis) {
                 return;
             }
 
-            if (inboundIdle > APPLICATION_HEARTBEAT_AFTER_MILLIS
+            switch (idleAction) {
-                    && session.lastHeartbeatMillis.get()
+                case TIMEOUT -> {
-                    < session.lastInboundMillis.get()) {
+                    if (session.lastInboundMillis.get() != lastInboundMillis) {
-                sendHeartbeat(session);
+                        return;
+                    }
+                    long probeWaitMillis =
+                            session.connectionProbe.responseWaitMillis(now);
+                    if (probeWaitMillis >= 0L) {
+                        LOGGER.log(Level.WARNING,
+                                "ON4KST connection probe timed out: session "
+                                        + "{0}, main category {1}, no response "
+                                        + "for {2} ms, inbound idle {3} seconds; "
+                                        + "reconnecting",
+                                new Object[] {
+                                        session.id,
+                                        session.mainCategory,
+                                        probeWaitMillis,
+                                        inboundIdle / 1_000L
+                                });
+                    }
+                    failSession(session.id,
+                            new SocketException("No ON4KST data received for "
+                                    + inboundIdle / 1_000L + " seconds"));
+                }
+                case CONNECTION_PROBE ->
+                        sendConnectionProbe(session, now, inboundIdle);
+                case HEARTBEAT -> sendHeartbeat(session);
+                case NONE -> {
+                    // The session is active or already has the required idle action.
+                }
             }
         } catch (RuntimeException exception) {
             LOGGER.log(Level.WARNING,
@@ -653,6 +726,28 @@ final class On4KstConnectionManager {
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Selects at most one maintenance action for the current inbound idle phase.
+     */
+    static IdleAction determineIdleAction(
+            long inboundIdleMillis,
+            boolean heartbeatSentForIdlePhase,
+            boolean probeOutstanding
+    ) {
+        if (inboundIdleMillis > INBOUND_STALE_AFTER_MILLIS) {
+            return IdleAction.TIMEOUT;
+        }
+        if (inboundIdleMillis >= CONNECTION_PROBE_AFTER_MILLIS
+                && !probeOutstanding) {
+            return IdleAction.CONNECTION_PROBE;
+        }
+        if (inboundIdleMillis > APPLICATION_HEARTBEAT_AFTER_MILLIS
+                && !heartbeatSentForIdlePhase) {
+            return IdleAction.HEARTBEAT;
+        }
+        return IdleAction.NONE;
+    }
+
     private void validateConfiguration() {
         ChatPreferences preferences = controller.getChatPreferences();
         On4KstProtocol.login(
@@ -782,15 +877,6 @@ final class On4KstConnectionManager {
         }
     }
 
-    private String opcode(String line) {
-        if (line == null) {
-            return "";
-        }
-        int separator = line.indexOf('|');
-        return (separator < 0 ? line : line.substring(0, separator))
-                .trim().toUpperCase(Locale.ROOT);
-    }
-
     private String describeFailure(Throwable failure) {
         if (failure == null) {
             return "unknown error";
@@ -808,12 +894,15 @@ final class On4KstConnectionManager {
         private final Socket socket;
         private final LinkedBlockingQueue<ChatMessage> receiveQueue;
         private final LinkedBlockingQueue<ChatMessage> transmitQueue;
+        private final int mainCategory;
         private final long connectedMillis = System.currentTimeMillis();
         private final AtomicLong lastInboundMillis =
                 new AtomicLong(connectedMillis);
         private final AtomicLong lastProgressMillis =
                 new AtomicLong(connectedMillis);
         private final AtomicLong lastHeartbeatMillis = new AtomicLong();
+        private final ConnectionProbeState connectionProbe =
+                new ConnectionProbeState();
         private final Map<Integer, Map<String, ChatMember>> initialMembers =
                 new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
 
@@ -831,12 +920,45 @@ final class On4KstConnectionManager {
                 long id,
                 Socket socket,
                 LinkedBlockingQueue<ChatMessage> receiveQueue,
-                LinkedBlockingQueue<ChatMessage> transmitQueue
+                LinkedBlockingQueue<ChatMessage> transmitQueue,
+                int mainCategory
         ) {
             this.id = id;
             this.socket = socket;
             this.receiveQueue = receiveQueue;
             this.transmitQueue = transmitQueue;
+            this.mainCategory = mainCategory;
         }
     }
-}
+
+    /** Maintenance action selected by the session monitor. */
+    enum IdleAction {
+        NONE,
+        HEARTBEAT,
+        CONNECTION_PROBE,
+        TIMEOUT
+    }
+
+    /** Tracks one outstanding liveness probe for the complete TCP session. */
+    static final class ConnectionProbeState {
+        private final AtomicLong sentMillis = new AtomicLong();
+
+        boolean tryStart(long now) {
+            return now > 0L && sentMillis.compareAndSet(0L, now);
+        }
+
+        long acknowledge(long now) {
+            long sent = sentMillis.getAndSet(0L);
+            return sent == 0L ? -1L : Math.max(0L, now - sent);
+        }
+
+        boolean isOutstanding() {
+            return sentMillis.get() > 0L;
+        }
+
+        long responseWaitMillis(long now) {
+            long sent = sentMillis.get();
+            return sent == 0L ? -1L : Math.max(0L, now - sent);
+        }
+    }
+}

src/main/java/kst4contest/controller/On4KstProtocol.java

@@ -54,6 +54,27 @@ final class On4KstProtocol {
                 + "|0|";
     }
 
+    /** Builds the active liveness probe for the session's main chat. */
+    static String connectionProbe(int category) {
+        return "RDXQ|" + category(category) + "|";
+    }
+
+    /** Returns whether a server frame is the expected liveness-probe response. */
+    static boolean isConnectionProbeResponse(String frame) {
+        return "DXQ".equals(opcode(frame));
+    }
+
+    /** Extracts and normalizes the opcode without exposing the remaining frame. */
+    static String opcode(String frame) {
+        if (frame == null) {
+            return "";
+        }
+        int separator = frame.indexOf('|');
+        return (separator < 0 ? frame : frame.substring(0, separator))
+                .trim()
+                .toUpperCase(Locale.ROOT);
+    }
+
     /** Builds a category-qualified locator command after validating Maidenhead syntax. */
     static String setLocator(int category, String locator) {
         return command(category, "/SETLOC " + locator(locator));
@@ -189,4 +210,4 @@ final class On4KstProtocol {
         }
         return category;
     }
-}
+}

src/test/java/kst4contest/controller/On4KstConnectionProbeTest.java

@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+package kst4contest.controller;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertArrayEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+
+import java.net.ServerSocket;
+import java.net.Socket;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
+import java.util.concurrent.LinkedBlockingQueue;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Timeout;
+
+import kst4contest.model.ChatMessage;
+
+class On4KstConnectionProbeTest {
+
+    @Test
+    void buildsMainChatProbeAndAcceptsExpectedResponse() {
+        assertEquals("RDXQ|2|", On4KstProtocol.connectionProbe(2));
+        assertTrue(On4KstProtocol.isConnectionProbeResponse("DXQ|2|data|"));
+        assertFalse(On4KstProtocol.isConnectionProbeResponse(
+                "CH|2|123|DL1ABC|Name|0|text|0|"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void selectsHeartbeatProbeAndTimeoutAtIdleBoundaries() {
+        assertEquals(
+                On4KstConnectionManager.IdleAction.NONE,
+                idleAction(90_000L, false, false));
+        assertEquals(
+                On4KstConnectionManager.IdleAction.HEARTBEAT,
+                idleAction(90_001L, false, false));
+        assertEquals(
+                On4KstConnectionManager.IdleAction.NONE,
+                idleAction(179_999L, true, false));
+        assertEquals(
+                On4KstConnectionManager.IdleAction.CONNECTION_PROBE,
+                idleAction(180_000L, true, false));
+        assertEquals(
+                On4KstConnectionManager.IdleAction.NONE,
+                idleAction(210_000L, true, true));
+        assertEquals(
+                On4KstConnectionManager.IdleAction.TIMEOUT,
+                idleAction(210_001L, true, true));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void oneSessionProbeIsAcknowledgedByAnyInboundTraffic() {
+        On4KstConnectionManager.ConnectionProbeState probe =
+                new On4KstConnectionManager.ConnectionProbeState();
+
+        assertTrue(probe.tryStart(1_000L));
+        assertFalse(probe.tryStart(1_001L),
+                "A second category must not start another session probe");
+        assertTrue(probe.isOutstanding());
+
+        assertEquals(250L, probe.acknowledge(1_250L));
+        assertFalse(probe.isOutstanding());
+        assertEquals(-1L, probe.acknowledge(1_500L));
+
+        assertTrue(probe.tryStart(2_000L),
+                "New inbound activity starts a new idle phase");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @Timeout(5)
+    void writerUsesExactCrLfForHeartbeatAndConnectionProbe() throws Exception {
+        byte[] expected = "\r\nRDXQ|2|\r\n".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+
+        try (ServerSocket server = new ServerSocket(0)) {
+            CompletableFuture<byte[]> received = CompletableFuture.supplyAsync(() -> {
+                try (Socket accepted = server.accept()) {
+                    accepted.setSoTimeout(2_000);
+                    return accepted.getInputStream().readNBytes(expected.length);
+                } catch (Exception exception) {
+                    throw new RuntimeException(exception);
+                }
+            });
+
+            try (Socket client = new Socket("127.0.0.1", server.getLocalPort())) {
+                LinkedBlockingQueue<ChatMessage> queue =
+                        new LinkedBlockingQueue<>();
+                AtomicBoolean active = new AtomicBoolean(true);
+                WriteThread writer = new WriteThread(
+                        11L,
+                        client,
+                        queue,
+                        2,
+                        ignored -> active.get(),
+                        ignored -> { },
+                        ignored -> { });
+                writer.start();
+
+                queue.add(serverFrame(""));
+                queue.add(serverFrame(On4KstProtocol.connectionProbe(2)));
+
+                assertArrayEquals(
+                        expected,
+                        received.get(2, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
+
+                active.set(false);
+                writer.interrupt();
+                writer.join(Duration.ofSeconds(2).toMillis());
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private On4KstConnectionManager.IdleAction idleAction(
+            long inboundIdleMillis,
+            boolean heartbeatSent,
+            boolean probeOutstanding
+    ) {
+        return On4KstConnectionManager.determineIdleAction(
+                inboundIdleMillis,
+                heartbeatSent,
+                probeOutstanding);
+    }
+
+    private ChatMessage serverFrame(String text) {
+        ChatMessage message = new ChatMessage();
+        message.setMessageDirectedToServer(true);
+        message.setMessageText(text);
+        return message;
+    }
+}