Ascendara Crash Reporter

Overview

The Crash Reporter is a small window that shows which Ascendara component failed, an error code, and the error message. Helper tools open it when they hit an unhandled error. It's written in Rust with the FLTK GUI toolkit (through the fltk and fltk-theme crates), replacing the earlier Python and tkinter version.

Source: binaries/AscendaraCrashReporter/src/main.rs

For what users see and what the codes mean, see Error Codes.

Features

• Two layouts: a critical layout for errors in Ascendara itself, and a utility layout for helper tools
• Component names and descriptions for known error codes
• Technical details from the caller
• A Get Support button that opens the Ascendara Discord
• Loads ascendara.ico from its own folder as the window icon

Usage

Command Line Arguments

AscendaraCrashReporter <tool_id> <error_code> <error_message>

All three arguments are required. If any is missing, or the code isn't a number, the reporter exits without showing a window.

Parameters

Example

AscendaraCrashReporter.exe maindownloader 1404 "Failed to extract archive: CRC error"

Development

Tool Identifiers

Any other ID is shown as Unknown Ascendara Tool.

Error Code Ranges

The individual codes are listed in Error Codes and defined in ErrorCodes::get_error_description in main.rs.

Note: The Python helpers and the Rust Downloader currently pass the generic code 1, which is shown as Unrecognized error code, so the message argument carries the useful information. Pass a specific code from the table when you add new error handling.

Layouts

Critical (toplevel)

An 800×600 window with a light red background, titled ⚠ Critical Error: Ascendara Has Stopped Working. It shows the code, its description, recovery suggestions, and technical information, with Report Problem, Restart Ascendara, and Exit buttons.

Utility (all other tools)

A 600×550 window titled ⚠️ Ascendara Core Utility Crash. It shows the Affected Component, Diagnostic Code, What Happened, and Technical Details, with Get Support, Upload Crash Report, and Close buttons.

Current Limitations

• Upload Crash Report and Report Problem only show a confirmation dialog. No data is sent anywhere. Users who need help should use Upload Logs with a support code in Ascendara's Settings.
• Restart Ascendara asks the user to restart Ascendara manually.
• Ascendara's main process calls the reporter with only two arguments (an error type and a message) for uncaught exceptions, so the reporter exits without showing the critical layout.

Integration

The Rust Downloader starts the reporter, from next to its own executable, when it panics or a fatal error ends the process. It passes maindownloader, code 1, and the error message.

Python helpers (and the Game Handler, which follows the same pattern in Rust) register the reporter to open when the process exits, so the error is shown after the tool has cleaned up:

def _launch_crash_reporter_on_exit(error_code, error_message):
    binary_name = 'AscendaraCrashReporter.exe' if sys.platform == 'win32' else 'AscendaraCrashReporter'
    # Packaged: next to the helper. Source: binaries/AscendaraCrashReporter/target/release
    crash_reporter_path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(sys.executable), binary_name)
    if os.path.exists(crash_reporter_path):
        kwargs = {"creationflags": subprocess.CREATE_NO_WINDOW} if sys.platform == "win32" else {}
        subprocess.Popen([crash_reporter_path, "your_tool_id", str(error_code), error_message], **kwargs)

def launch_crash_reporter(error_code, error_message):
    if not hasattr(launch_crash_reporter, "_registered"):
        atexit.register(_launch_crash_reporter_on_exit, error_code, error_message)
        launch_crash_reporter._registered = True

Building

cd binaries/AscendaraCrashReporter
cargo build --release --locked

The executable is written to target/release/AscendaraCrashReporter(.exe), which is where package.json expects it. On Windows, build.rs uses winres to embed the icon. On macOS, the build script passes an explicit Rust target for each architecture. See Creating the Tools.