custom connection strings to settings.json

[OmkarSarkar204]

Description

Fixes #1108
Resolves the issue where manually entered connection strings (e.g., udp:0.0.0.0:14560) were lost after restarting the application.

Changes

1. Backend (backend_filesystem_program_settings.py):

   • Added connection_history list to the default settings.
   • Implemented get_connection_history() and store_connection() to save/load strings from settings.json.
   • Added logic to deduplicate entries and keep the list sorted by most recent use (capped at 10 items).

2. Frontend (frontend_tkinter_connection_selection.py):

   • Updated __init__ to load historical connections into the dropdown on startup.
   • Updated add_connection to save the new string immediately upon user addition.

Testing

• Verified that adding a custom UDP connection saves it to %APPDATA%\.ardupilot_methodic_configurator\settings.json.
• Verified that the connection appears in the dropdown list after fully closing and restarting the application.

[amilcarlucas]

Nice, thanks. Can you please follow pytest_testing_guidelines.md and add high-level BDD tests to the code you added?

[OmkarSarkar204]

sure ill start working on it

[OmkarSarkar204]

Hi @amilcarlucas , I've added the BDD test for the connection saving logic as requested.

P.S. I spotted a typo in the pytest_testing_instructions.md (ruff formal instead of ruff format) and fixed it while I was in there. Let me know if everything looks good!

[amilcarlucas]

Nice clean PR. Thanks

[OmkarSarkar204]

Thanks! I've removed the comment, removed the file and updated the test file as requested.

[OmkarSarkar204]

I noticed the CI failed on a Pylint error redefined-outer-name, so I pushed a fix. Passing locally now.

Could you please approve the workflows to run again? Thanks!

[amilcarlucas]

Excelent. I added a commit on top with some fixes. can you sign-off your commit, and leave mine untouched?

[OmkarSarkar204]

Excelent. I added a commit on top with some fixes. can you sign-off your commit, and leave mine untouched?

Done! I signed-off my commit.

[Copilot]

Copilot encountered an error and was unable to review this pull request. You can try again by re-requesting a review.

[amilcarlucas]

All looks good now. Will merge once all CI tests pass. Thanks for contributing

[OmkarSarkar204]

All looks good now. Will merge once all CI tests pass. Thanks for contributing

Thank you so much for your patience and for guiding me through this process! This was my first significant open-source contribution, so I learned a lot.
If you have any specific advice on how I can improve my workflow for the next PR, I'd love to hear it. Thanks again!

[amilcarlucas]

Read this:
https://github.com/ArduPilot/MethodicConfigurator/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md

[amilcarlucas]

The best workflow is "Test-Driven-Development" (TDD) and writing high-level tests instead of unit tests.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 5 out of 5 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

[Copilot]

The comment is grammatically unclear. Consider rephrasing to: "Added to store connection string history" or "Added for saving port connection strings" for better clarity.

Suggested change

	expected_result["connection_history"] = [] # Added for port connection string to save
	expected_result["connection_history"] = [] # Added to store connection string history

[OmkarSarkar204]

The best workflow is "Test-Driven-Development" (TDD) and writing high-level tests instead of unit tests.

Understood! I will definitely adopt the advice for my next contribution. I’ve saved the Contributing guide to study as well.
I have university exams starting next week, so I will be inactive for a short while. I plan to return in late January to pick up a bug fix and apply this workflow. Thanks again for the mentorship!