Addendum to 2e56bd0 & ec248d4: Further improve CEF implementation, and fix any bugs encountered along the way.

Fixes CEF freeze (between reconnects) introduced by ec248d4 as well, e.g:
ERROR: [browser_info_manager.cc] Timeout of new browser info response for frame [id] (has_rfh=1)

Regarding the directly above, about the added safety checks;
Especially needed now that the Initialise() return logic changed. Previously, on initialization fail, it would leave CEF in a partial state.
The new code now properly returns false and cleans up m_pWebCore.

Before (buggy code):

When Initialise() failed, the code deleted m_pWebCore with SAFE_DELETE
Next call to GetWebCore() created a new CWebCore and call CefInitialize() again
Problem: CEF only allows calling CefInitialize() ONCE per process - second call causes freeze

After (fixed code):

Initialise() stores the result in m_bInitialised flag
m_pWebCore is NEVER deleted, even if initialization fails
Added IsInitialised() method that returns the m_bInitialised flag

What this means for callers (Hence all the new checks being added now):
- GetWebCore() can now return a non-null pointer that is not usable.

Before: If you got a pointer back from GetWebCore(), it was always safe to use
After: You need to check if the pointer is nullptr because we now return nullptr when initialization failed

Example:

IsWebCoreLoaded() now checks both that the pointer exists AND that CEF initialized successfully
Every caller of GetWebCore() needs to handle nullptr return value
Every method in CClientWebBrowser needs to check m_pWebView ins't null before using it

Author: Dutchman101

Client/ceflauncher/CEFLauncher.manifest

@@ -53,5 +53,10 @@
     </dependency>
 
     <trustInfo xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
+        <security>
+            <requestedPrivileges>
+                <requestedExecutionLevel level="asInvoker" uiAccess="false" />
+            </requestedPrivileges>
+        </security>
     </trustInfo>
 </assembly>

Client/ceflauncher_DLL/Main.cpp

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 #include "CCefApp.h"
 #include <string>
 #include <cef3/cef/include/cef_sandbox_win.h>
+#include <SharedUtil.h>
 
 // #define CEF_ENABLE_SANDBOX
 #ifdef CEF_ENABLE_SANDBOX
@@ -30,15 +31,18 @@ DWORD WINAPI CheckParentProcessAliveness(LPVOID);
 
 int _declspec(dllexport) InitCEF()
 {
-    // Get absolute CEFLauncher.exe path
-    TCHAR buffer[MAX_PATH];
-    GetModuleFileName(NULL, buffer, MAX_PATH);
-    std::wstring currentFileName(buffer);
-
-    // Extract MTA path and set DLL directory (absolute path is required here)
-    size_t       pos = currentFileName.find_last_of(L'\\');
-    std::wstring mtaPath = currentFileName.substr(0, pos - 3);            // Strip "CEF"
-    SetDllDirectory(mtaPath.c_str());
+    // Get MTA base directory and set DLL directory to MTA folder
+    const SString strBaseDir = SharedUtil::GetMTAProcessBaseDir();
+    
+    if (strBaseDir.empty())
+    {
+        // Unable to determine base directory - CEF cannot initialize
+        return -1;
+    }
+    
+    const SString strMTADir = SharedUtil::PathJoin(strBaseDir, "MTA");
+    
+    SetDllDirectoryW(SharedUtil::FromUTF8(strMTADir));
 
     // Load libcef.dll from the DLL directory
     assert(SUCCEEDED(__HrLoadAllImportsForDll("libcef.dll")));
@@ -70,9 +74,10 @@ static DWORD WINAPI CheckParentProcessAliveness(LPVOID)
 {
     NTSTATUS(NTAPI * queryInformation)(HANDLE, PROCESSINFOCLASS, PVOID, ULONG, PULONG) = nullptr;
 
-    if (HMODULE const ntdll = GetModuleHandleW(L"ntdll.dll"); ntdll != nullptr)
+    if (auto ntdll = GetModuleHandleW(L"ntdll.dll"); ntdll != nullptr)
     {
-        queryInformation = reinterpret_cast<decltype(queryInformation)>(GetProcAddress(ntdll, "NtQueryInformationProcess"));
+        auto procAddr = GetProcAddress(ntdll, "NtQueryInformationProcess");
+        queryInformation = reinterpret_cast<decltype(queryInformation)>(reinterpret_cast<void*>(procAddr));
     }
 
     if (queryInformation == nullptr)

Client/ceflauncher_DLL/premake5.lua

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ project "CEFLauncher DLL"
 	targetname "CEFLauncher_DLL"
 	targetdir(buildpath("mta/cef"))
 
-	includedirs { "../../vendor/cef3/cef" }
+	includedirs { "../../vendor/cef3/cef", "../../Shared/sdk" }
 	libdirs { "../../vendor/cef3/cef/Release" }
 
 	defines { "UNICODE", "PSAPI_VERSION=1" }
@@ -19,10 +19,11 @@ project "CEFLauncher DLL"
 	files {
 		"premake5.lua",
 		"*.h",
-		"*.cpp"
+		"*.cpp",
+		"../../Shared/sdk/SharedUtil.cpp"
 	}
 
-	links { "delayimp", "CEF",  "libcef.lib", "Psapi.lib", "version.lib", "Winmm.lib", "Ws2_32.lib", "DbgHelp.lib" }
+	links { "delayimp", "CEF", "libcef.lib", "Psapi.lib", "version.lib", "Winmm.lib", "Ws2_32.lib", "DbgHelp.lib" }
 	linkoptions { "/DELAYLOAD:libcef.dll" }
 
 	filter "architecture:not x86"

Client/cefweb/CWebApp.cpp

@@ -29,6 +29,35 @@ void CWebApp::OnBeforeCommandLineProcessing(const CefString& process_type, CefRe
     if (!command_line)
         return;
 
+    // Add GTA path and MTA base path switches before g_pCore check
+    // This callback runs in both browser process and subprocess
+    // In subprocess, g_pCore is NULL, so switches must be added before that check
+    // Read GTA path from registry
+    int iResult = 0;
+    const SString strGTAPath = GetCommonRegistryValue("", "GTA:SA Path", &iResult);
+    if (!strGTAPath.empty())
+    {
+        // Pass GTA directory path to CEFLauncher subprocess via command-line switch
+        // CEF's AppendSwitchWithValue handles quoting automatically
+        command_line->AppendSwitchWithValue("mta-gta-path", strGTAPath);
+        // AddReportLog only available in browser process where g_pCore exists
+    }
+
+    // Pass MTA base directory path to subprocess
+    // MTA DLLs are in Bin/MTA but parent process may be elsewhere
+    const SString strMTAPath = GetMTAProcessBaseDir();
+    if (!strMTAPath.empty())
+    {
+        command_line->AppendSwitchWithValue("mta-base-path", strMTAPath);
+    }
+
+    // Disable AutoDeElevate to allow CEF to run with elevated privileges
+    // Must be added before g_pCore check to apply to both browser process and subprocess
+    // https://github.com/chromiumembedded/cef/issues/3960
+    // https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/chromium/src/+/6515318
+    command_line->AppendSwitch("do-not-de-elevate");
+
+    // Browser-process-only settings
     if (!g_pCore) [[unlikely]]
         return;
 
@@ -39,11 +68,6 @@ void CWebApp::OnBeforeCommandLineProcessing(const CefString& process_type, CefRe
     if (!pWebCore->GetGPUEnabled())
         command_line->AppendSwitch("disable-gpu");
 
-    // Disable the AutoDeElevate feature to make launching CEF with Admin privileges work.
-    // https://github.com/chromiumembedded/cef/issues/3960
-    // https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/chromium/src/+/6515318
-    command_line->AppendSwitch("do-not-de-elevate");
-
     command_line->AppendSwitch("disable-gpu-compositing"); // always disable this, causes issues with official builds
 
     // command_line->AppendSwitch("disable-d3d11");
@@ -108,8 +132,8 @@ CefRefPtr<CefResourceHandler> CWebApp::Create(CefRefPtr<CefBrowser> browser, Cef
         }
         else
         {
-            SString resourceName = path.substr(0, slashPos);
-            SString resourcePath = path.substr(slashPos + 1);
+            const SString resourceName = path.substr(0, slashPos);
+            const SString resourcePath = path.substr(slashPos + 1);
 
             if (resourcePath.empty())
             {
@@ -137,7 +161,7 @@ CefRefPtr<CefResourceHandler> CWebApp::Create(CefRefPtr<CefBrowser> browser, Cef
 
                 if (urlParts.query.str)
                 {
-                    SString              strGet = UTF16ToMbUTF8(urlParts.query.str);
+                    const SString        strGet = UTF16ToMbUTF8(urlParts.query.str);
                     std::vector<SString> vecTmp;
                     vecTmp.reserve(8);  // Reserve space for common query parameter count
                     strGet.Split("&", vecTmp);
@@ -153,13 +177,13 @@ CefRefPtr<CefResourceHandler> CWebApp::Create(CefRefPtr<CefBrowser> browser, Cef
                 }
 
                 CefPostData::ElementVector vecPostElements;
-                if (auto postData = request->GetPostData(); postData)
+                if (const auto postData = request->GetPostData(); postData)
                 {
                     postData->GetElements(vecPostElements);
 
                     SString key;
                     SString value;
-                    for (auto&& post : vecPostElements)
+                    for (const auto& post : vecPostElements)
                     {
                         // Limit to 5MiB and allow byte data only
                         constexpr size_t MAX_POST_SIZE = 5 * 1024 * 1024;
@@ -168,12 +192,12 @@ CefRefPtr<CefResourceHandler> CWebApp::Create(CefRefPtr<CefBrowser> browser, Cef
                             continue;
 
                         // Make string from buffer
-                        auto buffer = std::make_unique<char[]>(bytesCount);
+                        const auto buffer = std::make_unique<char[]>(bytesCount);
                         // Verify GetBytes succeeded before using buffer
-                        size_t bytesRead = post->GetBytes(bytesCount, buffer.get());
+                        const size_t bytesRead = post->GetBytes(bytesCount, buffer.get());
                         if (bytesRead != bytesCount)
                             continue;
-                        SStringX postParam(buffer.get(), bytesCount);
+                        const SStringX postParam(buffer.get(), bytesCount);
 
                         // Parse POST data into vector
                         std::vector<SString> vecTmp;
@@ -197,7 +221,7 @@ CefRefPtr<CefResourceHandler> CWebApp::Create(CefRefPtr<CefBrowser> browser, Cef
             {
                 // Calculate MTA resource path
                 static constexpr auto LOCAL = "local";
-                path = (resourceName != LOCAL) ? ":" + resourceName + "/" + resourcePath : resourcePath;
+                path = (resourceName != LOCAL) ? SString(":" + resourceName + "/" + resourcePath) : resourcePath;
 
                 // Calculate absolute path
                 if (!pWebView->GetFullPathFromLocal(path))