Fix combat freeze: build-once-leave-it parity with the combat-proven DF_AuraLab

Krathe's DF_AuraLab renders a CustomAuraContainer correctly THROUGH combat with the SAME build
sequence as ours — so the freeze was us re-touching the live container in combat (Blizzard drives
it; touching it re-enters the secret aura path and silently latches its dirty engine). Diffed the
lab vs ours and removed every in-combat container touch:

- bindNative: drop the slot.DurationTextBinding:SetTextColorCurve poke on live buttons — dead path
  (private field, SetDurationText drops the required property arg; port plan §2.8) that mutates
  Blizzard-owned binding state. Colour-by-time returns via the bucket formatter in P2. The lab's
  initFrame never touches the binding.
- Handle:ApplyStyle: combat-guard — in lockdown, stash _pendingRestyle and return without touching
  buttons; the regen handler replays it OOC (skipped if a queued rebuild subsumes it).
- DriveBuffFactory/DriveDefensiveFactory: SetAlpha/SetShown only on actual state change (cached);
  the layout-version re-apply block (Rebuild/ApplyStyle/formatter churn on live buttons) gated to
  OOC — version stays stale in combat, catches up on the first out-of-combat drive.
- Icons.lua + the external GetFrame():Hide() sites clear the shown-cache so it can't go stale.

Net: in combat a standing container is never touched by any DF path — matches the lab. Unverified.

Author: mergetest

Features/Auras.lua

@@ -2559,7 +2559,15 @@ function DF:DriveBuffFactory(frame, db)
     if not h then return end
 
     -- Row-level opacity (legacy per-icon buffAlpha; container-frame children multiply it).
-    h:GetFrame():SetAlpha(db.buffAlpha or 1)
+    -- BUILD-ONCE-LEAVE-IT: the standing container's frame tree is written ONLY on actual
+    -- change, never per-event — the combat-proven DF_AuraLab pattern builds once and lets
+    -- Blizzard drive; DriveBuffFactory runs per UNIT_AURA/range tick, so unconditional
+    -- writes here would re-touch the live tree many times a second in combat.
+    local rowAlpha = db.buffAlpha or 1
+    if frame.dfBuffFactoryAlpha ~= rowAlpha then
+        frame.dfBuffFactoryAlpha = rowAlpha
+        h:GetFrame():SetAlpha(rowAlpha)
+    end
 
     -- Keep the container on the frame's current unit. OOC retargets immediately; in combat
     -- the factory defers the retarget, so hide the row until regen rather than show the
@@ -2573,11 +2581,20 @@ function DF:DriveBuffFactory(frame, db)
     elseif frame.dfBuffFactoryHidden and not InCombatLockdown() then
         frame.dfBuffFactoryHidden = nil
     end
-    h:GetFrame():SetShown(not frame.dfBuffFactoryHidden)
+    -- Show/hide only on state change (no per-event SetShown churn on the live tree).
+    local rowShown = not frame.dfBuffFactoryHidden
+    if frame.dfBuffFactoryShown ~= rowShown then
+        frame.dfBuffFactoryShown = rowShown
+        h:GetFrame():SetShown(rowShown)
+    end
 
-    -- Apply setting changes only when the layout version actually bumped.
+    -- Apply setting changes only when the layout version actually bumped — and only OUT
+    -- of combat. In combat the standing container is left completely alone (the lab's
+    -- proven pattern: existing containers keep running in combat; every addon-side
+    -- re-touch — restyle, rebuild, SetFrameLevel, formatter churn — is a divergence).
+    -- The version stays stale so the first OOC drive catches up.
     local ver = DF.auraLayoutVersion or 0
-    if frame.dfBuffFactoryVersion ~= ver then
+    if frame.dfBuffFactoryVersion ~= ver and not InCombatLockdown() then
         frame.dfBuffFactoryVersion = ver
         local cfg = DF:BuildAuraRowConfig(db, "buff", {
             unit = frame.unit,
@@ -2717,12 +2734,20 @@ function DF:DriveDefensiveFactory(frame, db)
     elseif frame.dfDefFactoryHidden and not InCombatLockdown() then
         frame.dfDefFactoryHidden = nil
     end
-    h:GetFrame():SetShown(not frame.dfDefFactoryHidden)
+    -- Show/hide only on state change (no per-event SetShown churn on the live tree —
+    -- build-once-leave-it, mirrors DriveBuffFactory).
+    local rowShown = not frame.dfDefFactoryHidden
+    if frame.dfDefFactoryShown ~= rowShown then
+        frame.dfDefFactoryShown = rowShown
+        h:GetFrame():SetShown(rowShown)
+    end
 
     -- Re-apply settings only on a layout-version bump (defensive option changes bump it
-    -- via UpdateAllDefensiveBars -> InvalidateAuraLayout).
+    -- via UpdateAllDefensiveBars -> InvalidateAuraLayout) — and only OUT of combat: the
+    -- standing container is never re-touched in lockdown (lab parity); the stale version
+    -- catches up on the first OOC drive.
     local ver = DF.auraLayoutVersion or 0
-    if frame.dfDefFactoryVersion ~= ver then
+    if frame.dfDefFactoryVersion ~= ver and not InCombatLockdown() then
         frame.dfDefFactoryVersion = ver
         local cfg = DF:BuildDefensiveRowConfig(db, frame.unit)
         -- Re-apply the z-order level (honors runtime defensiveIconFrameLevel changes; survives
@@ -2764,6 +2789,7 @@ function DF:UpdateAuras_Enhanced(frame)
     local buffFactoryActive = db.showBuffs and DF:UseFactoryForBuffs(frame, db)
     if frame.buffFactory and not buffFactoryActive then
         frame.buffFactory:GetFrame():Hide()
+        frame.dfBuffFactoryShown = false   -- keep DriveBuffFactory's shown-cache coherent
     end
 
     -- Aura Designer runs when enabled; standard buffs can coexist if showBuffs is on.

Frames/AuraContainer.lua

@@ -419,15 +419,15 @@ local function bindNative(slot, config)
             warnedCurve = true
             DF:DebugWarn(DBG, "SetDurationText failed: %s", tostring(err))
         end
-        -- Colour-by-time: call SetTextColorCurve DIRECTLY on the binding with the REQUIRED
-        -- `property` arg. Blizzard's SetDurationText wrapper omits it (bugged -> text vanishes),
-        -- so we bypass it — the binding is a plain field on our addon-created button. This is the
-        -- legacy percent gradient. Guarded; C-side render is unverified (Krathe checks in-game).
-        if ok and durSpec.colorCurve and slot.DurationTextBinding then
-            pcall(function()
-                slot.DurationTextBinding:SetTextColorCurve(durSpec.colorCurve, Enum.DurationTextBindingProperty.RemainingPercent)
-            end)
-        end
+        -- Colour-by-time: the smooth textColorCurve path is DEAD on 68569 (live-tested
+        -- 2026-07-09, port plan §2.8/§3): SetDurationText forwards SetTextColorCurve(curve)
+        -- WITHOUT the required `property` arg (no-op), and `button.DurationTextBinding` is a
+        -- PRIVATE field — NOT on the public object table initializeFrame receives — so the
+        -- old direct-binding poke here could never fire, and poking Blizzard-owned binding
+        -- state on a live button is exactly the class of touch the combat-proven DF_AuraLab
+        -- initFrame avoids. durSpec.colorCurve is accepted-but-inert; colour-by-time ships
+        -- via the discrete BUCKETS formatter (|cRRGGBB escapes in AddBreakpoint format
+        -- strings, the NSRT/EnhanceQoL-proven path) in P2.
     end
 
     if slot.dfStack and slot.SetApplicationCount and not slot._boundStack then
@@ -870,6 +870,17 @@ function Handle:ApplyStyle(style, layout)
     if type(layout) == "table" then
         self.config.layout = layout   -- optional geometry swap (size/scale/spacing/growth/offsets)
     end
+    -- BUILD-ONCE-LEAVE-IT (combat parity with the proven DF_AuraLab pattern): a live
+    -- native container's buttons are NEVER re-touched in combat. The lab builds once,
+    -- lets Blizzard drive, and only restyles on explicit OOC user action; restyling
+    -- live buttons mid-combat (SetSize/SetPoint/SetTexCoord/SafeSetFont on regions the
+    -- native driver owns) is a divergence from the combat-proven pattern. Config is
+    -- already captured above; the restyle replays at regen.
+    if InCombatLockdown() then
+        self._pendingRestyle = true
+        self:_registerRegen()
+        return
+    end
     -- Row-mode buttons are anchored by the CONTAINER's secure flow layout -- SetPoint-ing
     -- them here would fight it (and touches secretwrapped anchor points). Geometry changes
     -- go through SetAuraLayout* (P1); only the future "slots" mode hand-anchors. styleButton_regions
@@ -978,6 +989,7 @@ function Handle:Destroy()
         return
     end
     self._pendingOp = nil
+    self._pendingRestyle = nil
     self:_teardownContainer()
 end
 
@@ -1002,19 +1014,29 @@ function Handle:_registerRegen()
                 self._handles[h] = nil
                 local op = h._pendingOp
                 h._pendingOp = nil
+                local restyle = h._pendingRestyle
+                h._pendingRestyle = nil
                 -- pcall each handle's op so one failure can't strand the rest.
                 if op == "destroy" then
                     pcall(function() h:_teardownContainer() end)
-                elseif not h._destroyed and op then
-                    pcall(function()
-                        if op == "rebuild" then
-                            h:_rebuild()
-                        elseif op == "retarget" then
-                            if h.backend then h.backend:setUnit(h.config.unit) end
-                        elseif op == "enable" then
-                            if h.backend then h.backend:setEnabled(h.config.enabled ~= false) end
-                        end
-                    end)
+                elseif not h._destroyed then
+                    if op then
+                        pcall(function()
+                            if op == "rebuild" then
+                                h:_rebuild()
+                            elseif op == "retarget" then
+                                if h.backend then h.backend:setUnit(h.config.unit) end
+                            elseif op == "enable" then
+                                if h.backend then h.backend:setEnabled(h.config.enabled ~= false) end
+                            end
+                        end)
+                    end
+                    -- Combat-deferred cosmetic restyle (ApplyStyle hit in lockdown). A
+                    -- rebuild already styles fresh buttons from the updated config, so
+                    -- only non-rebuild paths need the explicit OOC re-apply.
+                    if restyle and op ~= "rebuild" then
+                        pcall(function() h:ApplyStyle() end)
+                    end
                 end
             end
         end)

Frames/Icons.lua

@@ -1105,14 +1105,20 @@ function DF:UpdateDefensiveBar(frame)
 
     -- Check if feature is enabled
     if not db.defensiveIconEnabled then
-        if frame.defensiveFactory then frame.defensiveFactory:GetFrame():Hide() end
+        if frame.defensiveFactory then
+            frame.defensiveFactory:GetFrame():Hide()
+            frame.dfDefFactoryShown = false   -- keep DriveDefensiveFactory's shown-cache coherent
+        end
         frame.defensiveIcon:Hide()
         return
     end
-    
+
     -- Check if unit exists
     if not UnitExists(unit) then
-        if frame.defensiveFactory then frame.defensiveFactory:GetFrame():Hide() end
+        if frame.defensiveFactory then
+            frame.defensiveFactory:GetFrame():Hide()
+            frame.dfDefFactoryShown = false
+        end
         frame.defensiveIcon:Hide()
         return
     end
@@ -1127,6 +1133,7 @@ function DF:UpdateDefensiveBar(frame)
     -- hide it so the legacy render below can't double up.
     if frame.defensiveFactory then
         frame.defensiveFactory:GetFrame():Hide()
+        frame.dfDefFactoryShown = false
     end
 
     -- Ensure cache.defensives is populated for this unit. In steady state