[kVinsom]

What does this change, and why?

Reading a BOOL array such as %DB42:214.0[1..8;1]:BOOL returns INTERNAL_ERROR: the optimizer requests packed bytes, but the scalar DataItem parser consumes a full byte per element and eventually produces null values. Decode array elements from the least significant bit of each byte, stopping at the declared element count so padding bits are ignored.

Fixes #2742.

How was it tested?

Added connected-driver regression tests using the existing in-memory S7 transport. They cover the reported address, bit order, byte boundaries, padding bits, scalar BOOL reads, and BYTE/INT array compatibility. Before the fix, all 11 packed-array cases failed while the two scalar cases passed.

On Windows with Temurin Java 21:

./mvnw.cmd -B -ntp -Pwith-java,enable-all-checks -pl plc4j/drivers/s7 -am verify

The S7 module and its reactor dependencies passed verification, including license, dependency, packaging, and coverage checks. S7 results: 329 unit tests and 2 scripted integration tests passed, with no failures or skips. Not tested against a physical PLC.

AI assistance was used to investigate the failure, implement the change, and prepare regression tests.

Checklist

• I have read the contribution guidelines, including the section on AI-assisted pull-requests.
• First contribution only: I have introduced myself on dev@plc4x.apache.org. Thread: pending.

[github-actions]

Hi @kVinsom,

Before we review a pull-request from a new contributor, we ask them to introduce themselves on our developer mailing list, dev@plc4x.apache.org. Our contribution guidelines explain why: PLC4X is maintained by a small group of people, and reviewing a change costs us far more time than producing it.

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• who you are and your background, for example the protocols, PLCs or machines you work with
• what you want to achieve with this pull-request, and the use case behind it
• whether you plan to keep contributing

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