NickeManarin/ScreenToGif · warning · InvalidDataException

File is empty

Error message

File is empty

What it means

Thrown by LocalizationHelper.ImportStringResource after copying a user-selected XAML localization file to temp and opening it with FileStream. If the copied file has zero bytes (fs.Length == 0), an InvalidDataException is thrown before attempting to parse it as XAML.

Solutions

1. Check the source file size before calling ImportStringResource and warn the user if it is empty.
2. Verify the file is a valid XAML ResourceDictionary by attempting a quick parse before importing.
3. Re-download or re-export the localization file from a known-good source.
4. Catch InvalidDataException at the call site and show a user-friendly message.

Example fix

// before
if (fs.Length == 0)
    throw new InvalidDataException("File is empty");

// after: validate at entry, include file path in message
var fileInfo = new FileInfo(path);
if (fileInfo.Length == 0)
    throw new InvalidDataException($"File '{path}' is empty.");

var fileInfo = new FileInfo(path);
if (!fileInfo.Exists || fileInfo.Length == 0)
{
    // Don't attempt import; warn the user
    return;
}

static bool IsValidLocalizationFile(string path)
{
    return File.Exists(path) && new FileInfo(path).Length > 0;
}

try
{
    LocalizationHelper.ImportStringResource(path);
}
catch (InvalidDataException ex)
{
    Dialog.Ok("Localization", "Import failed", $"The file '{path}' is empty or invalid.");
}

When it happens

Trigger: The source file at 'path' exists but contains zero bytes. This happens when the file was created but never written to, or was truncated/corrupted during a previous save. File.ReadAllText succeeds on an empty file and File.WriteAllText produces an empty destination.

Common situations: User selected an empty or partially downloaded localization XAML file. A previous export operation failed mid-write, leaving a zero-byte file. File system issue (disk full, permissions) caused a zero-byte write. The source path points to a placeholder file.

Related errors

• Index out of range while trying to save the resource…
• Can't get language codes. Path to language codes is null
• Can't get language codes. Path to language codes is null
• Empty response from server when getting language codes
• Empty response from server when getting language codes path

AI-assisted analysis of NickeManarin/ScreenToGif@a4d0a67c21 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c45445f7c52f8730. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at ScreenToGif.Util/LocalizationHelper.cs:367

    public static void ImportStringResource(string path)
    {
        try
        {
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(path))
                throw new ArgumentException("Path is null");

            var destination = Path.Combine(Path.GetTempPath(), Path.GetFileName(path));

            if (File.Exists(destination))
                File.Delete(destination);

            File.WriteAllText(destination, File.ReadAllText(path).Replace("
", "\r"));

            using var fs = new FileStream(destination, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.Read);

            if (fs.Length == 0)
                throw new InvalidDataException("File is empty");

            //Reads the ResourceDictionary file
            var dictionary = (ResourceDictionary)XamlReader.Load(fs);
            dictionary.Source = new Uri(destination);

            //Add in newly loaded Resource Dictionary.
            Application.Current.Resources.MergedDictionaries.Add(dictionary);
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            LogWriter.Log(ex, "Import Resource");
            //Rethrowing, because it's more useful to catch later
            throw;
        }
    }

    public static List<ResourceDictionary> GetLocalizations()
    {

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