PHPOffice/PHPWord · error · Exception

Cannot read .

Error message

Cannot read {$docFile}.

What it means

Thrown by RTF::load() when the generic canRead() guard rejects $docFile. As a sentinel validation error, it indicates the path does not point to a readable RTF document — the file may be missing, unreadable due to permissions, or not an RTF file (canRead inspects the file contents/format). It is not a parse failure; parsing only happens after this guard passes. Callers should confirm the file exists and is RTF before invoking load().

Solutions

1. Verify the file exists and is a genuine RTF document (starts with {\rtf)
2. Use IOFactory::load or IOFactory::createReader so the correct reader is auto-selected
3. Check permissions and path correctness before load
4. Catch the exception and report which file failed

Example fix

// before
$reader = new RTF();
$phpWord = $reader->load($file); // may be a docx
// after
if (is_file($file) && strpos((string) file_get_contents($file, false, null, 0, 5), '{\\rtf') === 0) {
    $phpWord = (new RTF())->load($file);
} else {
    $phpWord = \PhpOffice\PhpWord\IOFactory::load($file);
}

if (!is_file($docFile) || substr((string) @file_get_contents($docFile, false, null, 0, 5), 0, 5) !== '{\\rtf') { throw new \RuntimeException("Not a valid RTF file: $docFile"); }

try { $phpWord = (new \PhpOffice\PhpWord\Reader\RTF())->load($docFile); } catch (\PhpOffice\PhpWord\Exception\Exception $e) { // try IOFactory autodetection }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling (new RTF())->load($docFile) on a nonexistent path, an unreadable file, or a file that fails RTF detection (e.g. a .docx renamed to .rtf).

Common situations: Wrong file extension mapping in an upload handler; saving RTF content as plain text without the RTF header; permissions changed after deployment.

Understand the failure class

Background: "File not found" and ENOENT errors: why libraries can't find a file that should exist — this error's family across 50 libraries.

Related errors

• Cannot read .
• " " is not a valid .
• Could not open $filename for reading! File does not exist.
• Could not open file $filename for reading.
• Invalid value, on of ' . implode(', ', $position) . '…

AI-assisted analysis of PHPOffice/PHPWord@aef95c0415 (2026-09-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/be42711e91965d39. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/PhpWord/Reader/RTF.php:48

class RTF extends AbstractReader implements ReaderInterface
{
    /**
     * Loads PhpWord from file.
     *
     * @param string $docFile
     *
     * @return PhpWord
     */
    public function load($docFile)
    {
        $phpWord = new PhpWord();

        if ($this->canRead($docFile)) {
            $doc = new Document();
            $doc->rtf = file_get_contents($docFile);
            $doc->read($phpWord);
        } else {
            throw new Exception("Cannot read {$docFile}.");
        }

        return $phpWord;
    }
}

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