SubtitleEdit/subtitleedit · error · InvalidDataException

Archive contains an empty file entry name.

Error message

Archive contains an empty file entry name.

What it means

InvalidDataException: after stripping the leading separator and the optional skip-folder prefix, the entry name is empty AND the entry is not a directory, so it cannot be mapped to a real file path.

Source

Thrown at src/ui/Logic/SevenZipExtractor/Unpacker.cs:422

                    }
                }

                entryFullName = entryFullName.Replace('/', Path.DirectorySeparatorChar);
                if (Path.IsPathRooted(entryFullName))
                {
                    throw new InvalidDataException($"Archive entry is rooted outside the extraction folder: {reader.Entry.Key}");
                }

                entryFullName = entryFullName.TrimStart(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar);
                if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(entryFullName))
                {
                    if (reader.Entry.IsDirectory)
                    {
                        Directory.CreateDirectory(dir);
                        continue;
                    }

                    throw new InvalidDataException("Archive contains an empty file entry name.");
                }

                var fullFileName = Path.GetFullPath(Path.Combine(targetRoot, entryFullName));
                var relativePath = Path.GetRelativePath(targetRoot, fullFileName);
                if (relativePath.Equals("..", StringComparison.Ordinal) ||
                    relativePath.StartsWith(".." + Path.DirectorySeparatorChar, StringComparison.Ordinal) ||
                    Path.IsPathRooted(relativePath))
                {
                    throw new InvalidDataException($"Archive entry is outside the extraction folder: {reader.Entry.Key}");
                }

                if (reader.Entry.IsDirectory)
                {
                    if (!Directory.Exists(fullFileName))
                    {
                        Directory.CreateDirectory(fullFileName);
                    }

View on GitHub (pinned to 17a9f07487)

Solutions

1. Verify the skipFolderLevel setting matches the archive's internal folder layout.
2. Reject the archive as malformed and re-export it correctly.
3. If authoring archives, ensure every file entry has a non-empty name after the intended prefix.

Example fix

// before
Unpacker.ExtractArchive(archivePath, dest, skipFolderLevel: "payload");

// after
if (DetectTopFolder(archivePath) != configuredSkipFolder) configuredSkipFolder = DetectTopFolder(archivePath);
Unpacker.ExtractArchive(archivePath, dest, skipFolderLevel: configuredSkipFolder);

var detectedTop = DetectTopFolder(archive); if (detectedTop != configuredSkipFolder) configuredSkipFolder = detectedTop;

try { Unpacker.ExtractArchive(archive, dest, skipFolderLevel: configuredSkipFolder); }
catch (InvalidDataException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("empty file entry name"))
{
    logger.LogWarning("Malformed archive {Archive}; retrying without skip-folder", archive);
    Unpacker.ExtractArchive(archive, dest, skipFolderLevel: null);
}

When it happens

Trigger: An entry whose name is composed only of the skip-folder prefix or only of separators (no real filename), or a malformed archive exposing a file entry with an empty key.

Common situations: A malformed archive, or a skipFolderLevel value that consumes the entire entry name (mismatched archive layout vs. configuration).

Related errors

• Archive entry is rooted outside the extraction folder: {read
• Archive entry is outside the extraction folder: {reader.Entr
• Too many bytes for CCData!
• Color '{colorName}' not found in SKColors.
• End of file reached before expected

AI-assisted analysis of SubtitleEdit/subtitleedit@17a9f07487 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/27c7f02f2192587a. Report an issue: GitHub.