SubtitleEdit/subtitleedit · error · InvalidOperationException

Parse error in event #{i + 1}: {ex.Message}

Error message

Parse error in event #{i + 1}: {ex.Message}

What it means

A catch-all wrapper thrown by ClqttJson.LoadSubtitle when any exception escapes the per-event try block (the outer event loop). The inner exception's message is prefixed with the 1-based event index, so the offending event can be located. It covers JSON field access, start/end frame parsing, region detection, and annotation handling that is not already caught by the inner style handler.

Source

Thrown at src/libse/SubtitleFormats/ClqttJson.cs:172

                            }

                            subText = subText.Replace("\r\n", Environment.NewLine).Replace("\n", Environment.NewLine);
                            subText = subTextPrefix + Json.DecodeJsonText(subText);

                            var p = new Paragraph(subText, FramesToMilliseconds(start, frameRate), FramesToMilliseconds(end, frameRate));
                            p.Region = region;

                            if (annotations.Count > 0)
                            {
                                p.Bookmark = String.Join(Environment.NewLine + Environment.NewLine, annotations);
                            }

                            subtitle.Paragraphs.Add(p);
                        }
                    }
                    catch (Exception ex)
                    {
                        throw new InvalidOperationException($"Parse error in event #{i + 1}: {ex.Message}", ex);
                    }
                }
            }
            else
            {
                throw new InvalidOperationException($"Element 'events' not found.");
            }

            subtitle.Renumber();
        }
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 17a9f07487)

Solutions

1. Read the embedded ex.Message in the thrown error to identify the specific field/operation that failed.
2. Open the .clqtt file, jump to event #{i+1}, and fix the noted field (e.g. add a missing start/end/txt).
3. Remove the broken event if it is non-essential, then re-import.
4. Re-export the file from the source tool.

// Validate required fields exist before importing
var start = parser.GetFirstObject(eventJson, "start");
var end = parser.GetFirstObject(eventJson, "end");
var txt = parser.GetFirstObject(eventJson, "txt");
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(start) || string.IsNullOrEmpty(end) || string.IsNullOrEmpty(txt))
{
    // skip incomplete event
    continue;
}

try
{
    new ClqttJson().LoadSubtitle(sub, lines, fileName);
}
catch (InvalidOperationException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("Parse error in event"))
{
    // ex.Message embeds the 1-based event index and inner cause
    logger.Error(ex, "CLQTT event parse failed");
}

When it happens

Trigger: Any unhandled exception while processing a single CLQTT event: a missing 'start'/'end'/'txt' field, a non-numeric frame value, a null annotation, or a JSON structure that deviates from expectations. The error message embeds ex.Message so the root cause is visible.

Common situations: A partially-valid CLQTT file where most events are fine but one is malformed; files truncated mid-stream; schema drift between producer and this importer.

Understand the failure class

• Parsing and encoding errors: unexpected token, malformed input — why parsers reject input and how to find the real culprit.

Related errors

• Unknown time format '{timeFormat}'
• Unknown type of event #{i + 1}: '{type}'
• Parse error in event #{i + 1} style: {ex.Message}
• Element 'events' not found.
• Invalid ASSA time code: {time}

AI-assisted analysis of SubtitleEdit/subtitleedit@17a9f07487 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bfb3144a0ff1f7d3. Report an issue: GitHub.