SubtitleEdit/subtitleedit · error · Exception

SeNamesList: Unable to read name list file: {fileNameOrUrl}

Error message

SeNamesList: Unable to read name list file: {fileNameOrUrl}

What it means

Thrown by SeNamesList.LoadNamesList as a wrapper around any exception raised while opening and parsing the names-list XML file or URL via XmlReader. The original exception is preserved as InnerException and the file name or URL is included in the message. LoadNamesList first short-circuits for blank/non-existent/non-http/non-UNC inputs (returns silently), so reaching the try means the path looked valid but reading/parsing failed.

Source

Thrown at src/ui/Logic/Dictionaries/SeNamesList.cs:399

                        {
                            continue;
                        }

                        if (reader.Name == "name")
                        {
                            var name = reader.ReadElementContentAsString().Trim();
                            if (name.Length > 0)
                            {
                                _blackList.Add(name);
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            throw new Exception("SeNamesList: Unable to read name list file: " + fileNameOrUrl, ex);
        }
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 17a9f07487)

Solutions

1. Inspect the InnerException for the concrete cause (XmlException, IOException, WebException).
2. Validate the file is well-formed XML (load it in a browser/editor) or fetch the URL manually to check the response.
3. For remote lists, verify connectivity/URL and that the endpoint still serves the XML; provide a local copy as a fallback.
4. Fix permissions/encoding of the local file and reload.

Example fix

// before
using var reader = XmlReader.Create(fileNameOrUrl);
// ... parse ...

// after - validate the source is reachable/parseable first
if (fileNameOrUrl.StartsWith("http", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
{
    using var http = new HttpClient();
    var probe = await http.GetAsync(fileNameOrUrl);
    probe.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
}
else if (!File.Exists(fileNameOrUrl))
{
    SeLogger.Warning($"Names list not found, skipping: {fileNameOrUrl}");
    return;
}
var settings = new XmlReaderSettings { DtdProcessing = DtdProcessing.Ignore, CloseInput = true };
using var reader = XmlReader.Create(fileNameOrUrl, settings);

if (fileNameOrUrl.StartsWith("http", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
{
    using var http = new HttpClient();
    using var probe = await http.GetAsync(fileNameOrUrl, HttpCompletionOption.ResponseHeadersRead);
    probe.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
}
else if (!File.Exists(fileNameOrUrl)) { SeLogger.Warning($"Names list not found: {fileNameOrUrl}"); return; }

try { using var reader = XmlReader.Create(fileNameOrUrl); /* parse */ }
catch (Exception ex)
{
    // Preserve as inner, include the path/URL
    throw new Exception($"SeNamesList: Unable to read name list file: {fileNameOrUrl}", ex);
}

When it happens

Trigger: File: the path exists check passed but the file is corrupt XML, has wrong encoding, is locked, or becomes unreadable. URL: a remote names list is unreachable, returns non-XML, or times out during XmlReader.Create/Read. UNC: a network share is inaccessible.

Common situations: Corrupt hand-edited names XML; a custom names-list URL that is down or returns HTML/404; a network share dropping mid-read; encoding/BOM issues in the XML; permission denied on the file.

Related errors

• NameList: Unable to read name list file: {fileNameOrUrl}
• Problem accessing RIFF file {FileName}
• Problem reading data in file {FileName}
• {e.Message}
• {e.Message}

AI-assisted analysis of SubtitleEdit/subtitleedit@17a9f07487 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6fe0155c6467bb6b. Report an issue: GitHub.