What causes "SR.GetResponseFailed" in dotnet/wpf?

Verify the URI in XmlDataProvider.Source is reachable (curl/Invoke-WebRequest the URL).

dotnet/wpf · error · InvalidOperationException

SR.GetResponseFailed

Error message

SR.GetResponseFailed

What it means

XmlDataProvider.CreateDocFromExternalSource performs an HTTP request for the XML document and expects WpfWebRequestHelper.GetResponse to return a non-null WebResponse. If the response comes back null (the request failed to yield a usable response), the provider throws an InvalidOperationException with SR.GetResponseFailed while loading the data source.

Solutions

Verify the URI in XmlDataProvider.Source is reachable (curl/Invoke-WebRequest the URL).
Check network connectivity, proxy settings, and that the server actually returns a response body.
Prefer a local file path for Source when the XML is available on disk instead of fetching over HTTP.
Wrap provider initialization in error handling and surface the original request URI (see TraceData output) to diagnose.

Example fix

// before
provider.Source = new Uri("http://internal-server/data.xml");
// after
// verify reachability first, or fall back to local copy
provider.Source = File.Exists(localPath)
    ? new Uri(localPath, UriKind.Absolute)
    : new Uri("https://validated-server/data.xml");

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

using var client = new HttpClient();
bool reachable = false;
try { reachable = (await client.GetAsync(uri)).IsSuccessStatusCode; } catch { reachable = false; }

Try / catch

try { provider.BeginInit(); provider.Source = uri; provider.EndInit(); }
catch (InvalidOperationException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("GetResponse")) { log.Error("XML source request returned no response: " + uri, ex); }

Prevention

Test the XML source URL with a simple HTTP probe before binding.
Use local file paths where possible instead of HTTP URIs.
Check proxy/firewall configuration in deployment environments.
Handle the provider's DataChanged/Errors events to surface load failures.

When it happens

Trigger: XmlDataProvider.Source pointing at an HTTP/HTTPS URL whose request completes without a usable response object; synchronous LoadFromSource or asynchronous CreateDocFromExternalSourceAsynch path during BeginInit/Initialize.

Common situations: XML file served from a web server that is down or misbehaving; proxy/firewall interference; server returning an empty or aborted response; network outage in CI environments.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Something went wrong' / 'Request failed (500)' / 'HTTP error! status: 404' — what failed HTTP requests actually mean and how to find the real cause — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of dotnet/wpf@81131a70a4 (2026-09-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/13c6349cc82bf466. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/Microsoft.DotNet.Wpf/src/PresentationFramework/System/Windows/Data/XmlDataProvider.cs:570

            XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
            Exception ex = null;
            // request the content from the URI
            try
            {
                if (isExtendedTraceEnabled)
                {
                    TraceData.TraceAndNotify(TraceEventType.Warning,
                                        TraceData.XmlLoadSource(
                                            TraceData.Identify(this),
                                            Dispatcher.CheckAccess() ? "synchronous" : "asynchronous",
                                            TraceData.Identify(request.RequestUri.ToString())));
                }

                WebResponse response = WpfWebRequestHelper.GetResponse(request);
                if (response == null)
                {
                    throw new InvalidOperationException(SR.GetResponseFailed);
                }

                // Get Stream and content type from WebResponse.
                Stream stream = response.GetResponseStream();

                if (isExtendedTraceEnabled)
                {
                    TraceData.TraceAndNotify(TraceEventType.Warning,
                                        TraceData.XmlLoadDoc(
                                            TraceData.Identify(this)));
                }

                // load the XML from the stream
                doc.Load(stream);
                stream.Close();
            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {

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