felixse/FluentTerminal · error · ReadTextFileException

Failed to read the file.

Error message

Failed to read the file.

What it means

Thrown by TrayProcessCommunicationService.ReadTextFileAsync when the tray process returns a StringValueResponse with Success == false and a blank Error. Same IPC delegation pattern as SaveTextFileAsync: the UWP app asks the Win32 tray to read a file and, on opaque failure, reports a generic 'Failed to read the file.' message.

Source

Thrown at FluentTerminal.App.Services/Implementation/TrayProcessCommunicationService.cs:93

            var response =
                await GetResponseAsync<CommonResponse>(new SaveTextFileRequest {Path = path, Content = content})
                    .ConfigureAwait(false);

            if (!response.Success)
            {
                throw new SaveTextFileException(string.IsNullOrEmpty(response.Error)
                    ? "Failed to save the file."
                    : response.Error);
            }
        }

        public async Task<string> ReadTextFileAsync(string path)
        {
            var response = await GetResponseAsync<StringValueResponse>(new ReadTextFileRequest { Path = path }).ConfigureAwait(false);

            if (!response.Success)
            {
                throw new ReadTextFileException(string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(response.Error) ? "Failed to read the file." : response.Error);
            }

            return response.Value;
        }

        public async Task<string> GetSshConfigDirAsync()
        {
            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(_sshConfigDir))
            {
                return _sshConfigDir;
            }

            var response =
                await GetResponseAsync<GetSshConfigFolderResponse>(new GetSshConfigFolderRequest
                    { IncludeContent = false }).ConfigureAwait(false);

            if (response.Success)
            {

View on GitHub (pinned to ba83ec485e)

Solutions

1. Confirm the file exists and is readable at the given path before requesting it.
2. Ensure the tray-side ReadTextFile handler populates response.Error with the real exception message.
3. Verify the tray process is running and has the needed privileges.
4. Catch ReadTextFileException at the call site and degrade gracefully (e.g. return empty/default).

Example fix

// before
throw new ReadTextFileException(string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(response.Error) ? "Failed to read the file." : response.Error);

// after (tray side) - propagate the underlying cause
// catch (Exception ex) { return new StringValueResponse { Success = false, Error = ex.Message }; }

if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(path)) throw new ArgumentException("path required");
if (!System.IO.File.Exists(path)) throw new System.IO.FileNotFoundException(path);

try { content = await tray.ReadTextFileAsync(path); }
catch (ReadTextFileException ex) { logger.Warn(ex, "read failed"); content = null; }

When it happens

Trigger: ReadTextFileRequest is sent for a path the tray cannot read: missing file, access-denied, path too long, or unreadable encoding. Success=false with empty Error triggers the fallback string.

Common situations: Requested file does not exist; path is outside permitted access; file is locked exclusively by another process; tray process lacks read permission; tray handler swallowed the exception without setting Error.

Related errors

• Failed to save the file.

AI-assisted analysis of felixse/FluentTerminal@ba83ec485e (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b87f6b7505220fff. Report an issue: GitHub.