flxzt/rnote · error

Failed to parse `filename` attribute in XoppBackground with…

Error message

Failed to parse `filename` attribute in XoppBackground with node id {:?}, could not find attribute

What it means

A pixmap XoppBackground must carry a 'filename' attribute pointing to the embedded/background image. When it is missing, load_from_xml returns this error and the pixmap background cannot be constructed.

Solutions

1. Add filename="..." referencing the background image (for domain="absolute" the path must be resolvable)
2. Re-save the file in Xournal++ with the image background intact
3. Ensure the referenced image file exists at the expected location
4. When generating xopp XML, always emit domain + filename together for pixmap backgrounds

Example fix

// before
<background type="pixmap" domain="absolute"/>
// after
<background type="pixmap" domain="absolute" filename="bg.png"/>

fn pixmap_bg_resolvable(node: &roxmltree::Node) -> bool {
    node.attribute("filename")
        .map(|f| std::path::Path::new(f).exists())
        .unwrap_or(false)
}

let filename = match node.attribute("filename") {
    Some(f) => f.to_string(),
    None => bail!("pixmap background missing filename"),
};

When it happens

Trigger: load_from_xml on a <background type="pixmap"> node with valid domain but no 'filename' attribute.

Common situations: Files where the background element was hand-edited or partially regenerated; tools that emit pixmap backgrounds without the image reference; lost attributes during XML round-tripping.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

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

Related errors

• failed to parse width attribute of XoppPage for node with id
• failed to parse height attribute of XoppPage with node id
• failed to parse `type` attribute of XoppBackground with…
• Failed to parse `domain` attribute in XoppBackground with…
• Err while parsing `style` attribute of XoppBackground

AI-assisted analysis of flxzt/rnote@bbc5354502 (2026-09-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6d06a1a65c3aaec2. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at crates/rnote-engine/src/fileformats/xoppformat.rs:404

                    })?,
                )?;
                self.bg_type = XoppBackgroundType::Solid { color, style };
            }
            "pixmap" => {
                let domain = match node.attribute("domain").ok_or_else(|| {
                    anyhow::anyhow!("Failed to parse `domain` attribute in XoppBackground with node id {:?}, could not find attribute", node.id())
                })? {
                    "absolute" => XoppBackgroundPixmapDomain::Absolute,
                    "attach" => XoppBackgroundPixmapDomain::Attach,
                    "clone" => XoppBackgroundPixmapDomain::Clone,
                    _ => {
                        return Err(anyhow::anyhow!("Err while parsing `style` attribute of XoppBackground with node id {:?}, is not a valid value", node.id()));
                    }
                };
                let filename = node
                    .attribute("filename")
                    .ok_or_else(|| {
                        anyhow::anyhow!("Failed to parse `filename` attribute in XoppBackground with node id {:?}, could not find attribute", node.id())
                    })?
                    .to_string();
                self.bg_type = XoppBackgroundType::Pixmap { domain, filename };
            }
            "pdf" => {
                self.bg_type = XoppBackgroundType::Pdf;
            }
            _ => {
                return Err(anyhow::anyhow!("Failed to parse `type` attribute of XoppBackground with node id {:?}, is not a valid value", node.id()));
            }
        }

        Ok(())
    }
}

impl XmlWritable for XoppBackground {
    fn write_to_xml(&self, w: &mut xmlwriter::XmlWriter) {

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