failed to parse `y` attribute in XoppText with node id

Error message

failed to parse `y` attribute in XoppText with node id {:?}, could not find attribute

What it means

Thrown by XoppText::load_from_xml when a `<text>` element has no `y` attribute. The y coordinate (f64) is required to place the text; its absence aborts parsing with this anyhow error including the XML node id.

Solutions

Add a y attribute to the <text> element, e.g. y="50.0".
Regenerate the file with all required text attributes present.
Open in Xournal++, re-save, and re-import the repaired file.

Example fix

// before (file XML)
<text font="Sans" size="12" x="100">Hello</text>
// after (file XML)
<text font="Sans" size="12" x="100" y="50">Hello</text>

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

fn text_has_y(xml: &str) -> Result<(), String> {
    for (i, chunk) in xml.split("<text").skip(1).enumerate() {
        let head = chunk.split('>').next().unwrap_or("");
        if !head.contains("y=") {
            return Err(format!("text #{i} missing `y` attribute"));
        }
    }
    Ok(())
}

Type guard

fn has_numeric_attr(attrs: &[(&str, &str)], name: &str) -> bool {
    attrs.iter().any(|(k, v)| *k == name && v.parse::<f64>().is_ok())
}

Try / catch

match import_xopp(path) {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("`y` attribute in XoppText") => {
        eprintln!("Text element missing y coordinate; add it or re-save in Xournal++: {e:#}");
    }
    Err(e) => eprintln!("import failed: {e:#}"),
    Ok(doc) => { /* proceed */ }
}

Prevention

Emit both x and y for every text element; never write only one coordinate
Pre-validate required numeric attributes before import
Round-trip generated files through Xournal++ to catch omissions

When it happens

Trigger: Importing a .xopp file whose <text> element lacks the `y` attribute, e.g. produced by scripts or manual edits that dropped coordinate attributes.

Common situations: Custom exporters omitting y; hand-edited XML; damaged or truncated files.

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

AI-assisted analysis of flxzt/rnote@bbc5354502 (2026-09-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/32a1625d7874a44e. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at crates/rnote-engine/src/fileformats/xoppformat.rs:897

                    node.id()
                )
            })?
            .parse::<f64>()?;

        self.x = node
            .attribute("x")
            .ok_or_else(|| {
                anyhow::anyhow!(
                    "failed to parse `x` attribute in XoppText with node id {:?}, could not find attribute",
                    node.id()
                )
            })?
            .parse::<f64>()?;

        self.y = node
            .attribute("y")
            .ok_or_else(|| {
                anyhow::anyhow!(
                    "failed to parse `y` attribute in XoppText with node id {:?}, could not find attribute",
                    node.id()
                )
            })?
            .parse::<f64>()?;

        self.color =
            XoppColor::from_strokecolor_attr_value(node.attribute("color").ok_or_else(|| {
                anyhow::anyhow!(
                    "failed to parse `color` attribute in XoppText with node id {:?}, could not find attribute",
                    node.id()
                )
            })?)?;

        if let Some(text) = node.text() {
            self.text = text.to_string();
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to bbc5354502)