languagetool-org/languagetool · error · IOException

File not found or isn't a file: ${propFile.getAbsolutePath()

Error message

File not found or isn't a file: ${propFile.getAbsolutePath()}

What it means

SentenceSourceChecker.main validates the optional -d (properties file) command-line option: if the path does not exist or is a directory it throws an IOException with the absolute path. It is an eager fail-fast check before any processing starts.

Source

Thrown at languagetool-wikipedia/src/main/java/org/languagetool/dev/dumpcheck/SentenceSourceChecker.java:54

/**
 * Checks texts from one or more {@link SentenceSource}s.
 * @since 2.4
 */
public class SentenceSourceChecker {

  private SentenceSourceChecker() {
    // no public constructor
  }

  public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
    SentenceSourceChecker prg = new SentenceSourceChecker();
    CommandLine commandLine = ensureCorrectUsageOrExit(args);
    File propFile = null;
    if (commandLine.hasOption('d')) {
      propFile = new File(commandLine.getOptionValue('d'));
      if (!propFile.exists() || propFile.isDirectory()) {
        throw new IOException("File not found or isn't a file: " + propFile.getAbsolutePath());
      }
    }
    String languageCode = commandLine.getOptionValue('l');
    Set<String> disabledRuleIds = new HashSet<>();
    if (commandLine.hasOption("rule-properties")) {
      File disabledRulesPropFile = new File(commandLine.getOptionValue("rule-properties"));
      if (!disabledRulesPropFile.exists() || disabledRulesPropFile.isDirectory()) {
        throw new IOException("File not found or isn't a file: " + disabledRulesPropFile.getAbsolutePath());
      }
      Properties disabledRules = new Properties();
      try (FileInputStream stream = new FileInputStream(disabledRulesPropFile)) {
        disabledRules.load(stream);
        addDisabledRules("all", disabledRuleIds, disabledRules);
        addDisabledRules(languageCode, disabledRuleIds, disabledRules);
      }
    }
    String motherTongue = commandLine.getOptionValue('m');
    int maxArticles = Integer.parseInt(commandLine.getOptionValue("max-sentences", "0"));

View on GitHub (pinned to 2e990059ce)

Solutions

1. Check the path printed in the message: confirm the file exists with ls
2. Point -d at an actual file, not a directory
3. Use an absolute path or verify the current working directory

Example fix

// before
java ... -d ./config/
// after
java ... -d /etc/languagetool/checker.properties

File propFile = new File(value);
if (!propFile.exists() || propFile.isDirectory()) {
  System.err.println("-d must be an existing file: " + propFile.getAbsolutePath());
  System.exit(2);
}

try {
  SentenceSourceChecker.main(args);
} catch (IOException e) {
  if (e.getMessage() != null && e.getMessage().startsWith("File not found or isn't a file")) {
    System.err.println("Check the -d path: " + e.getMessage());
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running with -d pointing to a non-existent file, a directory path, or a file deleted between shell expansion and execution.

Common situations: Relative path wrong because of working directory; copy-paste of a directory instead of a file path; config file renamed or moved after deployment.

Understand the failure class

Background: "File not found" and ENOENT errors: why libraries can't find a file that should exist — this error's family across 50 libraries.

Related errors

• File not found or isn't a file: ${disabledRulesPropFile.getA
• No rules are active. Please make sure your rule ids (<option
• Not found:
• Parameter --config must be set and point to a property file
• Could not load properties from ''

AI-assisted analysis of languagetool-org/languagetool@2e990059ce (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cf6fc9961f36a08f. Report an issue: GitHub.