shwenzhang/AndResGuard · error · PathNotExist

PathNotExist

Error message

PathNotExist

What it means

AbstractDirectory.getFileInput(path) resolves the path against the directory's sub-paths and file list. If the path does not resolve to a subdirectory and is not present in the files set, it throws PathNotExist (a DirectoryException) rather than returning null, signaling the caller asked for input from a file that isn't in this directory.

Solutions

1. Verify the file actually exists at the expected path (ls the working directory) and check exact case-sensitive spelling.
2. Ensure the decode/unpack step completed successfully before steps that call getFileInput.
3. Confirm the path passed is relative to the directory root without leading slashes or '..'.
4. Catch DirectoryException and re-create/decode the directory if the file is legitimately absent.

Example fix

// before
InputStream in = dir.getFileInput("Resources.arsc");
// after
String name = "resources.arsc"; // exact case as stored
if (!dir.getFiles().contains(name)) {
  throw new IllegalStateException("missing " + name);
}
InputStream in = dir.getFileInput(name);

// Check membership before requesting input
String resolved = "resources.arsc";
if (!dir.getFiles().contains(resolved)) {
  throw new IllegalStateException("file not present in decoded dir: " + resolved);
}
InputStream in = dir.getFileInput(resolved);

try {
  InputStream in = dir.getFileInput(path);
} catch (DirectoryException e) {
  if (e.getMessage().contains("PathNotExist")) {
    // re-decode the APK or recreate the directory, then retry
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling getFileInput("some/path") on an AbstractDirectory (e.g. a decoded APK directory) where the path is neither a registered subdirectory entry nor contained in getFiles() — the file was never extracted, was deleted, or the path is misnamed/wrongly cased.

Common situations: AndResGuard pipeline steps requesting files like resources.arsc or AndroidManifest.xml from a directory that was decoded incorrectly, cleaned by a previous step, or where the filename case doesn't match (Linux is case-sensitive); running steps out of order after a failed decode.

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

• the signature file do not exit. raw path=
• the old mapping file do not exit, raw path=
• Failed to obtain key with alias
• entry " " does not contain certificates
• Private key file (--key) must be specified

AI-assisted analysis of shwenzhang/AndResGuard@e4df245d82 (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7e22e0b9b962877a. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at AndResGuard-core/src/main/java/com/tencent/mm/directory/AbstractDirectory.java:98

  @Override
  public Map<String, Directory> getDirs() throws UnsupportedOperationException {
    return getDirs(false);
  }

  @Override
  public Map<String, Directory> getDirs(boolean recursive) throws UnsupportedOperationException {
    return new LinkedHashMap<String, Directory>(getAbstractDirs(recursive));
  }

  @Override
  public InputStream getFileInput(String path) throws DirectoryException {
    SubPath subpath = getSubPath(path);
    if (subpath.dir != null) {
      return subpath.dir.getFileInput(subpath.path);
    }
    if (!getFiles().contains(subpath.path)) {
      throw new PathNotExist(path);
    }
    return getFileInputLocal(subpath.path);
  }

  @Override
  public OutputStream getFileOutput(String path) throws DirectoryException {
    ParsedPath parsed = parsePath(path);
    if (parsed.dir == null) {
      getFiles().add(parsed.subpath);
      return getFileOutputLocal(parsed.subpath);
    }

    Directory dir;
    // IMPOSSIBLE_EXCEPTION
    try {
      dir = createDir(parsed.dir);
    } catch (PathAlreadyExists e) {
      dir = getAbstractDirs().get(parsed.dir);

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