Application runs perfectly in Visual Studio, yet when the executable runs it throws NullReferenceException. File reading issue?

Question

I have written a C# application in Visual Studio (using Avalonia, irrelevant for this question).

It runs perfectly in Visual Studio, yet when I try and run the executable, it throws a NullReferenceException. I have added error checking to find out the error is based on the reading of my settings.json file.

For now, I have placed the settings file in "Documents/ContactFinder/Settings.json"

Essentially when the application starts, it runs my initLoader method which contains this code:

public void initLoader()
{
    string docs = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.MyDocuments);
    string path = Path.Combine(docs, "ContactFinder");
    if (!Directory.Exists(path))
    {
        Directory.CreateDirectory(path);
    }

    string settingsPath = Path.Combine(path, "settings.json");
    if (!File.Exists(settingsPath))
    {
        Settings set = new Settings();
        set.restoreDefaults();
        File.WriteAllText(settingsPath, JsonConvert.SerializeObject(set));
    }
}

Then it calls LoadSettings, which then also pushes the settings to the application as follows:

public void LoadSettings()
{
    try
    {
        string path = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.MyDocuments) + "/ContactFinder/settings.json";
        if (!File.Exists(path))
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Settings file not found: " + path);
            throw new FileNotFoundException("Settings file not found", path);
        }

        string json = File.ReadAllText(path);
        Console.WriteLine("Settings file content: " + json);

        Settings set = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Settings>(json);
        pushSettings(set);
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"Error loading settings: {ex.Message}");
        throw;
    }
}

public void pushSettings(Settings set)
{
    if (set == null)
    {
        throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(set), "Settings object is null");
    }
    ShortPMin = set.pauses.ShortPause.min.ToString();
    ShortPMax = set.pauses.ShortPause.max.ToString();
    MedPMin = set.pauses.MediumPause.min.ToString();
    MedPMax = set.pauses.MediumPause.max.ToString();
    MtlPMin = set.pauses.MtlPause.min.ToString();
    MtlPMax = set.pauses.MtlPause.max.ToString();
    LongPMin = set.pauses.LongPause.min.ToString();
    LongPMax = set.pauses.LongPause.max.ToString();
    PagePMin = set.pauses.PageLoad.min.ToString();
    PagePMax = set.pauses.PageLoad.max.ToString();
    SbEnabled = set.browser?.showBrowser ?? false;
    Users.Clear();
    if (set.logins.users != null)
    {
        foreach (var user in set.logins.users)
        {
            Users.Add(new LoginUsers(user.username, user.password));
        }
    }
    DefaultPages = set.search.defaultPageCount;
    bPages = DefaultPages;
    SelectedUser = Users.FirstOrDefault();
}

Each of the variables set in the PushSettings method are bindings to the View, and all the previous methods listed are in the MainViewModel.cs

When I start debugging in Visual Studio, it runs perfectly; it outputs the contents of settings file to console, and pushes the settings to the app and it starts fine.

Here is how I attempt to start the application on Mac, for reference I am on Arm64. The error is shown here also

thomas@thomass-Mac-mini publish % chmod +x testMacArm642
thomas@thomass-Mac-mini publish % sudo ./testMacArm642
Password:
Settings file content: 
Error loading settings: Settings object is null (Parameter 'set')
Unhandled exception. System.ArgumentNullException: Settings object is null (Parameter 'set')
   at testMacArm642.ViewModels.MainWindowViewModel.pushSettings(Settings set) in /Users/thomas/Projects/testMacArm642/testMacArm642/ViewModels/MainWindowViewModel.cs:line 462
   at testMacArm642.ViewModels.MainWindowViewModel.LoadSettings() in /Users/thomas/Projects/testMacArm642/testMacArm642/ViewModels/MainWindowViewModel.cs:line 503
   at testMacArm642.ViewModels.MainWindowViewModel..ctor() in /Users/thomas/Projects/testMacArm642/testMacArm642/ViewModels/MainWindowViewModel.cs:line 407
   at testMacArm642.App.OnFrameworkInitializationCompleted() in /Users/thomas/Projects/testMacArm642/testMacArm642/App.axaml.cs:line 20
   at Avalonia.AppBuilder.SetupUnsafe()
   at Avalonia.AppBuilder.Setup()
   at Avalonia.AppBuilder.SetupWithLifetime(IApplicationLifetime lifetime)
   at Avalonia.ClassicDesktopStyleApplicationLifetimeExtensions.StartWithClassicDesktopLifetime(AppBuilder builder, String[] args, Action`1 lifetimeBuilder)
   at testMacArm642.Program.Main(String[] args) in /Users/thomas/Projects/testMacArm642/testMacArm642/Program.cs:line 13
zsh: abort      sudo ./testMacArm642
thomas@thomass-Mac-mini publish %

What can I do to allow the application to read the settings file properly and load it into the program?

Lito Bezos · Accepted Answer · 2024-05-30 14:00:14Z

0

After doing further testing and printing every variable to console, it turns out that Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.MyDocuments) does not return the documents folder path, but the parent folder.

So to solve this issue i had to change:

string path = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.MyDocuments) + "/ContactFinder/settings.json";

into

string path = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.MyDocuments) + "/Documents/ContactFinder/settings.json";

answered May 30, 2024 at 14:00

Lito Bezos

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