Show a startup error dialog in case of invalid syntax of the config.json

[dxps]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

I just noticed an issue that should be quick to solve and improve the UX part by telling to the user what's the problem.

If by mistake you leave a comma at the end of the last key in the JSON config file, like this:

{
        "disableNotificationSound": true,
}

and you start the app, nothing visually appears: no systray icon, nor Gnome Dock symbol that tells if the app is started (as it's the case for others, see the white dots below the icons for the apps that are started/running).

But the app's processes are running:

~ ❯ ps -ef | grep teams
dxps      567424    6428  6 09:15 ?        00:00:00 /opt/teams-for-linux/teams-for-linux
dxps      567428  567424  0 09:15 ?        00:00:00 /opt/teams-for-linux/teams-for-linux --type=zygote --no-zygote-sandbox
dxps      567429  567424  0 09:15 ?        00:00:00 /opt/teams-for-linux/teams-for-linux --type=zygote
dxps      567431  567429  0 09:15 ?        00:00:00 /opt/teams-for-linux/teams-for-linux --type=zygote
dxps      567465  567428  2 09:15 ?        00:00:00 /opt/teams-for-linux/teams-for-linux --type=gpu-process --enable-crash-reporter=2a4601bf-5f85-41cb-8dcf-ce6f48625117,no_channel --user-data-dir=/home/dxps/.config/teams-for-linux --gpu-preferences=WAAAAAAAAAAgAAAEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABgAAEAAAA4AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAAAAGAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAAgAAAAAAAAACAAAAAAAAAAIAAAAAAAAAA== --shared-files --field-trial-handle=3,i,10697308941186590350,4592701824263653,262144 --enable-features=kWebSQLAccess --disable-features=HardwareMediaKeyHandling,SpareRendererForSitePerProcess --variations-seed-version
dxps      567469  567424  0 09:15 ?        00:00:00 /opt/teams-for-linux/teams-for-linux --type=utility --utility-sub-type=network.mojom.NetworkService --lang=en-US --service-sandbox-type=none --enable-crash-reporter=2a4601bf-5f85-41cb-8dcf-ce6f48625117,no_channel --user-data-dir=/home/dxps/.config/teams-for-linux --shared-files=v8_context_snapshot_data:100 --field-trial-handle=3,i,10697308941186590350,4592701824263653,262144 --enable-features=kWebSQLAccess --disable-features=HardwareMediaKeyHandling,SpareRendererForSitePerProcess --variations-seed-version
~ ❯ 

Of course, removing that last comma and doing a killall teams-for-linux it makes all back to normal. The app starts and shows the main window.

Describe the solution you'd like

I would expect to get an popup message with the root cause of the problem.

[jijojosephk]

Is it throwing an error in terminal ?

[dxps]

I haven't open it in the terminal, just use the desktop (Gnome Dock) shortcut.

[woernsn]

Is it throwing an error in terminal ?

Yes, it does.

❯ teams-for-linux
[WARN] No config file found, using default values
A JavaScript error occurred in the main process
Uncaught Exception:
SyntaxError: Expected double-quoted property name in JSON at position 224 (line 6 column 1)
at JSON.parse (<anonymous>)
at Conf._deserialize (/opt/teams-for-linux/resources/app.asar/node_modules/conf/dist/source/index.js:67:43)
at get store (/opt/teams-for-linux/resources/app.asar/node_modules/conf/dist/source/index.js:278:43)
at new Conf (/opt/teams-for-linux/resources/app.asar/node_modules/conf/dist/source/index.js:131:32)
at new ElectronStore (/opt/teams-for-linux/resources/app.asar/node_modules/electron-store/index.js:69:3)
at new AppConfiguration (/opt/teams-for-linux/resources/app.asar/app/appConfiguration/index.js:16:49)
at Object.<anonymous> (/opt/teams-for-linux/resources/app.asar/app/index.js:15:19)
at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1391:14)
at Module._extensions..js (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1451:10)
at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1214:32)

[IsmaelMartinez]

I mean, we could make the app crash instead if that is the preferred approach.

[dxps]

The problem would be that the user won't get a clue of the problem.
I'm just proposing to tell the user about the source of the problem: in this case, the config file having an invalid syntax.

[IsmaelMartinez]

aye @dxps, I leave it open but I consider it lower priority that other parts of the system that are currently just not working due the changes from MS from moving from angular to react. Thanks for reporting.

If you want to work on this, do let us know and I can give you some pointers on where to look at.

[dxps]

@IsmaelMartinez Yeah, absolutely, it's a low prio thing. Thanks!

Sure, I may try to contribute, even though nowadays I'm a little bit obsessed and caught in the Rust space.

[woernsn]

aye @dxps, I leave it open but I consider it lower priority that other parts of the system that are currently just not working due the changes from MS from moving from angular to react. Thanks for reporting.

If you want to work on this, do let us know and I can give you some pointers on where to look at.

I tried to implement it but am not really a big electron developer.
Let me know if I'm on a totally wrong track 😉.

[IsmaelMartinez]

Hi @woernsn , thanks a lot for contributing! I can see the approach you have taken and, in general, it should work, but you will need to not fix that config path or it will only work for you. Thanks again for the PR!

[palves]

With 1.4.38, if you don't have a config.json file at all, you see:

$ [WARN] No config file found, using default values

on the console, and then a "Configuration error" dialog box. That seems unexpected? Is one forced to have a config.json nowadays? If so, why doesn't the app create a minimal empty one for you automatically?

[woernsn]

Is one forced to have a config.json nowadays? If so, why doesn't the app create a minimal empty one for you automatically?

Good catch!
I never even thought about the usecase to not have a config.

[woernsn]

@palves, can you test 1.4.39 again when it is available?
The issue should be fixed now.

[palves]

@palves, can you test 1.4.39 again when it is available? The issue should be fixed now.

Sure thing. Thanks for fixing!

[IsmaelMartinez]

It should be ready under https://github.com/IsmaelMartinez/teams-for-linux/releases/tag/v1.4.39 (pre-release as I like to keep the blast radius smaller). Thanks for testing it!

[palves]

Thanks for the URL. I just tried it (deb on Ubuntu 22.04), and it starts fine now, no dialog box. Thanks again.