list filter Missing variable leads to generic error message when executing List Filter option

[Chris Messina]

I ended up triggering a generic error that wasn't too helpful when I actioned a List Filter item whose output was an "OpenURL" object with a variable that I'd forgotten to add to the Workflow:

Not sure if Alfred could have caught this, but if it had said something like "Variable [variableName] isn't set." or something, that might be more useful?

 

Basically the problem was that {var:domain} hadn't been set in the Workflow. I'm not sure if I got the error because the variable wasn't set or that the arg was invalid when it was passed to the Open URL object.

 

[deanishe]

Can you imagine how many workflows would break if Alfred started throwing an error every time a variable is unset or empty?

[Andrew]

@Chris Messina An unset or empty variable is also a perfectly valid state, and Alfred can't guess what you want in your specific case.

 

One option you could do if you rely on that variable is add a conditional utility, and check if that variable is set or not, and post a notification if it's not in a state you expect. It would look something like this:

 

 

 

Conditionals can also match regex if you want to get clever about the domain variable matching an expected format.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

[Andrew]

[moved to workflow help]

[Chris Messina]

8 hours ago, Andrew said:

One option you could do if you rely on that variable is add a conditional utility, and check if that variable is set or not, and post a notification if it's not in a state you expect

 

Got it, thanks! Makes sense.

[Chris Messina]

9 hours ago, deanishe said:

Can you imagine how many workflows would break if Alfred started throwing an error every time a variable is unset or empty?

 

Totally. That's not what I'm talking about; only point out that the error message seems more vague than it could be, but perhaps it's not possible to get any more specific.

[Andrew]

@Chris Messina that error isn't from Alfred, it looks like it's from Finder. If the URL parses as valid, Alfred has no way of knowing what happens after it gets passed off to macOS to handle, so isn't involved in this error.

 

It would definitely be more helpful if they showed more info - I'm sure pre Big Sur did too!

[vitor]

2 hours ago, Andrew said:

It would definitely be more helpful if they showed more info - I'm sure pre Big Sur did too!

 

Can confirm. On Mojave:

[Chris Messina]

OMG, that's SO much better. Sheesh.