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Improve test 6 failure error message

Open YorVeX opened this issue 1 year ago • 1 comments

Today's been the 3rd time I've seen someone in the OBS Discord ask for help because they couldn't get this tool to connect to OBS WebSocket, but today I could finally trace down what went wrong: The HTTP tool was missing. My guess is the user unchecked downloading it during the installation process and also didn't read the following instructions on how to download it separately.

It didn't get better when I, trying to help them, downloaded the portable file for a quick check and ran into the same issue, though for a different reason, because the portable .zip doesn't contain the HTTP tool (I think that's intended) and the Quick Start Guide says for OBS 28 that you need it, but for OBS 29 it does not. I even noticed this difference and interpreted it as "aha, so for OBS 29 you don't need this tool because they explicitly left it out from the instructions, then the problem must be elsewhere".

What would have saved us all a lot of time: if the error message would be more clear about why exactly it failed, so in that case "I am configured to use HTTP but I can't find the HTTP tool", instead of making it look like a connection issue. A necessary executable not being found is a big difference to a connection error in the whole troubleshooting approach, so it would help a lot if the error message could clearly indicate that. Thanks :-)

YorVeX avatar Oct 22 '23 06:10 YorVeX

Thanks for letting me know. In most cases problems arise from instructions not being followed, but you have also made a couple of valid points.

As for the file not being included in the portable version, someone had previously asked the dev for licensing information, but he never responded. Unless I'm 100% sure he won't mind the file being distributed, I'm uncomfortable in doing so. I will make the change in the quick start guide to clarify that it's required for the portable version.

As for indicating "I can't find the HTTP tool", this is also a valid suggestion, and taken on board. It is however also part of reading the bare minimum of instructions in both the installer and the readme, to get the program running, and it's more than likely impossible to configure the settings/program without reading these. We're probably all guilty of rushing through installers without reading all instructions, but that's not necessarily the fault of the dev. That said, you make valid points and I'll make the suggested changes.

Beyond telling the user the file is missing, which as I've mentioned is a great idea, it's not really possible to say anything more than "Connection error", as the program cannot see why it has failed... incorrect IP? Port? Firewall blocking connection? These are things the user will have to troubleshoot.

loopy750 avatar Oct 22 '23 06:10 loopy750