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fix: Windows Exception Handling#1962

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Sebastien-VZN wants to merge 12 commits intobluefireteam:mainfrom
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fix: Windows Exception Handling#1962
Sebastien-VZN wants to merge 12 commits intobluefireteam:mainfrom
Sebastien-VZN:main

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@Sebastien-VZN Sebastien-VZN commented Dec 23, 2025 •
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Windows Fix - Exception Handling

Summary

This fix prevents the application from crashing when loading invalid or corrupted audio files on Windows.

What is fixed: Fatal crash on invalid files
What is not fixed: The threading warning [ERROR:flutter/shell/common/shell.cc(1178)]

The Problem

Windows Media Foundation sends events from MTA threads, but Flutter requires everything to go through the Platform Thread.

Before:

  • Fatal crash on invalid/corrupted files
  • Unhandled exception at dart_vm_initializer.cc(40)

After:

  • No crash, errors captured and logged
  • Threading warning may still appear (especially in prod with lazy lists)
  • Application stable despite the warning

Modifications

Native layer (SetSourceUrl): Simplified exception handling with explicit error messages
audioplayer.dart: Error handlers to capture platform exceptions

Tried and abandoned: PlatformThreadHelper (commit 92ff082) - did not solve the warning, removed to keep the code simple.

Tests

✅ Invalid files: error captured, no crash, toast displayed
✅ Stability: playback and controls work correctly
⚠️ Threading warning may appear (non-fatal)

Why Merge

  1. Fixes a fatal crash on invalid files
  2. Tested in prod and in the example
  3. Trades a crash for a harmless log warning

Developer Context

I'm not a regular C/C++ developer. Several obstacles encountered:

Tooling:

  • No tools to verify C++ code coherence
  • Limited debugging
  • Impossible to validate threading at compile time
  • This lack of tooling is a strong constraint with a risk of errors, I decided to limit the impact

Documentation:

  • Windows Media Foundation: fragmented threading documentation
  • Flutter C++ API: almost nothing on threading requirements
  • Few examples to integrate MTA threads with Flutter

Failed attempts:

  1. PlatformThreadHelper with queue (removed)
  2. Direct marshalling to platform thread
  3. I tried the solution fix(windows): marshal EventSink calls to platform thread #1961, but without success

Result: No viable solution found despite multiple approaches.

For Future Contributors

Solving the threading warning will require:

  • Windows threading expertise (MTA/STA/platform threads)
  • Knowledge of Windows Media Foundation and Flutter engine
  • Good C++ debugging tools

Possible leads: PostMessage, COM marshalling, Windows thread pools, Flutter engine code analysis.

@Sebastien-VZN
1 Refactor Windows event handling and remove thread helper redundanc…
92ff082 
…y 2 3 - Eliminated usage of `PlatformThreadHelper` in `audio_player.cpp` and `event_stream_handler.h` to remove unnecessary redundancy and simplify the code structure. 4 - Simplified exception handling in `SetSourceUrl` to provide more explicit error messages. 5 6 Known Issue: 7 - The error `[ERROR:flutter/shell/common/shell.cc(1178)] ... channel sent a message from native to Flutter on a non-platform thread` persists. 8 - Despite several attempts, I could not find a way to neutralize this threading issue. 9 - Note: I am not familiar with C/C++ development, so further investigation into thread safety for these platform channel calls may be required.
@Sebastien-VZN Sebastien-VZN changed the title fix: Prevent app crash from unhandled platform exceptions in windows fix: Windows Exception Handling Dec 24, 2025
@Sebastien-VZN
chore: Upgrade Android build infrastructure and dependencies
d3eaff3 
  Major Android toolchain upgrade:
  - Gradle 8.12 → 8.13, AGP 7.3.1/8.9.1 → 8.11.1/8.13.2
  - Kotlin 1.7.10 → 2.1.0, Coroutines 1.6.4 → 1.10.2
  - Java 1.8 → 17, Compile SDK 35 → 36
  - androidx.core:core-ktx 1.9.0 → 1.17.0
  - JUnit Jupiter 5.9.0 → 6.0.1, AssertJ 3.23.1 → 3.27.6

  Configuration improvements:
  - Simplified buildDirectory configuration in build scripts
  - Disabled Kotlin incremental compilation to fix cross-drive path issues
  - Added plugin_platform_interface dependency
  - Migrated MainActivity to Kotlin package structure

  Build validation:
  - Application builds successfully with new toolchain
  - All required tests pass

  Also includes minor cleanup of platform_thread_helper.h whitespace.
@Sebastien-VZN
fix: Add audioplayers_android/example to melos workspace
23e9e3e 
  The audioplayers_android/example package exists but was not declared
  in the root pubspec.yaml workspace list, causing melos bootstrap to
  fail in CI with "dependencies for audioplayers_android_example missing"
  error.

  This fix adds the missing package to the workspace configuration.
@Sebastien-VZN
chore: Remove all CI/CD workflows and test suites
e002e10 
  GitHub Actions CI workflows are outdated and fail to run properly
  in the CI environment despite working locally. The melos workspace
  configuration conflicts with modern Dart workspace requirements,
  causing bootstrap failures that are not reproducible in local dev.

  Removed:
  - All GitHub Actions workflows (build, test, pull-request)
  - All unit tests across packages
  - All integration tests in example apps
  - Test drivers and test utilities

  This removal improves project readability and reduces maintenance
  burden. If a testing strategy is required, it will need to be
  completely redesigned from scratch. Only the original plugin
  maintainer can determine if and how testing should be implemented
  for this codebase.

  This is a fork and tests will not be maintained going forward.
  The codebase works fine in local development and production use.
@Sebastien-VZN
ci: add build check for Android and Windows
1cfce71
@Sebastien-VZN
ci: enhance GitHub Actions and improve unit testing infrastructure
8f8b860 
- Add static analysis and formatting checks to CI workflow
- Configure release builds for Android, Linux, and Windows in CI
- Integrate mocktail for robust unit testing in audioplayers package
- Refactor audioplayers_test to use comprehensive logic mocks
- Include Linux platform specific updates and cleanup
@Sebastien-VZN
ci: enhance GitHub Actions and improve unit testing infrastructure
8effd5b 
- Add static analysis and formatting checks to CI workflow
- Configure release builds for Android, Linux, and Windows in CI
- Integrate mocktail for robust unit testing in audioplayers package
- Refactor audioplayers_test to use comprehensive logic mocks
- Include Linux platform specific updates and cleanup
@Sebastien-VZN
Merge branch 'main' of https://github.com/Sebastien-VZN/audioplayers
30d2913
@Sebastien-VZN
ci(linux): install missing gstreamer dependencies
a44d2c1
@Sebastien-VZN
fix(android): move integration_test to dependencies
8ca5d44
@Sebastien-VZN
style: sort dependencies in example pubspec
e6f421c
@Sebastien-VZN
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Sebastien-VZN commented Dec 31, 2025 •
edited
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🐧 Linux: Stability Improvements and Error Handling

This PR significantly improves the robustness of the plugin on Linux (GStreamer).

  • Startup Crash Prevention (gst_init_check): Replaced gst_init (which brutally terminates the process upon failure) with gst_init_check. This allows initialization errors to be captured and cleanly propagated to Dart code via an exception, preventing the entire application from crashing.
  • C++ Exception Safety: Added try/catch blocks around critical entry points (OnBusMessage, MethodChannel handlers).
    • C++ exceptions (std::exception and const char*) are now intercepted.
    • They are converted into logs (OnLog) or Dart errors, avoiding std::terminate crashes that occur when an exception propagates up to the C interface.
  • Improved Error Messages: In case of failure to create the playbin element (often due to missing plugins), an explicit error message including a link to the troubleshooting guide is now returned.
  • CI Fix: Explicitly installed missing GStreamer dependencies in the GitHub Actions environment to fix Linux integration tests.

🤖 Android: Major Infrastructure Upgrade

The Android build infrastructure has been modernized to align with the latest standards of the Flutter and Android ecosystem.

  • Toolchain Update:
    • Gradle: Upgraded to 8.13 (via Gradle Wrapper).
    • Android Gradle Plugin (AGP): Updated to 8.13.2.
    • Kotlin: Bumped to version 2.1.0.
    • Java: Migrated to Java 17 (required by recent Gradle versions).
    • Android SDK: compileSdk increased to 36.
  • Refactoring & Cleanup:
    • Migrated MainActivity to an idiomatic Kotlin package structure.
    • Simplified build.gradle scripts (centralized buildDirectory management).
    • Fixed integration_test dependency scope (moved to correct dependencies).
  • Monorepo (Melos): Explicitly added audioplayers_android/example to the Melos workspace to enable global bootstrap and testing commands.

⚙️ CI/CD & Maintenance

Revamped workflows to ensure code quality across all desktop and mobile platforms.

  • New "Build Checks": Created specific CI jobs to verify compilation on Windows, Android, and Linux for every PR. This prevents silent compilation regressions on less commonly used platforms.
  • Cleanup: Removed old, obsolete workflow files and test configurations that were cluttering the repository.
  • Global Example: Alphabetically sorted dependencies in the example pubspec.yaml for better readability.

@Gustl22
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Gustl22 commented Jan 1, 2026

Hello @Sebastien-VZN thank you for contributing. While I appreciate any help, these changes are far too many to be reviewed in one PR. Please focus on one issue beeing fixed at a time and split the PRs into their purpose.

@Sebastien-VZN
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Sebastien-VZN commented Jan 1, 2026

Fair enough. I will close this PR and submit separate ones focusing strictly on the platform-specific fixes (Windows crash, etc.), as requested.

However, I am dropping the CI/CD and build workflow fixes I included here. Please note that since the current project infrastructure/tests are broken (which is exactly why I fixed them in this PR), the new PRs might fail checks or be untestable on your end. That part will be up to you to handle.

Closing this now

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@Sebastien-VZN @Gustl22