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[Launchpad Bug Tracker <2113790@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

** Merge proposal linked:
   https://code.launchpad.net/~nadzeya/ubuntu/+source/tree/+git/tree/+merge/494756

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2113790

Title:
  JSON and XML output broken if path invalid

Status in tree package in Ubuntu:
  In Progress
Status in tree source package in Jammy:
  New
Status in tree source package in Noble:
  New
Status in tree source package in Plucky:
  New
Status in tree source package in Questing:
  New

Bug description:
  [Impact]

  When using tree with JSON (-J) or XML (-X) output on a nonexistent
  directory, the generated output is malformed - missing required
  opening tags/braces and fields. This makes the output invalid and
  unusable for tools or scripts that parse it.

  The fix ensures proper initialisation of markup output objects,
  restoring valid JSON and XML generation.

  [Test Plan]

  1. Start a fresh container and install `tree` and `jq`.

  2. Run the following command to check the JSON output:

  ```sh
  tree -J /nonexistentdir --noreport | jq
  ```

  If the bug is present, the following error message will be printed:

  ```
  jq: parse error: Expected value before ',' at line 2, column 1
  ```

  3. Run this command to check the XML output:

  ```sh
  tree -X /nonexistentdir --noreport
  ```

  If the bug is present, the following error message will be printed:

  ```
  Error: XML syntax error on line 4: unexpected end element </unknown>
  ```

  4. To verify that the command works when it's run against an existing
     directory, run the following:

  ```sh
  mkdir -p /tmp/testdir/foo
  [ $(tree -J /tmp/testdir/ | jq '.[0].contents[0].name') == '"foo"' ] || echo "test failed"
  [ "$(tree -X /tmp/testdir/ | xq -q 'tree > directory > directory' -a name)" == 'foo' ] || echo "test failed"
  ```

  5. Run `tree` without any option:
  ```sh
  tree /tmp/testdir/
  ```

  The successful execution of the command should produce the following
  output:

  ```
  /tmp/testdir/
  └── foo

  2 directories, 0 files
  ```

  [Where problems could occur]

  The change affects how error cases are printed for invalid or
  inaccessible directories. Potential regressions could include
  incorrect JSON/XML or general command output format when running
  `tree` against existing directories, which is addressed in the
  testplan.

  [Original report]

  using tree, if the target folder does not exist then the JSON or XML
  output options are broken.

  XML output (using input flag -X) has no open tag for the name field
  and a random close tag for 'unknown'.

  JSON output (using input flag -J) creates an array, the JSON object in
  the array has no open bracket and the entire 'type' key/value pair is
  missing. This makes the JSON object in the array start with a comma.

  This issue was discovered on Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS using tree version v2.1.1
  Functionality is correct and as expected on another machine running Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS using tree version v1.7.0

  Unfortunately I do not have another machine with anything newer than
  18.04.5 to test when the issue first appeared.

  ---------------------------------------------------------

  1.) $ lsb_release -rd
  No LSB modules are available.
  Description:    Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS
  Release:        24.04

  2.) $ lsb_release -rd
  No LSB modules are available.
  Description:    Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS
  Release:        24.04
  showhq@showhq-2025:/usr/lib/cgi-bin/tech$ tree --version
  tree v2.1.1 © 1996 - 2023 by Steve Baker, Thomas Moore, Francesc Rocher, Florian Sesser, Kyosuke Tokoro
  showhq@showhq-2025:/usr/lib/cgi-bin/tech$ apt-cache policy tree
  tree:
    Installed: 2.1.1-2ubuntu3
    Candidate: 2.1.1-2ubuntu3
    Version table:
   *** 2.1.1-2ubuntu3 500
          500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble/universe amd64 Packages
          100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

  3.) Expected: same as v1.7.0 - valid JSON with the -J flag and valid
  XML with the -X flag.

  4.) Reality: Invalid JSON and XML

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