From 7873ad11f602297a294f7ec2e8a71529537f29cd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Taren Sanders <taren.sanders@acu.edu.au>
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 2026 09:46:10 +1100
Subject: [PATCH] Raise RedcapError when file import/export fails

---
 redcap/request.py                 |  7 ++++++-
 tests/unit/callback_utils.py      |  6 ++++++
 tests/unit/test_simple_project.py | 13 +++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 25 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/redcap/request.py b/redcap/request.py
index 4a58636..bc94d16 100644
--- a/redcap/request.py
+++ b/redcap/request.py
@@ -190,7 +190,12 @@ def execute(
 
         bad_request = False
 
-        if self.fmt == "json":
+        # empty json content is hardcoded, so check the real response instead
+        if self.config.return_empty_json:
+            bad_request = not response.ok or "<error>" in response.text.lower()
+            if bad_request:
+                content = response.text
+        elif self.fmt == "json":
             try:
                 bad_request = "error" in content.keys()  # type: ignore
             except AttributeError:
diff --git a/tests/unit/callback_utils.py b/tests/unit/callback_utils.py
index 39fdadc..b1fc8d3 100644
--- a/tests/unit/callback_utils.py
+++ b/tests/unit/callback_utils.py
@@ -290,6 +290,12 @@ def handle_simple_project_file_request(**kwargs) -> Any:
     data = kwargs["data"]
     headers = kwargs["headers"]
     resp = {}
+    if "bad_record" in str(data):
+        resp = (
+            '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>'
+            "<hash><error>The record 'bad_record' does not exist</error></hash>"
+        )
+        return (400, headers, resp)
     # file export
     if " filename" not in str(data):
         # name of the data file that was imported
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_simple_project.py b/tests/unit/test_simple_project.py
index aeb58f0..f28fd4f 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_simple_project.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_simple_project.py
@@ -175,6 +175,19 @@ def test_file_import(simple_project):
         simple_project.import_file("1", "file", upload_fname, fobj)
 
 
+def test_file_import_raises_on_error(simple_project):
+    this_dir, _ = os.path.split(__file__)
+    upload_fname = os.path.join(this_dir, "data.txt")
+    with open(upload_fname, "r", encoding="UTF-8") as fobj:
+        with pytest.raises(RedcapError):
+            simple_project.import_file("bad_record", "file", upload_fname, fobj)
+
+
+def test_file_delete_raises_on_error(simple_project):
+    with pytest.raises(RedcapError):
+        simple_project.delete_file("bad_record", "file")
+
+
 def test_file_export(simple_project):
     record, field = "1", "file"
     content, headers = simple_project.export_file(record, field)