Can’t open my project

Did you import the file or change the file extension?  We have not heard this but it could be an issue….This can happen if you:

• Changed the file extension manually.

• Imported/exported the file through a different system or plugin.

• Opened the file using the wrong method or from an import wizard screen expecting MS Project format.

💡 Fix Steps

1. Double-check the file extension

Make sure you’re opening it as a .pod (native ProjectLibre file), not .xml. If the file was renamed, change it back to .pod.

2. Try this workaround

If you can’t open it directly:

• Launch ProjectLibre 1.9.8

• Click File > Open instead of double-clicking the file

• Manually browse and select the file

• Ensure the file type is set to ProjectLibre files (.pod) in the dialog box

3. Reinstall or downgrade

ProjectLibre 1.9.8 might have a bug with certain XML parsing:

• Try reinstalling 1.9.8 cleanly

• Or test the same file with an older version (like 1.9.3) — available on SourceForge

4. Check with another file

Try opening another .pod file. If it opens fine, your file may be corrupted.

5. Open as text (advanced)

If you open the file in a text editor (like VSCode or Sublime Text) and see something like <project> with no namespace (i.e., not Microsoft XML), then ProjectLibre shouldn’t try to open it as XML. This confirms it’s native and the loader is confused.

Created a project file using 1.9.8 a few days ago.
ProjectLibre worked like a charm.
Now I can no longer open my project file, it fails with:

java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke “com.projectlibre1.pm.task.Project.setFileName(String)” because “<local1>” is null
at com.projectlibre1.session.LocalSession$5.run(Unknown Source)
at com.projectlibre1.job.Job$InternalRunnable.run(Unknown Source)
at com.projectlibre1.job.Job.runSwing(Unknown Source)
at com.projectlibre1.job.Job.runThread(Unknown Source)
at com.projectlibre1.job.Job.run(Unknown Source)
at com.projectlibre1.job.Job.run(Unknown Source)

INFO: BEGIN: MicrosoftImporter.PrepareResources
net.sf.mpxj.MPXJException: Failed to parse file
at net.sf.mpxj.mspdi.MSPDIReader.read(Unknown Source)
at com.projectlibre.core.pm.exchange.MspImporter.parseProject(Unknown Source)
at com.projectlibre.core.pm.exchange.MspImporter.importProject(Unknown Source)
at com.projectlibre1.exchange.MicrosoftImporter.parse(Unknown Source)
at com.projectlibre1.exchange.MicrosoftImporter$4.run(Unknown Source)
at com.projectlibre1.job.Job$InternalRunnable.run(Unknown Source)
at com.projectlibre1.job.Job.runSwing(Unknown Source)
at com.projectlibre1.job.Job.runThread(Unknown Source)
at com.projectlibre1.job.Job.run(Unknown Source)
at com.projectlibre1.job.Job.run(Unknown Source)
Caused by: javax.xml.bind.UnmarshalException: unexpected element (uri:””, local:”project”). Expected elements are <{http://schemas.microsoft.com/project}Project>
at com.sun.xml.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.UnmarshallingContext.handleEvent(UnmarshallingContext.java:714)
at com.sun.xml.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.Loader.reportError(Loader.java:232)
at com.sun.xml.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.Loader.reportError(Loader.java:227)
at com.sun.xml.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.Loader.reportUnexpectedChildElement(Loader.java:94)
at com.sun.xml.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.UnmarshallingContext$DefaultRootLoader.childElement(UnmarshallingContext.java:1119)
at com.sun.xml.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.UnmarshallingContext._startElement(UnmarshallingContext.java:544)
at com.sun.xml.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.UnmarshallingContext.startElement(UnmarshallingContext.java:526)
at com.sun.xml.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.SAXConnector.startElement(SAXConnector.java:138)
at java.xml/com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.AbstractSAXParser.startElement(Unknown Source)
at java.xml/com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLNSDocumentScannerImpl.scanStartElement(Unknown Source)
at java.xml/com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLNSDocumentScannerImpl$NSContentDriver.scanRootElementHook(Unknown Source)
at java.xml/com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl$FragmentContentDriver.next(Unknown Source)
at java.xml/com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentScannerImpl$PrologDriver.next(Unknown Source)
at java.xml/com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentScannerImpl.next(Unknown Source)
at java.xml/com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLNSDocumentScannerImpl.next(Unknown Source)
at java.xml/com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.scanDocument(Unknown Source)
at java.xml/com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.XML11Configuration.parse(Unknown Source)
at java.xml/com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.XML11Configuration.parse(Unknown Source)
at java.xml/com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.XMLParser.parse(Unknown Source)
at java.xml/com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.AbstractSAXParser.parse(Unknown Source)
at java.xml/com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.jaxp.SAXParserImpl$JAXPSAXParser.parse(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.xml.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.UnmarshallerImpl.unmarshal0(UnmarshallerImpl.java:228)
at com.sun.xml.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.UnmarshallerImpl.unmarshal(UnmarshallerImpl.java:199)
at javax.xml.bind.helpers.AbstractUnmarshallerImpl.unmarshal(AbstractUnmarshallerImpl.java:153)
at javax.xml.bind.helpers.AbstractUnmarshallerImpl.unmarshal(AbstractUnmarshallerImpl.java:136)
… 10 more

Any ideas?

Thanks.