Fix race condition causing 'No ExifTool available' error on first image (Issue #3)

Author: Gerkinfeltser

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -5,6 +5,17 @@ All notable changes to the "Image Metadata Inspector" extension will be document
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [0.1.2] - 2025-11-17
+
+### Fixed
+- Fixed race condition causing "No ExifTool available" error on the first image opened after VS Code reload (Issue #3)
+- Fixed cached error results preventing the first image from working even after reopening it
+- Improved async initialization handling to ensure ExifTool is ready before processing metadata requests
+
+### Changed
+- Replaced boolean initialization flag with Promise-based state management for better async control
+- Enhanced initialization retry logic to properly clear errors after successful initialization
+
 ## [0.1.1] - 2025-10-31
 
 ### Fixed

package.json

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     "type": "git",
     "url": "https://github.com/Gerkinfeltser/image-metadata-display.git"
   },
-  "version": "0.1.1",
+  "version": "0.1.2",
   "publisher": "Gerkinfeltser",
   "icon": "images/image_metadata_viewer_icon.png",
   "license": "MIT",

src/extension.ts

@@ -99,25 +99,27 @@ async function showMetadata(fileUri: vscode.Uri, viewColumn: vscode.ViewColumn)
 class MetadataProvider implements vscode.TextDocumentContentProvider {
     private exifTool: any = null;
     private useNativeExifTool: boolean = false;
-    private initializationAttempted: boolean = false;
+    private initializationPromise: Promise<void> | null = null;
     private initializationError: string | null = null;
 
     constructor() {
-        this.initializeExifTool();
+        // Start initialization but don't wait for it
+        this.initializationPromise = this.initializeExifTool();
     }
 
     private async initializeExifTool() {
-        if (this.initializationAttempted) {
+        if (this.exifTool || this.useNativeExifTool) {
+            // Already initialized successfully
             return;
         }
-        this.initializationAttempted = true;
 
         outputChannel.appendLine('Attempting to initialize ExifTool...');
 
         try {
             // Try to initialize with exiftool-vendored first
             const ExifTool = await loadExifToolClass();
             this.exifTool = new ExifTool();
+            this.initializationError = null; // Clear any previous errors
             outputChannel.appendLine('ExifTool (vendored) initialized successfully');
             return;
         } catch (error) {
@@ -129,6 +131,7 @@ class MetadataProvider implements vscode.TextDocumentContentProvider {
             try {
                 await execAsync('exiftool -ver');
                 this.useNativeExifTool = true;
+                this.initializationError = null; // Clear any previous errors
                 outputChannel.appendLine('Native ExifTool found and will be used as fallback');
                 return;
             } catch (nativeError) {
@@ -163,9 +166,9 @@ class MetadataProvider implements vscode.TextDocumentContentProvider {
         const fileUri = vscode.Uri.file(uri.path.replace('.metadata', ''));
         const fileName = fileUri.fsPath.split('\\').pop() || fileUri.fsPath.split('/').pop() || 'Unknown';
 
-        // Wait for initialization to complete if it's still ongoing
-        if (!this.initializationAttempted) {
-            await this.initializeExifTool();
+        // Wait for initialization to complete
+        if (this.initializationPromise) {
+            await this.initializationPromise;
         }
 
         const platformInfo = `Platform: ${os.platform()} ${os.arch()}\nNode.js: ${process.version}\nVS Code: ${vscode.version}`;