Return errors, rather than printing them

global/deviceIDs.go

@@ -1,36 +1,34 @@
 package global
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"io/fs"
 	"os"
-
-	"github.com/rwinkhart/go-boilerplate/back"
 )
 
 // GetOldDeviceID returns the current device ID or
 // FSMisc if there is no device ID (e.g. first run).
-func GetCurrentDeviceID() string {
-	deviceIDList := GenDeviceIDList(false) // errorOnFail is false so that nil is received when the devices directory does not exist
+func GetCurrentDeviceID() (string, error) {
+	deviceIDList, err := GenDeviceIDList()
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", errors.New("unable to generate device ID list: " + err.Error())
+	}
 	var deviceID string
 	if len(deviceIDList) > 0 {
 		deviceID = (deviceIDList)[0].Name()
 	} else {
 		deviceID = FSMisc // indicates to server that no device ID is being replaced
 	}
-	return deviceID
+	return deviceID, nil
 }
 
 // GenDeviceIDList returns a slice of all registered device IDs.
 // Requires: errorOnFail (set to true to throw an error if the devices directory cannot be read/does not exist)
-func GenDeviceIDList(errorOnFail bool) []fs.DirEntry {
+func GenDeviceIDList() ([]fs.DirEntry, error) {
 	// create a slice of all registered devices
 	deviceIDList, err := os.ReadDir(ConfigDir + PathSeparator + "devices")
 	if err != nil {
-		if errorOnFail {
-			back.PrintError("Failed to read the devices directory: "+err.Error(), back.ErrorRead, true)
-		} else {
-			return nil // a nil return value indicates that the devices directory could not be read/does not exist
-		}
+		return nil, errors.New("unable to read the devices directory: " + err.Error())
 	}
-	return deviceIDList
+	return deviceIDList, nil
 }

global/init.go

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package global
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"os"
 
 	"github.com/rwinkhart/go-boilerplate/back"
@@ -8,15 +9,18 @@ import (
 
 // DirInit creates the libmutton directories.
 // Returns: oldDeviceID (from before the directory reset; will be FSMisc if there is no pre-existing ID).
-func DirInit(preserveOldConfigDir bool) string {
+func DirInit(preserveOldConfigDir bool) (string, error) {
 	// create EntryRoot
 	err := os.MkdirAll(EntryRoot, 0700)
 	if err != nil {
-		back.PrintError("Failed to create \""+EntryRoot+"\": "+err.Error(), back.ErrorWrite, true)
+		return "", errors.New("unable to create \"" + EntryRoot + "\": " + err.Error())
 	}
 
 	// get old device ID before its potential removal
-	oldDeviceID := GetCurrentDeviceID()
+	oldDeviceID, err := GetCurrentDeviceID()
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", errors.New("unable to get current device ID: " + err.Error())
+	}
 
 	// remove existing config directory (if it exists and not in append mode)
 	if !preserveOldConfigDir {
@@ -24,7 +28,7 @@ func DirInit(preserveOldConfigDir bool) string {
 		if isAccessible {
 			err = os.RemoveAll(ConfigDir)
 			if err != nil {
-				back.PrintError("Failed to remove existing config directory: "+err.Error(), back.ErrorWrite, true)
+				return "", errors.New("unable to remove existing config directory: " + err.Error())
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -32,8 +36,8 @@ func DirInit(preserveOldConfigDir bool) string {
 	// create config directory w/devices subdirectory
 	err = os.MkdirAll(ConfigDir+PathSeparator+"devices", 0700)
 	if err != nil {
-		back.PrintError("Failed to create \""+ConfigDir+"\": "+err.Error(), back.ErrorWrite, true)
+		return "", errors.New("unable to create \"" + ConfigDir + "\": " + err.Error())
 	}
 
-	return oldDeviceID
+	return oldDeviceID, nil
 }