v1.16.3 — Null ProviderName guard in Event Log Alerts

Fix: Event Log Alert Summary guards against null ProviderName on events.
Null provider caused "cannot call method on null-valued expression" on
.PadRight() in both the top sources list and latest events list.

63 modules, 1854 tests, 38679 monolithic lines.

Author: TheAbider

Changelog.md

@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## v1.16.3
+
+- **Bug Fix:** Event Log Alert Summary guards against null `ProviderName` on events — events with null provider caused a "cannot call method on null-valued expression" error on `.PadRight()` in both the top sources list and the latest critical/error events list. Now defaults to "Unknown" (35-Utilities).
+- 63 modules, 1854 tests
+
 ## v1.16.2
 
 - **Bug Fix:** Drift detection baseline comparison validates user input before integer cast — previously, non-numeric input to the baseline number prompts was cast via `-as [int]` which returns `$null`, then subtracted by 1 producing `-1`, silently failing the range check without user feedback. Now validates with regex and shows an error message (45-ConfigExport).

Header.ps1

@@ -30,11 +30,15 @@
     7h3 4b1d3r
 
 .VERSION
-    1.16.2
+    1.16.3
 
 .LAST UPDATED
     03/04/2026
 
+.CHANGELOG v1.16.3
+    NULL PROVIDER NAME GUARD IN EVENT LOG ALERTS:
+    - FIX: Event Log Alert Summary guards against null ProviderName — events with null provider caused a "cannot call method on null-valued expression" error on .PadRight() in both the top sources list and the latest events list (35-Utilities)
+
 .CHANGELOG v1.16.2
     DRIFT BASELINE INPUT VALIDATION:
     - FIX: Drift detection baseline comparison validates user input before integer cast — previously, non-numeric input to the baseline number prompts was cast via -as [int] which returns $null, then subtracted by 1 producing -1, silently failing the range check without user feedback. Now validates with regex and shows an error message (45-ConfigExport)

Modules/00-Initialization.ps1

@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ if (-not $script:ModuleRoot) { $script:ModuleRoot = $PSScriptRoot }
 if (-not $script:ModuleRoot -and $script:ScriptPath) {
     $script:ModuleRoot = [System.IO.Path]::GetDirectoryName($script:ScriptPath)
 }
-$script:ScriptVersion = "1.16.2"
+$script:ScriptVersion = "1.16.3"
 $script:ScriptStartTime = Get-Date
 
 # OS version detection (for feature compatibility)

Modules/35-Utilities.ps1

@@ -1396,7 +1396,7 @@ function Show-EventLogAlerts {
     Write-OutputColor "  ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤" -color "Info"
     $topN = $grouped | Select-Object -First 15
     foreach ($g in $topN) {
-        $srcName = $g.Name
+        $srcName = if ($g.Name) { $g.Name } else { "Unknown" }
         if ($srcName.Length -gt 35) { $srcName = $srcName.Substring(0, 32) + "..." }
         $latestEvent = $g.Group | Sort-Object { $_.Event.TimeCreated } -Descending | Select-Object -First 1
         $age = [math]::Round(((Get-Date) - $latestEvent.Event.TimeCreated).TotalHours, 1)
@@ -1418,7 +1418,7 @@ function Show-EventLogAlerts {
         foreach ($item in $topEvents) {
             $e = $item.Event
             $time = $e.TimeCreated.ToString("MM/dd HH:mm")
-            $src = $e.ProviderName
+            $src = if ($e.ProviderName) { $e.ProviderName } else { "Unknown" }
             if ($src.Length -gt 22) { $src = $src.Substring(0, 19) + "..." }
             $msg = ($e.Message -split "`n")[0]
             if ($null -eq $msg) { $msg = "Event ID $($e.Id)" }

RackStack.ps1

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
     Environment-specific settings are configured via defaults.json.
 
 .VERSION
-    1.16.2
+    1.16.3
 
 .NOTES
     - Requires Windows Server 2012 R2 or later (or Windows 10/11 for testing)

Tests/Run-Tests.ps1

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <#
 .SYNOPSIS
-    Automated Test Runner for RackStack v1.16.2
+    Automated Test Runner for RackStack v1.16.3
 
 .DESCRIPTION
     Comprehensive non-interactive test suite covering: