MacOS: What does "This application can't be opened / -50" mean and what application can't be opened?

Question

This is not a copy of The application “SomeApp.app” can’t be opened but it might be related.

After my mac wouldn't start up I shut it down by holding the power button until it turned off. After turning it on again and logging in, it prompted me that applications had been closed because of the unexpected shutdown and if I wished to open those applications again. I chose »Open«.

While the applications reopened I got this error window:

Questions

• What app is this error referencing? It doesn't seem to be Finder even though the Finder logo is shown; it opened the previously open Finder windows.
• What does the "-50" mean? (I'm guessing it could be the reference to the app in question?)

Notes: I don't seem to have any issues, so I'm mostly curious and weren't able to find an answer to it (since all possible articles and guides I could find references similar worded error "The application »x.app« could not be opened", which references the app and doesn't include a -[number] in the window.

Answer 1

The -50 is an error number. Some other examples are shown at iBoysoft, -10673 and -10826.

Apple Discussions states, "The error code -50 you're seeing generally implies some kind of file or system corruption which is preventing the operation." Suggestions are:

• Reboot.
• Check the file system. That seems likely to be at least part of the issue, since the machine was forced to shut down by holding the power button. If files are being written and that operation was interrupted, it can damage the file system. use the Disk Utility to attempt repair.
• The issue could also be due to permissions on the executable, or on the locations it tries to access.