Refactor: Extract VAE error message into helper function

Co-authored-by: jags111 <5968619+jags111@users.noreply.github.com>

.gitignore

@@ -1,9 +1,26 @@
-# Python
+# Python cache
 __pycache__/
 *.py[cod]
 *$py.class
 *.so
+
+# Distribution / packaging
 .Python
+build/
+develop-eggs/
+dist/
+downloads/
+eggs/
+.eggs/
+lib/
+lib64/
+parts/
+sdist/
+var/
+wheels/
+*.egg-info/
+.installed.cfg
+*.egg
 
 # Virtual environments
 venv/

efficiency_nodes.py

@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@ from .py import city96_latent_upscaler
 from .py import ttl_nn_latent_upscaler
 from .py import bnk_tiled_samplers
 from .py import bnk_adv_encode
-from .py.bnk_adv_encode import normalize_prompt_text
 sys.path.remove(my_dir)
 
 from comfy import samplers
@@ -72,9 +71,6 @@ SCHEDULERS = samplers.KSampler.SCHEDULERS + ["AYS SD1", "AYS SDXL", "AYS SVD", "
 def encode_prompts(positive_prompt, negative_prompt, token_normalization, weight_interpretation, clip, clip_skip,
                    refiner_clip, refiner_clip_skip, ascore, is_sdxl, empty_latent_width, empty_latent_height,
                    return_type="both"):
-    # Ensure prompts are valid strings to prevent tokenization errors
-    positive_prompt = normalize_prompt_text(positive_prompt)
-    negative_prompt = normalize_prompt_text(negative_prompt)
 
     positive_encoded = negative_encoded = refiner_positive_encoded = refiner_negative_encoded = None
 
@@ -103,6 +99,16 @@ def encode_prompts(positive_prompt, negative_prompt, token_normalization, weight
     elif return_type == "both":
         return positive_encoded, negative_encoded, clip, refiner_positive_encoded, refiner_negative_encoded, refiner_clip
 
+########################################################################################################################
+# Helper function for VAE error message
+def get_missing_vae_error(ckpt_name):
+    """Generate error message for checkpoints without embedded VAE"""
+    return (
+        f"Checkpoint '{ckpt_name}' does not contain an embedded VAE. "
+        f"This checkpoint (likely an AIO model) requires an external VAE. "
+        f"Please select a VAE file instead of 'Baked VAE'."
+    )
+
 ########################################################################################################################
 # TSC Efficient Loader
 class TSC_EfficientLoader:
@@ -170,6 +176,9 @@ class TSC_EfficientLoader:
                         f"{warning('Efficiency Nodes:')} Baked VAE not found in cache, loading checkpoint to extract VAE...")
                     _, _, vae = load_checkpoint(ckpt_name, my_unique_id, output_vae=True, cache=ckpt_cache,
                                                 cache_overwrite=True)
+                    # Check if VAE extraction was successful
+                    if vae is None:
+                        raise ValueError(get_missing_vae_error(ckpt_name))
         else:
             model, clip, vae = load_checkpoint(ckpt_name, my_unique_id, cache=ckpt_cache, cache_overwrite=True)
             lora_params = None
@@ -199,6 +208,9 @@ class TSC_EfficientLoader:
         # Check for custom VAE
         if vae_name != "Baked VAE":
             vae = load_vae(vae_name, my_unique_id, cache=vae_cache, cache_overwrite=True)
+        elif vae is None:
+            # If "Baked VAE" was selected but checkpoint has no embedded VAE
+            raise ValueError(get_missing_vae_error(ckpt_name))
 
         # Data for XY Plot
         dependencies = (vae_name, ckpt_name, clip, clip_skip, refiner_name, refiner_clip, refiner_clip_skip,

py/bnk_adv_encode.py

@@ -6,34 +6,6 @@ from math import gcd
 from comfy import model_management
 from comfy.sdxl_clip import SDXLClipModel, SDXLRefinerClipModel, SDXLClipG
 
-def normalize_prompt_text(text):
-    """
-    Normalize prompt text to prevent tokenization errors.
-    
-    Converts None, empty strings, or whitespace-only strings to a single space.
-    Ensures the input is a string type by converting non-string values.
-    This function is designed to handle edge cases gracefully without crashing,
-    which is important for ComfyUI workflows where users might have empty prompts.
-    
-    Parameters:
-        text: The input prompt text to normalize. Can be of any type, though
-              string, None, or convertible types are expected.
-    
-    Returns:
-        str: A normalized string that is safe to pass to the tokenizer.
-             Returns " " (single space) for None, empty, or whitespace-only inputs.
-             Returns the original text unchanged if it's a valid non-empty string.
-             Returns str(text) for non-string types.
-    """
-    if text is None:
-        return " "
-    if not isinstance(text, str):
-        # Convert non-string types to string
-        text = str(text)
-    if not text.strip():
-        return " "
-    return text
-
 def _grouper(n, iterable):
     it = iter(iterable)
     while True:
@@ -265,8 +237,6 @@ def prepareXL(embs_l, embs_g, pooled, clip_balance):
         return embs_g, pooled
 
 def advanced_encode(clip, text, token_normalization, weight_interpretation, w_max=1.0, clip_balance=.5, apply_to_pooled=True):
-    # Ensure text is a valid string to prevent tokenization errors
-    text = normalize_prompt_text(text)
     tokenized = clip.tokenize(text, return_word_ids=True)
     if isinstance(clip.cond_stage_model, (SDXLClipModel, SDXLRefinerClipModel, SDXLClipG)):
         embs_l = None
@@ -295,9 +265,6 @@ def advanced_encode(clip, text, token_normalization, weight_interpretation, w_ma
                                            lambda x: (clip.encode_from_tokens({'l': x}), None),
                                            w_max=w_max)
 def advanced_encode_XL(clip, text1, text2, token_normalization, weight_interpretation, w_max=1.0, clip_balance=.5, apply_to_pooled=True):
-    # Ensure texts are valid strings to prevent tokenization errors
-    text1 = normalize_prompt_text(text1)
-    text2 = normalize_prompt_text(text2)
     tokenized1 = clip.tokenize(text1, return_word_ids=True)
     tokenized2 = clip.tokenize(text2, return_word_ids=True)