[pkg/stanza] Don't get formatted msg for events without an event provider (open-telemetry#35227)

**Description:**
When the event doesn't have a Publisher we should not rely on the
behavior of `EvtFormatMessage` API, given, that in some cases it reports
error. Instead we should fallback to the non-formatted message to avoid
logging error messages on the collector. See issue open-telemetry#35135.

**Link to tracking Issue:**
Fix open-telemetry#35135

**Testing:**
Local validation of the processing of the events reported in the issue.

**Documentation:**
N/A

---------

Co-authored-by: Daniel Jaglowski <[email protected]>

Author: 2 people

.chloggen/do-not-get-formatted-msg-for-windows-events-without-an-event-provider.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# Use this changelog template to create an entry for release notes.
+
+# One of 'breaking', 'deprecation', 'new_component', 'enhancement', 'bug_fix'
+change_type: bug_fix
+
+# The name of the component, or a single word describing the area of concern, (e.g. filelogreceiver)
+component: pkg/stanza
+
+# A brief description of the change.  Surround your text with quotes ("") if it needs to start with a backtick (`).
+note: Do not get formatted message for Windows events without an event provider.
+
+# Mandatory: One or more tracking issues related to the change. You can use the PR number here if no issue exists.
+issues: [35135]
+
+# (Optional) One or more lines of additional information to render under the primary note.
+# These lines will be padded with 2 spaces and then inserted directly into the document.
+# Use pipe (|) for multiline entries.
+subtext: |
+  Attempting to get the formatted message for Windows events without an event provider can result in an error being logged. |
+  This change ensures that the formatted message is not retrieved for such events.
+
+# If your change doesn't affect end users or the exported elements of any package,
+# you should instead start your pull request title with [chore] or use the "Skip Changelog" label.
+# Optional: The change log or logs in which this entry should be included.
+# e.g. '[user]' or '[user, api]'
+# Include 'user' if the change is relevant to end users.
+# Include 'api' if there is a change to a library API.
+# Default: '[user]'
+change_logs: [user]

pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/publisher_test.go

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import (
 
 func TestPublisherOpenPreexisting(t *testing.T) {
 	publisher := Publisher{handle: 5}
-	err := publisher.Open("")
+	err := publisher.Open("provider_name_does_not_matter_for_this_test")
 	require.Error(t, err)
 	require.Contains(t, err.Error(), "publisher handle is already open")
 	require.True(t, publisher.Valid())

pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/publishercache.go

@@ -19,14 +19,19 @@ func newPublisherCache() publisherCache {
 	}
 }
 
-func (c *publisherCache) get(provider string) (publisher Publisher, openPublisherErr error) {
+func (c *publisherCache) get(provider string) (Publisher, error) {
 	publisher, ok := c.cache[provider]
 	if ok {
 		return publisher, nil
 	}
 
+	var err error
 	publisher = NewPublisher()
-	err := publisher.Open(provider)
+	if provider != "" {
+		// If the provider is empty, there is nothing to be formatted on the event
+		// keep the invalid publisher in the cache. See issue #35135
+		err = publisher.Open(provider)
+	}
 
 	// Always store the publisher even if there was an error opening it.
 	c.cache[provider] = publisher

pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/publishercache_test.go

@@ -45,6 +45,22 @@ func TestGetInvalidPublisher(t *testing.T) {
 	require.False(t, publisher.Valid())
 }
 
+func TestEmptyPublisherNameBehavior(t *testing.T) {
+	publisherCache := newPublisherCache()
+	defer func() {
+		require.NoError(t, publisherCache.evictAll())
+	}()
+
+	publisher, openPublisherErr := publisherCache.get("")
+	require.NoError(t, openPublisherErr) // There should be no error for an empty provider.
+	require.False(t, publisher.Valid())
+
+	// Checked that the cached version works as expected.
+	publisher, openPublisherErr = publisherCache.get("")
+	require.NoError(t, openPublisherErr)
+	require.False(t, publisher.Valid())
+}
+
 func TestValidAndInvalidPublishers(t *testing.T) {
 	publisherCache := newPublisherCache()
 	defer func() {