MultipartRequest.calculateContentLength error - codenameone

Question

I am trying to make a multipart upload withsome binary data. However, I am getting a very strange error which I have never encountered. Here is my code
MultipartRequest request = new MultipartRequest();
request.setPost(true);
request.setUrl(URL+"/agenci/worker/addWorker/");
..,
request.addData("photoFile", dir + "user.jpg", "image/jpeg");
I get this exception at runtime
[EDT] 0:0:0,1 - Exception: java.lang.NullPointerException - null
at com.codename1.io.MultipartRequest.calculateContentLength(MultipartRequest.java:295)
at com.codename1.io.MultipartRequest.initConnection(MultipartRequest.java:128)
at com.codename1.io.ConnectionRequest.performOperationComplete(ConnectionRequest.java:798)
at com.codename1.io.NetworkManager$NetworkThread.run(NetworkManager.java:340)
at com.codename1.impl.CodenameOneThread.run(CodenameOneThread.java:176)
user.jpg is present in the path supplied. Is this a new bug?
[EDIT]
I think the path to the file keeps returning null, even though the file is presentin FileSystemStorage. This is the exception when I try to create the image to be uploaded from an InputStream
[EDT] 0:0:0,1 - Exception: java.lang.NullPointerException - null
at com.codename1.io.Storage.createInputStream(Storage.java:172)
at com.jajitech.agenci.webservice.SignUpService.saveWorker(SignUpService.java:49)
at com.jajitech.agenci.login.signup.SignUp.completeSignUp(SignUp.java:333)
at com.jajitech.agenci.login.signup.SignUp.lambda$completeSignUpForm$3(SignUp.java:304)
at com.codename1.ui.util.EventDispatcher.fireActionSync(EventDispatcher.java:459)
at com.codename1.ui.util.EventDispatcher.fireActionEvent(EventDispatcher.java:362)
at com.codename1.ui.Button.fireActionEvent(Button.java:687)
at com.codename1.ui.Button.released(Button.java:728)
at com.codename1.ui.Button.pointerReleased(Button.java:835)
at com.codename1.ui.LeadUtil.pointerReleased(LeadUtil.java:153)
at com.codename1.ui.Form.pointerReleased(Form.java:3694)
at com.codename1.ui.Component.pointerReleased(Component.java:4691)
at com.codename1.ui.Display.handleEvent(Display.java:2352)
at com.codename1.ui.Display.edtLoopImpl(Display.java:1244)
at com.codename1.ui.Display.mainEDTLoop(Display.java:1162)
at com.codename1.ui.RunnableWrapper.run(RunnableWrapper.java:120)
at com.codename1.impl.CodenameOneThread.run(CodenameOneThread.java:176)
Please what could be wrong that my calls to an existing file in the FIleSystemStorage returns null
[EDIT 2]
Here is my complete method, using InputStream. I had tried using normal path with same error. The line on createInputStream returns null.
try {
MultipartRequest request = new MultipartRequest();
request.setPost(true);
request.setUrl(URL+"/agenci/worker/addWorker/");
request.addArgument("name", getName());
request.addArgument("dob", getDob());
request.addArgument("address", getAddress());
request.addArgument("email", getEmail());
request.addArgument("phone", getPhone());
request.addArgument("agencyId", getPass());
request.addArgument("gender", getGender());
try
{
InputStream is = Storage.getInstance().createInputStream(dir + "a.jpg");
Image img = Image.createImage(is);
EncodedImage em = EncodedImage.createFromImage(img, true);
byte[] data = em.getImageData();
is.close();
request.addData("photoFile", data , "image/jpeg");
}catch(Exception er){System.out.println("error3");er.printStackTrace();}
NetworkManager.getInstance().addToQueueAndWait(request);
if(request.getResponseData() == null)
{
return "error1";
}
The Exception
Exception: java.lang.NullPointerException - null
at com.codename1.io.Storage.createInputStream(Storage.java:172)