BabylonJS/Babylon.js · error

Attempted to get an invalid layout column

Error message

Attempted to get an invalid layout column

What it means

getPosInLayout looks up layout.columns[column]; if that index does not exist (undefined), the requested column is out of bounds or missing and the function throws rather than returning undefined, keeping layout consumers from operating on invalid data.

Source

Thrown at packages/dev/sharedUiComponents/src/components/layout/utils.ts:17

import { type Layout, type LayoutColumn, type LayoutTabsRow } from "./types";

/**
 * Given a column and row number in the layout, return the corresponding column/row
 * @param layout
 * @param column
 * @param row
 * @returns
 */
// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/naming-convention
export const getPosInLayout = (layout: Layout, column: number, row?: number): LayoutColumn | LayoutTabsRow => {
    if (!layout.columns) {
        throw new Error("Attempted to get position on empty layout");
    }
    const columnLayout = layout.columns[column];
    if (!columnLayout) {
        throw new Error("Attempted to get an invalid layout column");
    }
    if (row === undefined) {
        return columnLayout;
    }
    return columnLayout.rows[row];
};

/**
 * Remove a row in position row, column from the layout, and redistribute heights of remaining rows
 * @param layout
 * @param column
 * @param row
 */
// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/naming-convention
export const removeLayoutRowAndRedistributePercentages = (layout: Layout, column: number, row: number) => {
    if (!layout.columns) {
        throw new Error("Attempted to get position on empty layout");
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to 0592b347b8)

Solutions

1. Validate the column index (0 <= column < layout.columns.length) before calling
2. Clamp or recompute the index from the current layout instead of cached state
3. Migrate/re-validate persisted layout JSON against the current schema on load
4. try/catch the call and fall back to column 0 or a default layout

Example fix

// before
const col = getPosInLayout(layout, savedIndex); // savedIndex may exceed layout.columns.length
// after
const idx = Math.min(savedIndex, layout.columns.length - 1);
const col = getPosInLayout(layout, Math.max(idx, 0));

function isValidColumn(layout: Layout, column: number): boolean {
    return !!layout.columns && column >= 0 && column < layout.columns.length && !!layout.columns[column];
}
// usage
if (isValidColumn(layout, idx)) { getPosInLayout(layout, idx); }

try {
    const col = getPosInLayout(layout, idx);
} catch (e) {
    if (e instanceof Error && e.message === "Attempted to get an invalid layout column") {
        // clamp index or reload a valid default layout
    } else { throw e; }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling getPosInLayout(layout, column) where column is >= layout.columns.length, negative, or points to a deleted column — e.g. saving a stale column index and applying it to a smaller/rebuilt layout.

Common situations: Restoring a persisted layout after the number of columns changed between app versions; stale UI state referencing removed panes; off-by-one indexing when iterating columns.

Related errors

• Attempted to get position on empty layout
• Failed to get client rect for rendering canvas

AI-assisted analysis of BabylonJS/Babylon.js@0592b347b8 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/82fd3bf2b0dd83dd. Report an issue: GitHub.