NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra · error · NumberFormatException

Byte array values must be hex enclosed in {}

Error message

Byte array values must be hex enclosed in {}

What it means

Thrown by DefaultWatchRow.setRawValueString when a value string begins with '{' (byte-array hex literal) but lacks the closing '}'. Identical grammar rule to the Variables viewer: brace-delimited hex is the only accepted byte-array syntax.

Source

Thrown at Ghidra/Debug/Debugger/src/main/java/ghidra/app/plugin/core/debug/gui/watch/DefaultWatchRow.java:433

			}
			DebuggerControlService controlService = provider.controlService;
			if (controlService == null) {
				return false;
			}
			StateEditor editor = controlService.createStateEditor(provider.current);
			return editor.isVariableEditable(address, getValueLength());
		}
	}

	@Override
	public void setRawValueString(String valueString) {
		if (!isRawValueEditable()) {
			throw new IllegalStateException("Watch is not editable");
		}
		valueString = valueString.trim();
		if (valueString.startsWith("{")) {
			if (!valueString.endsWith("}")) {
				throw new NumberFormatException("Byte array values must be hex enclosed in {}");
			}

			setRawValueBytesString(valueString.substring(1, valueString.length() - 1));
			return;
		}

		setRawValueIntString(valueString);
	}

	public void setRawValueBytesString(String bytesString) {
		setRawValueBytes(NumericUtilities.convertStringToBytes(bytesString));
	}

	public void setRawValueIntString(String intString) {
		intString = intString.trim();
		final BigInteger val;
		if (intString.startsWith("0x")) {
			val = new BigInteger(intString.substring(2), 16);

View on GitHub (pinned to d5f144c24d)

Solutions

1. Close the byte-array literal with '}', e.g., '{cafebabe}'.
2. For scalar integers, omit the braces and use plain decimal or 0x-hex.
3. Add a UI validator that enforces brace pairing before calling setRawValueString.
4. Trim whitespace and check first/last character before parsing.

Example fix

// before
row.setRawValueString("{cafe"); // unterminated -> NumberFormatException

// after
row.setRawValueString("{cafe}");

String s = valueString.trim();
boolean wellFormed = !s.startsWith("{") || s.endsWith("}");

static boolean wellFormedByteArray(String s) {
    s = s.trim();
    return !s.startsWith("{") || s.endsWith("}");
}

try {
    row.setRawValueString(s);
} catch (NumberFormatException e) {
    showError("Byte arrays must be hex enclosed in {}");
}

When it happens

Trigger: User edits a Watch row value with a string starting in '{' that is not terminated by '}'.

Common situations: Typo in the Watches window; partial paste; intending a scalar but accidentally prefixing with '{'.

Related errors

• Byte array values must be hex enclosed in {}
• Byte arrays cannot exceed length of variable
• Bad nodeSize: {}
• Invalid number of elements specified: {}
• Unable to read {} bytes

AI-assisted analysis of NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra@d5f144c24d (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0090d9a0b9563eca. Report an issue: GitHub.