NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra · error · IllegalStateException

TraceObject requires a trace for context

Error message

TraceObject requires a trace for context

What it means

Thrown by the default ValueDecoder.getObject(ObjSpec, boolean) when required is true. An ObjSpec resolves to a TraceObject, which requires the trace's object manager (context). The default decoder has no trace, so it cannot look up an object by id/path and throws.

Source

Thrown at Ghidra/Debug/Debugger-rmi-trace/src/main/java/ghidra/app/plugin/core/debug/service/tracermi/ValueDecoder.java:93

	};

	default Address toAddress(Addr addr, boolean required) {
		if (required) {
			throw new IllegalStateException("Address requires a trace for context");
		}
		return null;
	}

	default AddressRange toRange(AddrRange range, boolean required) {
		if (required) {
			throw new IllegalStateException("AddressRange requires a trace for context");
		}
		return null;
	}

	default Object getObject(ObjSpec spec, boolean required) {
		if (required) {
			throw new IllegalStateException("TraceObject requires a trace for context");
		}
		return null;
	}

	default Object getObject(ObjDesc desc, boolean required) {
		if (required) {
			throw new IllegalStateException("TraceObject requires a trace for context");
		}
		return null;
	}

	default Object toValue(Value value) {
		return switch (value.getValueCase()) {
			case NULL_VALUE -> null;
			case BOOL_VALUE -> value.getBoolValue();
			case BYTE_VALUE -> (byte) value.getByteValue();
			case CHAR_VALUE -> (char) value.getCharValue();
			case SHORT_VALUE -> (short) value.getShortValue();

View on GitHub (pinned to d5f144c24d)

Solutions

1. Use the OpenTrace decoder to resolve ObjSpecs against the trace's object tree.
2. Call getObject(spec, false) if the object is optional, to get null rather than an exception.
3. For display-only purposes, use ValueDecoder.DISPLAY which renders a placeholder string instead of resolving.

Example fix

// before
Object o = ValueDecoder.DEFAULT.getObject(spec, true);

// after
Object o = openTrace.getObject(spec, true);

ValueDecoder dec = (openTrace != null) ? openTrace : ValueDecoder.DEFAULT;
Object o = (openTrace != null) ? dec.getObject(spec, true) : null;

boolean hasTraceContext(ValueDecoder dec) {
    return dec instanceof OpenTrace;
}

try {
    return dec.getObject(spec, true);
} catch (IllegalStateException e) {
    return null;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling getObject(spec, true) on ValueDecoder.DEFAULT while decoding a value that is an object specification, with no OpenTrace available.

Common situations: Decoding a method argument default that references an object without a bound trace; message decoding in a context that omitted the trace.

Related errors

• Address requires a trace for context
• AddressRange requires a trace for context
• Processes[{proc.GetProcessID()}].Threads[{tnum}] does not ex
• Breakpoints[{breaknum}] does not exist
• Watchpoints[{watchnum}] does not exist

AI-assisted analysis of NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra@d5f144c24d (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/518719d829bb8d58. Report an issue: GitHub.