PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet · error · PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Exception

Conditional is not a Blanks CF Rule conditional

Error message

Conditional is not a Blanks CF Rule conditional

What it means

Wizard\Blanks::fromConditional() converts an existing Conditional back into a Blanks wizard, but a Blanks wizard can only represent the containsBlanks and notContainsBlanks condition types. Any other condition type is rejected immediately instead of producing a wizard that would silently misrepresent the rule.

Source

Thrown at src/PhpSpreadsheet/Style/ConditionalFormatting/Wizard/Blanks.php:71

        $conditional = new Conditional();
        $conditional->setConditionType(
            $this->inverse ? Conditional::CONDITION_CONTAINSBLANKS : Conditional::CONDITION_NOTCONTAINSBLANKS
        );
        $conditional->setConditions([$this->expression]);
        $conditional->setStyle($this->getStyle());
        $conditional->setStopIfTrue($this->getStopIfTrue());

        return $conditional;
    }

    public static function fromConditional(Conditional $conditional, string $cellRange = 'A1'): WizardInterface
    {
        if (
            $conditional->getConditionType() !== Conditional::CONDITION_CONTAINSBLANKS
            && $conditional->getConditionType() !== Conditional::CONDITION_NOTCONTAINSBLANKS
        ) {
            throw new Exception('Conditional is not a Blanks CF Rule conditional');
        }

        $wizard = new self($cellRange);
        $wizard->style = $conditional->getStyle();
        $wizard->stopIfTrue = $conditional->getStopIfTrue();
        $wizard->inverse = $conditional->getConditionType() === Conditional::CONDITION_CONTAINSBLANKS;

        return $wizard;
    }

    /**
     * @param mixed[] $arguments
     */
    public function __call(string $methodName, array $arguments): self
    {
        if (!array_key_exists($methodName, self::OPERATORS)) {
            throw new Exception('Invalid Operation for Blanks CF Rule Wizard');
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to 65b080eef4)

Solutions

1. Check that getConditionType() is CONDITION_CONTAINSBLANKS or CONDITION_NOTCONTAINSBLANKS before calling
2. Use Wizard::fromConditional() for automatic dispatch to the right wizard class
3. If the rule is an expression-based blank test, convert it with Wizard\Expression::fromConditional() instead
4. Wrap batch conversions in try/catch to skip wrong-type rules

Example fix

// before
$wizard = Wizard\Blanks::fromConditional($conditional); // throws unless containsBlanks/notContainsBlanks

// after
use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Style\Conditional;

if (in_array($conditional->getConditionType(),
    [Conditional::CONDITION_CONTAINSBLANKS, Conditional::CONDITION_NOTCONTAINSBLANKS], true)) {
    $wizard = Wizard\Blanks::fromConditional($conditional);
} else {
    $wizard = Wizard::fromConditional($conditional); // correct wizard for the actual type
}

use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Style\Conditional;

if (in_array($conditional->getConditionType(),
    [Conditional::CONDITION_CONTAINSBLANKS, Conditional::CONDITION_NOTCONTAINSBLANKS], true)) {
    $wizard = Wizard\Blanks::fromConditional($conditional, $cellRange);
} else {
    $wizard = Wizard::fromConditional($conditional, $cellRange);
}

function isBlanksConditional(Conditional $conditional): bool
{
    return in_array(
        $conditional->getConditionType(),
        [Conditional::CONDITION_CONTAINSBLANKS, Conditional::CONDITION_NOTCONTAINSBLANKS],
        true
    );
}

use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Exception as PhpSpreadsheetException;

try {
    $wizard = Wizard\Blanks::fromConditional($conditional, $cellRange);
} catch (PhpSpreadsheetException $e) {
    $wizard = Wizard::fromConditional($conditional, $cellRange); // dispatch on real type
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling Wizard\Blanks::fromConditional() on a Conditional created by a CellValue, TextValue, Expression or DateValue wizard; looping over mixed conditional rules and forcing each one through the Blanks factory.

Common situations: Copy-pasted rule-conversion code that assumes every rule highlights blanks; blank-detection rules that were saved as EXPRESSION rules (LEN(TRIM(A1))=0 formulas) rather than true containsBlanks rules; processing imported files where each rule's type is unknown until runtime.

Related errors

• Invalid Operation for Blanks CF Rule Wizard
• Conditional is not a Cell Value CF Rule conditional
• Conditional is not a Date Value CF Rule conditional
• Conditional is not a Duplicates CF Rule conditional
• Conditional is not an Errors CF Rule conditional

AI-assisted analysis of PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet@65b080eef4 (2026-08-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ec7fc5e3b7676e70. Report an issue: GitHub.