PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet · error · PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Exception

invalid dynamic rule type $dynamicRuleType

Error message

invalid dynamic rule type $dynamicRuleType

What it means

When evaluating a dynamicFilter rule, AutoFilter::dynamicFilterDateRange() looks the rule value up in its private DATE_FUNCTIONS map, which contains only the 17 date-window types (yesterday, today, tomorrow, yearToDate, this/last/next Year|Quarter|Month|Week). Any other value reaching this method throws. Note that aboveAverage/belowAverage and M1-M12/Q1-Q4 codes are valid groupings but are not in this map, so they must not reach the date-range path.

Source

Thrown at src/PhpSpreadsheet/Worksheet/AutoFilter.php:737

    private static function dynamicYesterday(): array
    {
        $maxval = new DateTime();
        $maxval->setTime(0, 0, 0);
        $val = clone $maxval;
        $val->modify('-1 day');

        return [$val, $maxval];
    }

    /**
     * Convert a dynamic rule daterange to a custom filter range expression for ease of calculation.
     *
     * @return mixed[]
     */
    private function dynamicFilterDateRange(string $dynamicRuleType, AutoFilter\Column &$filterColumn): array
    {
        $ruleValues = [];
        $callBack = [__CLASS__, self::DATE_FUNCTIONS[$dynamicRuleType] ?? throw new Exception("invalid dynamic rule type $dynamicRuleType")];
        //    Calculate start/end dates for the required date range based on current date
        //    Val is lowest permitted value.
        //    Maxval is greater than highest permitted value
        [$val, $maxval] = $callBack();
        $val = Date::dateTimeToExcel($val);
        $maxval = Date::dateTimeToExcel($maxval);

        //    Set the filter column rule attributes ready for writing
        $filterColumn->setAttributes(['val' => $val, 'maxVal' => $maxval]);

        //    Set the rules for identifying rows for hide/show
        $ruleValues[] = ['operator' => Rule::AUTOFILTER_COLUMN_RULE_GREATERTHANOREQUAL, 'value' => $val];
        $ruleValues[] = ['operator' => Rule::AUTOFILTER_COLUMN_RULE_LESSTHAN, 'value' => $maxval];

        return ['method' => 'filterTestInCustomDataSet', 'arguments' => ['filterRules' => $ruleValues, 'join' => AutoFilter\Column::AUTOFILTER_COLUMN_JOIN_AND]];
    }

    /**

View on GitHub (pinned to 65b080eef4)

Solutions

1. Use the Rule::AUTOFILTER_RULETYPE_DYNAMIC_* constants (e.g. Rule::AUTOFILTER_RULETYPE_DYNAMIC_LASTMONTH) instead of raw strings
2. Validate the value against the 17 known date-window tokens before applying or evaluating the filter
3. Reject or sanitize dynamicFilter values coming from untrusted files before re-saving/evaluating

Example fix

// before
$rule->setRuleType(Rule::AUTOFILTER_RULETYPE_DYNAMICFILTER)->setValue('lastFortnight');

// after
$rule->setRuleType(Rule::AUTOFILTER_RULETYPE_DYNAMICFILTER)->setValue(Rule::AUTOFILTER_RULETYPE_DYNAMIC_LASTWEEK);

$dateWindowTypes = [
    'yesterday', 'today', 'tomorrow', 'yearToDate',
    'thisYear', 'thisQuarter', 'thisMonth', 'thisWeek',
    'lastYear', 'lastQuarter', 'lastMonth', 'lastWeek',
    'nextYear', 'nextQuarter', 'nextMonth', 'nextWeek',
];
if (!in_array($dynamicValue, $dateWindowTypes, true)) {
    throw new InvalidArgumentException("Unknown dynamic filter '$dynamicValue'");
}

function isDateWindowDynamicType(string $value): bool
{
    return in_array($value, [
        'yesterday', 'today', 'tomorrow', 'yearToDate',
        'thisYear', 'thisQuarter', 'thisMonth', 'thisWeek',
        'lastYear', 'lastQuarter', 'lastMonth', 'lastWeek',
        'nextYear', 'nextQuarter', 'nextMonth', 'nextWeek',
    ], true);
}

try {
    $autoFilter->showHideRows();
} catch (\PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Exception $e) {
    // a dynamic rule value is not in the date-window map: strip dynamic rules and re-evaluate
}

When it happens

Trigger: Building a Rule with AUTOFILTER_RULETYPE_DYNAMICFILTER and a made-up value like 'lastFortnight', then running $autoFilter->showHideRows(); also loaded files whose dynamicFilter val attribute does not match a known token.

Common situations: Hand-constructed dynamic rules with invented strings; user input used directly as a dynamic filter value; malformed/untrusted Xlsx files.

Related errors

• Invalid filter type for column AutoFilter.
• Invalid rule connection for column AutoFilter.
• Invalid rule type for column AutoFilter Rule.
• Invalid operator for column AutoFilter Rule.
• Invalid grouping for column AutoFilter Rule.

AI-assisted analysis of PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet@65b080eef4 (2026-08-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b3503a216a9c390b. Report an issue: GitHub.