SubtitleEdit/subtitleedit · error · FormatException

Resolution '{input}' is invalid. Width and height must be po

Error message

Resolution '{input}' is invalid. Width and height must be positive integers.

What it means

Thrown by ResolutionParser.Parse when the WIDTHxHEIGHT structure is valid (separator present) but either side fails `int.TryParse` (NumberStyles.None — no sign/decimal) or parses to a non-positive value. The tuple requires two positive integers; negatives, decimals, letters, or zero all fail.

Source

Thrown at src/seconv/Core/ResolutionParser.cs:32

        {
            throw new FormatException("Resolution is empty.");
        }

        var s = input.Trim();
        var idx = s.IndexOfAny(['x', 'X']);
        if (idx <= 0 || idx == s.Length - 1)
        {
            throw new FormatException($"Resolution '{input}' is invalid. Expected WIDTHxHEIGHT, e.g. 1920x1080.");
        }

        var wPart = s[..idx];
        var hPart = s[(idx + 1)..];

        if (!int.TryParse(wPart, NumberStyles.None, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out var w) ||
            !int.TryParse(hPart, NumberStyles.None, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out var h) ||
            w <= 0 || h <= 0)
        {
            throw new FormatException($"Resolution '{input}' is invalid. Width and height must be positive integers.");
        }

        return (w, h);
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 17a9f07487)

Solutions

Use two plain positive integers separated by 'x': `1920x1080`.
Remove spaces, commas, or signs from either dimension.
Round fractional values to the nearest integer (resolutions are integral pixel counts).
Confirm there are no hidden non-breaking spaces (U+00A0) — retype the value.

Example fix

# before
seconv in.sup out.bdnxml --resolution=1920x1080.5
# after
seconv in.sup out.bdnxml --resolution=1920x1080

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

var parts = input.Split('x', 'X');
if (parts.Length != 2 ||
    !int.TryParse(parts[0], NumberStyles.None, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out var w) ||
    !int.TryParse(parts[1], NumberStyles.None, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out var h) ||
    w <= 0 || h <= 0)
    throw new ArgumentException("Width and height must be positive integers");

Type guard

static bool AreDimensionsPositiveIntegers(string? s)
{
    if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(s)) return false;
    var p = s.Split('x', 'X');
    return p.Length == 2
        && int.TryParse(p[0], NumberStyles.None, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out var w)
        && int.TryParse(p[1], NumberStyles.None, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out var h)
        && w > 0 && h > 0;
}

Try / catch

try { var res = ResolutionParser.Parse(input); }
catch (FormatException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("must be positive integers"))
{
    // round/clamp or reprompt
}

Prevention

Strip whitespace and thousands separators before parsing.
Reject non-integer inputs at arg-parse time.
Reject zero/negative dimensions explicitly.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `ResolutionParser.Parse(input)` with values like '1920x1080.0', '-1x1080', '1920x0', '1920xabc', ' 1920 x 1080 ' (internal spaces break int.TryParse of the substring).

Common situations: Including a decimal/fractional resolution; a leading sign; embedded spaces between number and separator; scientific notation; copy-paste introducing a non-breaking space inside a number.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of SubtitleEdit/subtitleedit@17a9f07487 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7ec1cebe14495df5. Report an issue: GitHub.