denoland/deno · error

malformed .msi: no _StringData stream

Error message

malformed .msi: no _StringData stream

What it means

Error "malformed .msi: no _StringData stream" thrown in denoland/deno.

Source

Thrown at cli/tools/desktop.rs:4950

      .cloned()
  };

  // The string-pool header's top bit selects 3-byte string references; tiny
  // databases use 2-byte refs, but honor the flag to stay correct at any size.
  let pool_raw = find_raw("_StringPool").ok_or_else(|| {
    deno_core::anyhow::anyhow!("malformed .msi: no _StringPool stream")
  })?;
  let pool = read_stream(&mut comp, &pool_raw)?;
  let str_w: usize = if pool.len() >= 4 && (pool[3] & 0x80) != 0 {
    3
  } else {
    2
  };

  // Map every string-pool id to its text so data-table streams (named by table
  // text) can be matched to their column schema (keyed by table string id).
  let data_raw = find_raw("_StringData").ok_or_else(|| {
    deno_core::anyhow::anyhow!("malformed .msi: no _StringData stream")
  })?;
  let str_data = read_stream(&mut comp, &data_raw)?;
  let mut strings = vec![String::new()]; // 1-based; index 0 is unused.
  {
    let mut off = 0usize;
    let mut i = 4;
    while i + 4 <= pool.len() {
      let len = u16::from_le_bytes([pool[i], pool[i + 1]]) as usize;
      let end = (off + len).min(str_data.len());
      strings.push(String::from_utf8_lossy(&str_data[off..end]).into_owned());
      off += len;
      i += 4;
    }
  }
  let id_of = |text: &str| -> Option<u64> {
    strings.iter().position(|s| s == text).map(|i| i as u64)
  };

View on GitHub (pinned to 89f33cbef2)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cli/tools/desktop.rs:4950 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

Understand the failure class

• Parsing and encoding errors: unexpected token, malformed input — why parsers reject input and how to find the real culprit.

AI-assisted analysis of denoland/deno@89f33cbef2 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8a028ec075927898. Report an issue: GitHub.