dgraph-io/badger · error

while parsing ignore bytes

Error message

while parsing ignore bytes: %s: %w

What it means

Trie.fix wraps any error from parseIgnoreBytes with the original IgnoreBytes string for context. Users see this when calling AddMatch or DeleteMatch with a malformed IgnoreBytes spec (bad separators, non-numeric indices).

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped inner error and the quoted IgnoreBytes value to find the offending element, then correct that element to "idx" or "start-end" form.
2. Pre-validate with a regex per comma element: ^\s*\d+\s*(-\s*\d+\s*)?$.
3. Ensure indices are plain base-10 integers without units or extra characters ("3", not "3rd" or "0x3").
4. If IgnoreBytes is empty it is legal; pass "" rather than whitespace-only strings with stray characters.

Example fix

// before
err := trie.AddMatch(pb.Match{Prefix: pfx, IgnoreBytes: "3, 5-a"}, id)
// while parsing ignore bytes: 3, 5-a: strconv.Atoi: parsing "a": invalid syntax
// after
err := trie.AddMatch(pb.Match{Prefix: pfx, IgnoreBytes: "3, 5-8"}, id)

var ignoreElemRe = regexp.MustCompile(`^\s*\d+\s*(-\s*\d+\s*)?$`)
func ignoreBytesValid(ig string) bool {
	if strings.TrimSpace(ig) == "" { return true }
	for _, e := range strings.Split(ig, ",") {
		if !ignoreElemRe.MatchString(e) { return false }
	}
	return true
}

if err := trie.AddMatch(m, id); err != nil {
	var inner error
	if errors.As(err, &inner) || true {
		log.Printf("bad IgnoreBytes %q: %v", m.IgnoreBytes, err)
	}
	return fmt.Errorf("rejecting match: %w", err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Trie.AddMatch(m, id) or Trie.DeleteMatch(m, id) where m.IgnoreBytes is non-empty and fails parsing: an element with >1 dash (error 130), an empty start part (error 131), or a non-integer index such as "a,3" (strconv error).

Common situations: Deserializing match configs from YAML/JSON where IgnoreBytes was free-form text, user-supplied query patterns with typos, or passing an IgnoreBytes intended for a different key layout.

Related errors

• Invalid range
• Arena too small, toWrite
• Cannot acquire directory lock on
• Cannot acquire directory lock on
• Cannot use CommitAt with managedDB=false. Use Commit…

AI-assisted analysis of dgraph-io/badger@2a001d466f (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b250a10abc06a821. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at trie/trie.go:124

// to match the length of the Prefix passed.
//
// Consider a prefix = "aaaa". If the IgnoreBytes is set to "0, 2", then along with key "aaaa...",
// a key "baba..." would also match.
func (t *Trie) AddMatch(m pb.Match, id uint64) error {
	return t.fix(m, id, set)
}

const (
	set = iota
	del
)

func (t *Trie) fix(m pb.Match, id uint64, op int) error {
	curNode := t.root

	ignore, err := parseIgnoreBytes(m.IgnoreBytes)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("while parsing ignore bytes: %s: %w", m.IgnoreBytes, err)
	}
	for len(ignore) < len(m.Prefix) {
		ignore = append(ignore, false)
	}
	for idx, byt := range m.Prefix {
		var child *node
		if ignore[idx] {
			child = curNode.ignore
			if child == nil {
				if op == del {
					// No valid node found for delete operation. Return immediately.
					return nil
				}
				child = newNode()
				curNode.ignore = child
			}
		} else {
			child = curNode.children[byt]

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