What causes "'{1}' is not a valid value for '{0}'." in dotnet/wpf?

Ensure the count passed to Read is >= 0, clamping if needed

dotnet/wpf · error · ArgumentException

' ' is not a valid value for ' '.

Error message

'{1}' is not a valid value for '{0}'.

What it means

The internal IStream.Read implementation validates that the requested byte count is non-negative before delegating to the underlying unsafe stream. A negative cb yields ArgumentException with SR.InvalidArgumentValue formatting ('cb' is not a valid value).

Solutions

Ensure the count passed to Read is >= 0, clamping if needed
Check upstream arithmetic that computes the read length
Catch ArgumentException around the Read call and log the offending cb value

Example fix

// before
stream.Read(buffer, bytesRemaining);
// after
int cb = Math.Max(0, bytesRemaining);
stream.Read(buffer, cb);

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (cb < 0) throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(cb));

Try / catch

try { stream.Read(buffer, cb, out read); } catch (ArgumentException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("cb")) { /* clamp cb and retry */ }

Prevention

Clamp read lengths with Math.Max(0, n)
Check offset arithmetic feeding cb
Never use -1 as a byte-count sentinel

When it happens

Trigger: Calling IStream.Read (or code that funnels into it) with cb < 0.

Common situations: Incorrect buffer/length math (e.g. subtracting larger offsets), or marshaling bugs passing negative counts.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Must be a positive integer", "Invalid value", "Unsupported": the invalid-argument-value error family, when a library rejects the value you pass — this error's family across 35 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of dotnet/wpf@81131a70a4 (2026-09-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7f621a5bec35e468. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/Microsoft.DotNet.Wpf/src/WindowsBase/MS/Internal/IO/Packaging/CompoundFile/NativeCompoundFileAPIs.cs:610

                    {
                        MS.Win32.UnsafeNativeMethods.SafeReleaseComObject((object) _unsafeStream);
                    }
                }
                finally
                {
                    _unsafeStream = null;
                }
            }

            //
            // IStream Implementation
            //
            void IStream.Read(Byte[] pv, int cb, out int pcbRead)
            {

                if (cb < 0)
                {
                    throw new ArgumentException(SR.Format(SR.InvalidArgumentValue, "cb", cb.ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)));
                }

                _unsafeStream.Read(pv, cb, out pcbRead);
            }

            void IStream.Write(Byte[] pv, int cb, out int pcbWritten)
            {

                if (cb < 0)
                {
                    throw new ArgumentException(SR.Format(SR.InvalidArgumentValue, "cb", cb.ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)));
                }

                _unsafeStream.Write(pv, cb, out pcbWritten);
            }


            // IStream portion

View on GitHub (pinned to 81131a70a4)