dotnet/wpf · error · InvalidOperationException

SR.AdornedElementNotFound

Error message

SR.AdornedElementNotFound

What it means

AdornerLayer.Update(element) throws InvalidOperationException(SR.AdornedElementNotFound) when the given element is not a key in the layer's ElementMap — i.e. this AdornerLayer has no adorners registered for that element. The method exists to force a re-measure/invalidate of all adorners on an element and requires the element to already be adorned.

Solutions

  1. Check AdornerLayer.GetAdorners(element) != null before calling Update.
  2. Re-acquire the layer via AdornerLayer.GetAdornerLayer(element) immediately before the call instead of using a cached reference.
  3. Only call Update on elements you previously called GetAdornerLayer(...).Add(adorner) for on that same layer instance.
  4. Wrap in try/catch for InvalidOperationException when the element's adornment state is inherently racy.

Example fix

// before
adornerLayer.Update(myElement); // throws if not adorned
// after
if (AdornerLayer.GetAdorners(myElement) != null)
    adornerLayer.Update(myElement);
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

bool canUpdate = AdornerLayer.GetAdorners(element) != null;
// only call adornerLayer.Update(element) when canUpdate is true

Type guard

bool IsAdornedOn(this AdornerLayer layer, UIElement e) => AdornerLayer.GetAdorners(e) != null;

Try / catch

try { adornerLayer.Update(element); } catch (InvalidOperationException) { /* not adorned; re-acquire layer and re-add adorners */ }

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling AdornerLayer.Update(uiElement) (public API) on an element that (a) was never adorned on this layer, (b) had its adorners removed, or (c) is adorned on a different AdornerLayer than the one retrieved (e.g. GetAdornerLayer returned a different decorator after a layout/visual-tree change).

Common situations: Calling Update after RemoveAllAdorners; caching an AdornerLayer reference across a template swap or window recreation; calling Update on an element whose adorner layer is a different decorator in a nested-AdornerDecorator layout.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Not found" and "does not exist" errors: why "Task not found", "No such folder", and "Can't find" fire when a lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 14 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of dotnet/wpf@81131a70a4 (2026-09-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a6d0e1f9d2d7f395. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/Microsoft.DotNet.Wpf/src/PresentationFramework/System/Windows/Documents/AdornerLayer.cs:235

                    }
                }
            }

            UpdateAdorner(null);
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Update (layout and render) all adorners for the given element.  
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="element">element key for redraw</param>
        public void Update(UIElement element)
        {
            ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(element);

            ArrayList adornerInfos = ElementMap[element] as ArrayList;

            if (adornerInfos == null)
                throw new InvalidOperationException(SR.AdornedElementNotFound);

            int i = 0;

            while (i < adornerInfos.Count)
            {
                InvalidateAdorner((AdornerInfo)adornerInfos[i++]);
            }

            UpdateAdorner(element);
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Return a collection of all adorners adorning the given element
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="element">Element for which adorners are to be retrieved</param>
        /// <returns>array of adorners on given element, or null if
        /// no adorners exist</returns>
        public Adorner[] GetAdorners(UIElement element)

View on GitHub (pinned to 81131a70a4)