gchq/CyberChef · error · OperationError

Invalid input

Error message

Invalid input

What it means

To BCD rejects input that is not a valid number — specifically when BigNumber.isNaN() is true. BCD (Binary-Coded Decimal) encodes decimal digits, so a non-numeric or unparseable input cannot be processed.

Source

Thrown at src/core/operations/ToBCD.mjs:61

                "type": "boolean",
                "value": false
            },
            {
                "name": "Output format",
                "type": "option",
                "value": FORMAT
            }
        ];
    }

    /**
     * @param {BigNumber} input
     * @param {Object[]} args
     * @returns {string}
     */
    run(input, args) {
        if (input.isNaN())
            throw new OperationError("Invalid input");
        if (!input.integerValue(BigNumber.ROUND_DOWN).isEqualTo(input))
            throw new OperationError("Fractional values are not supported by BCD");

        const encoding = ENCODING_LOOKUP[args[0]],
            packed = args[1],
            signed = args[2],
            outputFormat = args[3];

        // Split input number up into separate digits
        const digits = input.toFixed().split("");

        if (digits[0] === "-" || digits[0] === "+") {
            digits.shift();
        }

        let nibbles = [];

        digits.forEach(d => {

View on GitHub (pinned to 4290ea7539)

Solutions

1. Ensure the input is a clean numeric value (digits and optional leading sign only).
2. Precede To BCD with a 'To Decimal Number' / parsing step to coerce the value.
3. Strip non-numeric characters from the input.

Example fix

// before: input = "12a3"  -> NaN -> throws
// after:  input = 123     -> valid number, BCD encodes digits 1,2,3

if (!BigNumber.isBigNumber(input) || input.isNaN()) {
  throw new Error("To BCD requires a finite number");
}

const isValidBcdInput = v => BigNumber.isBigNumber(v) && !v.isNaN();

try { toBcd(input, ...args); }
catch (e) { if (/Invalid input/.test(e.message)) { /* parse/replace input to a number */ } else throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: Feeding the operation a BigNumber that is NaN, e.g. a string like "abc" or "" parsed upstream into an invalid number, or any value the BigNumber layer considers NaN.

Common situations: Chaining To BCD after an operation that emits text rather than a number; passing an empty or whitespace-only input; locale-formatted numbers with commas that fail to parse.

Related errors

• Fractional values are not supported by BCD
• ${this.name} must be a number.
• ${this.name} must be an integer.
• ${this.name} must be greater than or equal to ${this.min}.
• ${this.name} must be less than or equal to ${this.max}.

AI-assisted analysis of gchq/CyberChef@4290ea7539 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f7621aa2d8137539. Report an issue: GitHub.