iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI · error · ArgumentException

Invalid tick mark value

Error message

Invalid tick mark value '{value}'. Valid values: none, in, out, cross.

What it means

Thrown by ParseTickMark (ChartHelper.SetterHelpers.cs:57) when a tick-mark string does not match none/false, in/inside, out/outside, or cross/both. Unlike legend parsing, this method only applies ToLowerInvariant (no SchemaKeyNormalizer), so separator variants and abbreviations are not normalized. The error lists the four canonical values in the message.

Solutions

Use one of: none, in, out, cross (aliases: inside, outside, both, false).
Do not rely on dash/underscore normalization for tick marks — pass the bare token.

Example fix

// before
majorTickMark=inside-out
// after
majorTickMark=in

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

static readonly Dictionary<string,string> TickMarks = new(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
{ ["none"]="none",["false"]="none",["in"]="in",["inside"]="in",["out"]="out",["outside"]="out",["cross"]="cross",["both"]="cross" };
static string ResolveTickMark(string v) => TickMarks.TryGetValue((v ?? "").Trim(), out var t) ? t : throw new ArgumentException($"invalid tick mark '{v}'");

Type guard

static bool IsValidTickMark(string v) => TickMarks.ContainsKey((v ?? "").Trim());

Try / catch

try { /* set chart majorTickMark=... */ }
catch (ArgumentException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("Invalid tick mark value"))
{ /* list: none, in, out, cross */ }

Prevention

Tick marks are NOT separator-normalized — pass bare tokens (no dashes).
Lowercase the value before setting.
Map Excel UI 'Inside/Outside/Cross' to in/out/cross explicitly.

When it happens

Trigger: Setting a tick-mark property (e.g. majorTickMark, minorTickMark) to a token outside none/in/out/cross and their aliases, e.g. 'inside-out', 'full', 'middle', 'center', 'internal'.

Common situations: Translating Excel's 'Inside'/'Outside'/'Cross' UI wording but guessing a non-alias token like 'internal' or 'middle'; passing 'IN' works (lowercased) but 'in-out' does not since no separator normalization happens here.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI@1ced45e900 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9d9617dc040b4882. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/officecli/Core/Chart/ChartHelper.SetterHelpers.cs:57

            "topright" or "tr" => C.LegendPositionValues.TopRight,
            _ => throw new ArgumentException(
                $"Invalid legend position '{value}'. " +
                "Valid: none, top, bottom, left, right, topRight " +
                "(or use 'none'/'false' to hide the legend)."),
        };
    }

    // ==================== Tick Mark Helpers ====================

    internal static C.TickMarkValues ParseTickMark(string value)
    {
        return value.ToLowerInvariant() switch
        {
            "none" or "false" => C.TickMarkValues.None,
            "in" or "inside" => C.TickMarkValues.Inside,
            "out" or "outside" => C.TickMarkValues.Outside,
            "cross" or "both" => C.TickMarkValues.Cross,
            _ => throw new ArgumentException(
                $"Invalid tick mark value '{value}'. Valid values: none, in, out, cross.")
        };
    }

    // ==================== Trendline Helpers ====================

    internal static C.Trendline BuildTrendline(string spec)
    {
        // Format: "type" or "type:order" or "type:forward:backward"
        // e.g. "linear", "poly:3", "exp:2:1", "movingAvg:3"
        var parts = spec.Split(':');
        var typeStr = parts[0].Trim().ToLowerInvariant();

        var trendline = new C.Trendline();

        var trendType = typeStr switch
        {
            "linear" => C.TrendlineValues.Linear,

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