iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI · error · ArgumentException

'name' property is not supported for Excel OLE (Spreadsheet

Error message

'name' property is not supported for Excel OLE (Spreadsheet OleObject schema has no Name attribute). Remove --prop name.

What it means

Thrown when the 'name' property is present on an Excel OLE-add call. The SpreadsheetML x:oleObject element has no Name attribute in the schema, so there is nowhere to persist a name. The property is kept in KnownOleProps (so Word/PPT still accept it) but Excel Add throws explicitly rather than silently dropping the value. This mirrors the display= rejection for consistency.

Source

Thrown at src/officecli/Handlers/Excel/ExcelHandler.Add.Drawings.cs:109

        catch (ArgumentException) { throw; }
        catch { /* path canonicalization failed — fall through to normal read */ }

        // CONSISTENCY(excel-ole-display): Excel OLE does not have a
        // DrawAspect concept — worksheet objects are always shown as
        // icons via objectPr/anchor, so 'display' would be a no-op.
        // Set already rejects it; Add must too, for symmetry.
        if (properties.ContainsKey("display"))
            throw new ArgumentException(
                "'display' property is not supported for Excel OLE "
                + "(Excel always shows objects as icon). Remove --prop display.");

        // CONSISTENCY(ole-name): Word/PPT OLE accept --prop name=... and
        // round-trip it via Get. SpreadsheetML x:oleObject has no Name
        // attribute in the schema, so there is nowhere to persist it.
        // Throw explicitly rather than silently dropping the value —
        // keep 'name' in KnownOleProps so Word/PPT still accept it.
        if (properties.ContainsKey("name"))
            throw new ArgumentException(
                "'name' property is not supported for Excel OLE "
                + "(Spreadsheet OleObject schema has no Name attribute). Remove --prop name.");

        // 1. Embedded payload.
        var (oleEmbedRelId, _) = OfficeCli.Core.OleHelper.AddEmbeddedPart(oleWorksheet, oleSrc, _filePath);

        // 2. Icon preview image part.
        var (_, oleIconRelId) = OfficeCli.Core.OleHelper.CreateIconPart(oleWorksheet, properties);

        // 3. Resolve ProgID.
        var oleProgId = OfficeCli.Core.OleHelper.ResolveProgId(properties, oleSrc);

        // 4. Anchor: accept either cell range "B2:E6" or x/y/width/height (column units).
        // CONSISTENCY(ole-width-units): sub-cell precision is carried in
        // ColumnOffset/RowOffset (EMU) so unit-qualified widths like
        // "6cm" survive a round-trip. When the user passes a cell range
        // or a bare integer cell count, the remainder offsets are 0 and
        // behavior matches the legacy whole-cell path.

View on GitHub (pinned to 1ced45e900)

Solutions

Remove the --prop name=... argument from the Excel OLE add call.
If you need to name an embedded object, use Word or PowerPoint OLE instead.
Track OLE object identity via the returned path (/Sheet1/ole[N]) instead of a name.

Example fix

// before
add /Sheet1 --type ole --src data.xlsx --prop name=EmbeddedData
// after
add /Sheet1 --type ole --src data.xlsx

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Remove unsupported 'name' property before Excel OLE add
if (properties.ContainsKey("name"))
{
    properties.Remove("name");
    Console.Error.WriteLine("Warning: 'name' is not supported for Excel OLE and was removed.");
}

Try / catch

try { handler.AddOle(parentPath, properties); }
catch (ArgumentException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("'name' property is not supported"))
{
    properties.Remove("name");
    // retry without name
    handler.AddOle(parentPath, properties);
}

Prevention

Do not pass name= for Excel OLE objects.
Track embedded objects via the returned path (/Sheet/ole[N]), not a name.
Strip Word/PPT-specific properties when porting scripts to Excel.
Maintain a per-application allowed-properties list.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling add /Sheet1 --type ole --src obj.docx --prop name=MyObject. The ContainsKey("name") check fires and throws, even though the same property works for Word/PPT OLE objects.

Common situations: User applies a cross-application OLE property set (name, display) from Word/PPT scripts to Excel. User expects to label the OLE object for later retrieval.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI@1ced45e900 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/61e29280ffbf0da3. Report an issue: GitHub.