What causes "Row height cannot be empty." in iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI?

Provide an explicit height value: a bare number (points) or a unit-qualified string (40pt, 40px, 1cm, 0.5in).

iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI · error · ArgumentException

Row height cannot be empty.

Error message

Row height cannot be empty.

What it means

Thrown by ParseRowHeightPoints when the 'height' value passed to a row property is null, empty, or whitespace. The helper is the single entry point that normalizes row-height input (bare points or unit-qualified) into the points value OOXML stores.

Source

Thrown at src/officecli/Handlers/Excel/ExcelHandler.Helpers.cs:128

            "dk2" or "tx2" or "dark2" or "text2" => 3u,
            "accent1" => 4u,
            "accent2" => 5u,
            "accent3" => 6u,
            "accent4" => 7u,
            "accent5" => 8u,
            "accent6" => 9u,
            "hlink" or "hyperlink" => 10u,
            "folhlink" or "followedhyperlink" => 11u,
            _ => null
        };

    // CONSISTENCY(rc-units): Row height is in points in OOXML; this helper
    // accepts bare numbers (treated as points, backward compat) as well as
    // unit-qualified "40pt", "40px", "1cm", "0.5in" and returns points.
    internal static double ParseRowHeightPoints(string value)
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(value))
            throw new ArgumentException("Row height cannot be empty.");
        var trimmed = value.Trim();
        double pts;
        // Bare number → points (legacy behavior)
        if (double.TryParse(trimmed, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Float,
                System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out var bare)
            && !char.IsLetter(trimmed[^1]))
        {
            if (double.IsNaN(bare) || double.IsInfinity(bare))
                throw new ArgumentException($"Invalid 'height' value: '{value}'. Expected a finite number (row height in points, e.g. 15.75).");
            pts = bare;
        }
        else
        {
            // Unit-qualified: convert via EMU then back to points.
            try
            {
                var emu = OfficeCli.Core.EmuConverter.ParseEmu(trimmed);
                pts = emu / EmuConverter.EmuPerPointF;

View on GitHub (pinned to 1ced45e900)

Solutions

Provide an explicit height value: a bare number (points) or a unit-qualified string (40pt, 40px, 1cm, 0.5in).
Skip setting height entirely if no value is intended rather than passing an empty string.
In calling code, guard with string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(value) before invoking the Set path.

Example fix

// before
set /Sheet1/row[5] --prop height=

// after
set /Sheet1/row[5] --prop height=15.75
// or unit-qualified
set /Sheet1/row[5] --prop height=20pt

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(heightValue))
    throw new ArgumentException("Provide a row height (bare points or e.g. 20pt).");

Prevention

Skip the height prop entirely when no value is intended instead of passing an empty string.
In dynamic prop builders, omit keys whose source field is null or whitespace.

When it happens

Trigger: Invoking set /Sheet/row[N] --prop height= with an empty value, or passing null/"" programmatically to a code path that calls ParseRowHeightPoints (the row Set handler, batch emitters, or import helpers).

Common situations: An agent or script that builds the prop string dynamically leaving height blank when a source field is missing; templating code that interpolates an undefined variable; CI runs that pass --prop height=$HEIGHT with HEIGHT unset.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI@1ced45e900 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/16b3ae8db1dbcf54. Report an issue: GitHub.