What causes "Sheet not found: {oleSheetName}" in iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI?

List worksheets to confirm the exact sheet name.

iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI · error · ArgumentException

Sheet not found: {oleSheetName}

Error message

Sheet not found: {oleSheetName}

What it means

Thrown by the OLE-add handler when the sheet name extracted from the parentPath does not resolve to an existing worksheet. The path is split on the first '/' and the first segment is the sheet name; if FindWorksheet returns null, this fires before any OLE processing begins.

Source

Thrown at src/officecli/Handlers/Excel/ExcelHandler.Add.Drawings.cs:74

        // Structure produced:
        //   Worksheet > oleObjects > oleObject(progId, shapeId, r:id=embedRel)
        //     > objectPr(defaultSize=0, r:id=iconRel)
        //       > anchor(moveWithCells=1)
        //         > from(col, colOff, row, rowOff)
        //         > to  (col, colOff, row, rowOff)
        //
        // We skip the legacy VML shape that Excel historically
        // generates as a fallback — when the modern objectPr/anchor
        // is present, Office 2010+ renders from it directly. The
        // constraint-required shapeId still needs a value, so we
        // allocate one in the legal range (1-67098623) unique per
        // worksheet. For round-trip fidelity, we also create an
        // empty legacy VmlDrawingPart and register the shapeId
        // there so the relationship target exists.
        var oleSheetSegs = parentPath.TrimStart('/').Split('/', 2);
        var oleSheetName = oleSheetSegs[0];
        var oleWorksheet = FindWorksheet(oleSheetName)
            ?? throw new ArgumentException($"Sheet not found: {oleSheetName}");

        var oleSrc = OfficeCli.Core.OleHelper.RequireSource(properties);
        OfficeCli.Core.OleHelper.WarnOnUnknownOleProps(properties);

        // Embedding the workbook into itself: the source is open/locked by this
        // resident session, so the read yields 0 bytes and produces an empty
        // OLE payload real Excel refuses (0x800A03EC). Reject up front.
        try
        {
            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(oleSrc) && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(_filePath)
                && string.Equals(Path.GetFullPath(oleSrc), Path.GetFullPath(_filePath),
                    StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
                throw new ArgumentException(
                    "Cannot embed a workbook into itself: the source file is the workbook being edited. "
                    + "Embed a different file, or make a copy of the source first.");
        }
        catch (ArgumentException) { throw; }
        catch { /* path canonicalization failed — fall through to normal read */ }

View on GitHub (pinned to 1ced45e900)

Solutions

List worksheets to confirm the exact sheet name.
Check for trailing spaces or case sensitivity.
Create the sheet if needed before adding the OLE object.

Example fix

// before (sheet is 'Dashboard')
add /dashboard --type ole --src data.xlsx
// after
add /Dashboard --type ole --src data.xlsx

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Check the sheet exists before calling OLE add
var sheetName = parentPath.TrimStart('/').Split('/', 2)[0];
if (handler.FindWorksheet(sheetName) == null)
    throw new InvalidOperationException($"Sheet not found: {sheetName}");

Try / catch

try { handler.AddOle(parentPath, properties); }
catch (ArgumentException ex) when (ex.Message.StartsWith("Sheet not found:"))
{
    Console.Error.WriteLine($"{ex.Message} Verify the sheet name.");
}

Prevention

List worksheets and verify the exact name before the add call.
Check casing and trailing whitespace in sheet names.
Create the target sheet if it does not exist.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling add /NonExistentSheet --type ole --src object.xlsx. The worksheet with that exact name does not exist in the workbook.

Common situations: Sheet was renamed or deleted. Casing or whitespace mismatch. Script references a sheet from a template that was modified.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI@1ced45e900 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a8d19d45539c62ef. Report an issue: GitHub.