iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI · error · ArgumentException

Unknown chart type: '{kind}'. Supported: column, bar, line,

Error message

Unknown chart type: '{kind}'. Supported: column, bar, line, pie, doughnut, area, scatter, bubble, radar, stock, combo, waterfall. Add 'stacked' or 'percentstacked' suffix for variants (e.g. columnstacked).

What it means

The chart builder dispatches on a 'kind' string to construct the appropriate OOXML chart element (column, bar, line, pie, doughnut, area, scatter, bubble, radar, stock, combo, waterfall). Any unrecognized kind reaches the default arm and throws. Stacked/percentStacked suffixes are handled within specific chart-type arms (column, bar, line, area), not by this dispatch.

Source

Thrown at src/officecli/Core/Chart/ChartHelper.Builder.cs:382

                int gi = 0;
                while (gi < seriesData.Count)
                {
                    var t = gi < comboTypes.Length ? comboTypes[gi] : "line";
                    int gj = gi + 1;
                    while (gj < seriesData.Count
                           && gj < comboTypes.Length
                           && comboTypes[gj] == t)
                        gj++;
                    BuildComboGroup(t, plotArea, seriesData, categories,
                        startIdx: gi, endIdxExclusive: gj,
                        catAxisId, valAxisId, colors, noFillSeries);
                    gi = gj;
                }
                chartElement = null;
                break;
            }
            default:
                throw new ArgumentException(
                    $"Unknown chart type: '{kind}'. Supported: column, bar, line, pie, doughnut, area, scatter, bubble, radar, stock, combo, waterfall. " +
                    "Add 'stacked' or 'percentstacked' suffix for variants (e.g. columnstacked).");
        }

        if (chartElement != null)
            plotArea.AppendChild(chartElement);

        if (needsAxes)
        {
            if (kind == "scatter")
            {
                plotArea.AppendChild(BuildValueAxis(catAxisId, valAxisId, C.AxisPositionValues.Bottom));
                plotArea.AppendChild(BuildValueAxis(valAxisId, catAxisId, C.AxisPositionValues.Left));
            }
            else
            {
                plotArea.AppendChild(BuildCategoryAxis(catAxisId, valAxisId));
                plotArea.AppendChild(BuildValueAxis(valAxisId, catAxisId, C.AxisPositionValues.Left));

View on GitHub (pinned to 1ced45e900)

Solutions

Use one of the supported types: column, bar, line, pie, doughnut, area, scatter, bubble, radar, stock, combo, waterfall.
Append 'stacked' or 'percentstacked' for supported variants: columnstacked, barpercentstacked.
Check spelling — the error message lists all valid types.

Example fix

// before
kind: "colunm"
// after
kind: "column"
// stacked variant
kind: "columnstacked"

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

static readonly HashSet<string> ValidChartTypes = new(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
{ "column", "bar", "line", "pie", "doughnut", "area", "scatter",
  "bubble", "radar", "stock", "combo", "waterfall" };

static bool IsValidChartKind(string kind)
{
    // Check base type (strip stacked/percentstacked suffix)
    var baseKind = kind.EndsWith("percentstacked", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
        ? kind[..^14]
        : kind.EndsWith("stacked", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
            ? kind[..^7] : kind;
    return ValidChartTypes.Contains(baseKind);
}

Try / catch

try { ChartHelper.BuildChart(kind, ...); }
catch (ArgumentException ex) when (ex.Message.StartsWith("Unknown chart type"))
{
    Console.Error.WriteLine($"{ex.Message}");
}

Prevention

Validate the chart kind against the supported set before building.
Check spelling carefully (column, not colunm; doughnut, not donut).
Append stacked/percentstacked only to chart types that support variants.

When it happens

Trigger: Creating a chart with an unrecognized type string: kind='histogram', kind='treemap', kind='sunburst', kind='colum'. The kind is matched against the switch arms before any chart element is built.

Common situations: Misspelling a chart type ('colunm', 'dognut', 'watterfall'). Using a chart type supported by newer Excel versions but not by this library (histogram, treemap, funnel). Using an OOXML internal name instead of the friendly name (e.g. 'barChart' instead of 'bar').

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI@1ced45e900 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1234227efcab8ef4. Report an issue: GitHub.