iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI · error · ArgumentException

Unsupported criteria operator: '{op}'. Valid: equals, notEqu

Error message

Unsupported criteria operator: '{op}'. Valid: equals, notEquals, contains, doesNotContain, beginsWith, endsWith, gt, gte, lt, lte, between, notBetween, top, topPercent, bottom, bottomPercent, blanks, nonBlanks, values, dynamic.

What it means

Thrown by AddAutoFilter's default switch case when the operator in a criteriaN.OP=VAL property key is not one of the recognized names. The operator is extracted by the regex ^criteria(\d+).([A-Za-z]+)$ and lower-cased, then dispatched; an unrecognized name means the criteria cannot be mapped to an Excel filter element. The message lists every valid operator so the caller can self-correct.

Source

Thrown at src/officecli/Handlers/Excel/ExcelHandler.Add.Tables.cs:940

                            .ToList();
                        var filters = filterColumn.Filters ?? (filterColumn.Filters = new Filters());
                        foreach (var v in vals)
                            filters.AppendChild(new Filter { Val = v });
                        handledDedicated = true;
                        break;
                    }
                    case "dynamic":
                    {
                        var dyn = new DynamicFilter
                        {
                            Type = new EnumValue<DynamicFilterValues>(new DynamicFilterValues(rawVal))
                        };
                        filterColumn.DynamicFilter = dyn;
                        handledDedicated = true;
                        break;
                    }
                    default:
                        throw new ArgumentException(
                            $"Unsupported criteria operator: '{op}'. Valid: equals, notEquals, contains, doesNotContain, beginsWith, endsWith, gt, gte, lt, lte, between, notBetween, top, topPercent, bottom, bottomPercent, blanks, nonBlanks, values, dynamic.");
                }
            }
            if (customEntries.Count > 0 && !handledDedicated)
            {
                var cf = new CustomFilters();
                if (customFilterAnd)
                    cf.And = true;
                foreach (var (fop, val) in customEntries)
                    cf.AppendChild(new CustomFilter
                    {
                        Operator = fop,
                        Val = val
                    });
                filterColumn.CustomFilters = cf;
            }
            autoFilter.AppendChild(filterColumn);
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to 1ced45e900)

Solutions

Use one of the listed operators exactly: equals, notEquals, contains, doesNotContain, beginsWith, endsWith, gt, gte, lt, lte, between, notBetween, top, topPercent, bottom, bottomPercent, blanks, nonBlanks, values, dynamic.
Note the operator is matched case-insensitively, but must match a whitelist entry verbatim otherwise.
If you need a range filter, use between with a 'lo,hi' value.

Example fix

// before
--prop criteria0.contain=foo
// after
--prop criteria0.contains=foo

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

static readonly HashSet<string> ValidFilterOps = new(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
{
    "equals","notEquals","contains","doesNotContain","beginsWith","endsWith",
    "gt","gte","lt","lte","between","notBetween",
    "top","topPercent","bottom","bottomPercent",
    "blanks","nonBlanks","values","dynamic"
};
static bool TryValidateCriteriaOp(string op, out string error)
{
    if (ValidFilterOps.Contains(op)) { error = null; return true; }
    error = $"Unsupported criteria operator: '{op}'. Valid: " + string.Join(", ", ValidFilterOps) + ".";
    return false;
}

Type guard

static bool IsValidFilterOp(string op) => ValidFilterOps.Contains(op);

Try / catch

try { handler.Add(path, "autofilter", null, props); }
catch (ArgumentException ex) when (ex.Message.StartsWith("Unsupported criteria operator"))
{ /* surface the whitelist to the caller; likely a typo in criteriaN.OP */ }

Prevention

Offer the operator list as an enum or autocomplete set in any UI that builds criteria keys.
Strip stray characters from operator names before constructing the criteriaN.OP key.
Log the failing operator so typos are obvious in error reports.

When it happens

Trigger: A typo in the operator segment of the key: criteria0.contain=x (missing 's'), criteria0.greaterthan=5 (use 'gt'), criteria0.between2=1,2, or any other key whose OP segment is alphabetic but not in the whitelist.

Common situations: Misremembering operator names, mixing camelCase expectations with the actual lowercase names, or relying on an operator the handler never implemented.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI@1ced45e900 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2009539a7824c40c. Report an issue: GitHub.