iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI · error · ArgumentException

--xml is required for setattr (format: name=value)

Error message

--xml is required for setattr (format: name=value)

What it means

Thrown when the action is 'setattr' but the xml argument is null. For setattr, the xml parameter carries the attribute specification in name=value format (not an XML fragment). Without it, there is no attribute to set. The error message includes the expected format: 'name=value'.

Source

Thrown at src/officecli/Core/RawXmlHelper.cs:232

                        node.AddAfterSelf(el);
                    affected++;
                    break;

                case "replace":
                    if (xml == null) throw new ArgumentException("--xml is required for replace");
                    var replaceFragment = ParseFragment(xml, xDoc);
                    node.ReplaceWith(replaceFragment.ToArray());
                    affected++;
                    break;

                case "remove" or "delete":
                    RequireParent(node, "remove");
                    node.Remove();
                    affected++;
                    break;

                case "setattr":
                    if (xml == null) throw new ArgumentException("--xml is required for setattr (format: name=value)");
                    var eqIdx = xml.IndexOf('=');
                    if (eqIdx <= 0) throw new ArgumentException("setattr format: name=value");
                    var attrName = xml[..eqIdx];
                    var attrValue = xml[(eqIdx + 1)..];

                    // Handle namespaced attributes (e.g. w:val)
                    var colonIdx = attrName.IndexOf(':');
                    if (colonIdx > 0)
                    {
                        var prefix = attrName[..colonIdx];
                        var localName = attrName[(colonIdx + 1)..];
                        var ns = nsManager.LookupNamespace(prefix);
                        if (ns != null)
                            node.SetAttributeValue(XName.Get(localName, ns), attrValue);
                        else
                            node.SetAttributeValue(attrName, attrValue);
                    }
                    else

View on GitHub (pinned to 1ced45e900)

Solutions

1. Provide the attribute specification as 'name=value' in the xml parameter, e.g. 'w:val=center' or 'val=1'.
2. Namespaced attributes use prefix:localname format, e.g. 'w:val=center' — the prefix is resolved against CommonNamespaces.
3. If you meant to set element content (not an attribute), use a different action (append/replace) with an XML fragment.

Example fix

// before
RawXmlHelper.Execute(root, xpath, "setattr", null);
RawXmlHelper.Execute(root, xpath, "setattr", "w:val");  // no =value

// after
RawXmlHelper.Execute(root, xpath, "setattr", "w:val=center");
RawXmlHelper.Execute(root, xpath, "setattr", "val=1");

if (action.Equals("setattr", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) && string.IsNullOrEmpty(xml))
    throw new ArgumentException("--xml is required for setattr (format: name=value)");

RawXmlHelper.Execute(rootElement, xpath, action, xml);

try
{
    RawXmlHelper.Execute(rootElement, xpath, "setattr", xml);
}
catch (ArgumentException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("--xml is required for setattr"))
{
    Console.Error.WriteLine("For setattr, provide 'attributename=value' in the xml parameter.");
}

When it happens

Trigger: RawXmlHelper.Execute(rootElement, xpath, "setattr", null). XPath matched at least one element, code entered the setattr case, xml == null. Note: for setattr, 'xml' is misnamed — it actually holds 'attrName=attrValue', not an XML fragment.

Common situations: Caller invokes raw-set with action=setattr but omits --xml. Caller provides the attribute name without a value (e.g. just 'w:val' instead of 'w:val=center'). Caller assumes setattr takes separate name and value arguments instead of a single name=value string.

Related errors

• setattr format: name=value
• --xml is required for append
• --xml is required for prepend
• --xml is required for insertbefore
• --xml is required for insertafter

AI-assisted analysis of iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI@1ced45e900 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b9a7ecf555aeb4d9. Report an issue: GitHub.