mrdoob/three.js · error

unknown geometry type.

Error message

unknown geometry type.

What it means

Thrown by the geo-picking texture generator when a GeoJSON feature's geometry.type is not in geoHandlers, which only registers 'Polygon' and 'MultiPolygon'. The draw() function reads geometry.type from each area feature and looks up the handler; unhandled geometry kinds (Point, LineString, MultiLineString, GeometryCollection, etc.) abort the whole texture build.

Source

Thrown at manual/resources/tools/geo-picking/make-geo-picking-texture.js:140

			const r = ( id >> 0 ) & 0xFF;
			const g = ( id >> 8 ) & 0xFF;
			const b = ( id >> 16 ) & 0xFF;

			countryData[ name ] = {
				color: [ r, g, b ],
				id: id ++,
			};
			countriesById.push( { name } );

		}

		const countryInfo = countriesById[ countryData[ name ].id - 1 ];

		const handler = geoHandlers[ type ];
		if ( ! handler ) {

			throw new Error( 'unknown geometry type.' );

		}

		resetMinMax();

		workCtx.save();
		workCtx.clearRect( 0, 0, workCtx.canvas.width, workCtx.canvas.height );
		workCtx.fillStyle = '#000';
		workCtx.strokeStyle = '#000';
		workCtx.translate( workCtx.canvas.width / 2, workCtx.canvas.height / 2 );
		workCtx.scale( workCtx.canvas.width / 360, workCtx.canvas.height / - 180 );

		handler( workCtx, geometry, fill );

		workCtx.restore();

		countryInfo.min = min;
		countryInfo.max = max;

View on GitHub (pinned to da05705fa3)

Solutions

1. Pre-filter the GeoJSON to features whose geometry.type is 'Polygon' or 'MultiPolygon' before drawing.
2. If you need line/point features, register handlers in geoHandlers (e.g. 'LineString': lineFeature) and implement the draw routine.
3. Skip unknown types instead of throwing: in draw(), 'if (!handler) return;' after logging, rather than aborting.

Example fix

// before — non-polygon feature aborts everything
for ( const area of features ) draw( area ); // area.geometry.type === 'Point' -> throws

// after — skip features the handler cannot draw
const features = geoJSON.features.filter(
  f => f.geometry.type === 'Polygon' || f.geometry.type === 'MultiPolygon'
);
for ( const area of features ) draw( area );

const SUPPORTED_GEO = new Set( [ 'Polygon', 'MultiPolygon' ] );
function filterPolygons( features ) {
  return features.filter( f => SUPPORTED_GEO.has( f.geometry && f.geometry.type ) );
}

function isHandledGeometry( type ) {
  return type === 'Polygon' || type === 'MultiPolygon';
}

const handler = geoHandlers[ type ];
if ( ! handler ) { console.warn( 'skipping unsupported geometry:', type ); return; }

When it happens

Trigger: Feeding country boundary GeoJSON that contains a non-polygon feature — e.g. a Point for a capital city, a LineString for a border, or a GeometryCollection. Using a different natural-earth dataset whose feature geometry types differ from the expected Polygon/MultiPolygon.

Common situations: Swapping the source shapefile/GeoJSON for the picking-texture tool to a richer dataset that includes point/line layers. Editing the dataset and accidentally leaving in a metadata feature with a non-polygon geometry.

Related errors

• invalid length
• unsupported shape type: ${type}
• "transform stack empty!
• transform stack not 0
• no diagram ${name}

AI-assisted analysis of mrdoob/three.js@da05705fa3 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/864e6934f9da963a. Report an issue: GitHub.