error in preparsed UCD: '%s' is not a valid code point range

Error message

error in preparsed UCD: '%s' is not a valid code point range on line %ld

What it means

Thrown by PreparsedUCD::parseCodePointRange() when u_parseCodePointRange() fails to parse the input string as a valid code point range. Unlike parseCodePoint, this error does not overwrite the errorCode — it returns the existing failure code set by u_parseCodePointRange. The expected format is 'XXXX..YYYY' (hex start..end).

Source

Thrown at deps/icu-small/source/tools/toolutil/ppucd.cpp:537

PreparsedUCD::parseCodePoint(const char *s, UErrorCode &errorCode) {
    char *end;
    uint32_t value = static_cast<uint32_t>(uprv_strtoul(s, &end, 16));
    if(end<=s || *end!=0 || value>=0x110000) {
        fprintf(stderr,
                "error in preparsed UCD: '%s' is not a valid code point on line %ld\n",
                s, static_cast<long>(lineNumber));
        errorCode=U_PARSE_ERROR;
        return U_SENTINEL;
    }
    return static_cast<UChar32>(value);
}

UBool
PreparsedUCD::parseCodePointRange(const char *s, UChar32 &start, UChar32 &end, UErrorCode &errorCode) {
    uint32_t st, e;
    u_parseCodePointRange(s, &st, &e, &errorCode);
    if(U_FAILURE(errorCode)) {
        fprintf(stderr,
                "error in preparsed UCD: '%s' is not a valid code point range on line %ld\n",
                s, static_cast<long>(lineNumber));
        return false;
    }
    start = static_cast<UChar32>(st);
    end = static_cast<UChar32>(e);
    return true;
}

void
PreparsedUCD::parseString(const char *s, UnicodeString &uni, UErrorCode &errorCode) {
    char16_t *buffer=toUCharPtr(uni.getBuffer(-1));
    int32_t length=u_parseString(s, buffer, uni.getCapacity(), nullptr, &errorCode);
    if(errorCode==U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR) {
        errorCode=U_ZERO_ERROR;
        uni.releaseBuffer(0);
        buffer=toUCharPtr(uni.getBuffer(length));
        length=u_parseString(s, buffer, uni.getCapacity(), nullptr, &errorCode);

View on GitHub (pinned to 1b2de5e052)

Solutions

Ensure the range uses the 'XXXX..YYYY' format with exactly two dots as separator.
Verify start <= end and both are valid hex code points within 0x0000-0x10FFFF.
Check for stray characters or incorrect delimiters in the range field.
Regenerate the ppucd data using the official ICU tools.

Example fix

// before
algnamesrange;3400-4DBF
// after
algnamesrange;3400..4DBF

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Validate a code point range string 'XXXX..YYYY'
#include <cstdlib>
#include <cstring>

bool isValidCodePointRange(const char* s) {
    if (s == nullptr) return false;
    const char* dots = strstr(s, "..");
    if (dots == nullptr) return false;
    // Parse start
    char* end;
    unsigned long start = strtoul(s, &end, 16);
    if (end != dots) return false;
    // Parse end
    const char* endStr = dots + 2;
    unsigned long endVal = strtoul(endStr, &end, 16);
    if (*end != '\0') return false;
    if (start >= 0x110000 || endVal >= 0x110000) return false;
    return (start <= endVal);
}

Prevention

Always use the 'XXXX..YYYY' format with two dots for code point ranges.
Verify start <= end in all range fields.
Ensure range values are within the valid Unicode codespace.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling parseCodePointRange() with a malformed range string — missing '..' separator, reversed range (end < start), non-hex values, or a range exceeding 0x10FFFF. This is used by getRangeForAlgNames() and property range parsing.

Common situations: Malformed range syntax in ppucd algnamesrange lines; using a single dash '-' instead of '..'; reversed start/end values; Unicode version data where ranges were incorrectly generated.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of nodejs/node@1b2de5e052 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ecefe397f1b02ef7. Report an issue: GitHub.