octobercms/october · error · Error

Cannot switch to container: a container element is not found

Error message

Cannot switch to container: a container element is not found

What it means

ReportDataPaginationParams is the value object dashboard report widgets use to paginate result sets. Its constructor enforces that `$recordsPerPage` is a positive integer (> 0) — zero or negative values are rejected immediately with this ApplicationException, since they make page math (offset = page * recordsPerPage) meaningless or division-based calculations fatal.

Source

Thrown at modules/backend/assets/foundation/controls/inspector/inspector.manager.js:85

        var options = $.extend(this.loadElementOptions(wrapper.$element), {
                containerSupported: true
            })

        new $.oc.inspector.wrappers.popup(wrapper.$element, wrapper, options)

        wrapper.cleanupAfterSwitch();
        this.setContainerPreference(false);
    }

    InspectorManager.prototype.switchToContainer = function(wrapper) {
        var $container = this.getContainerElement(wrapper.$element),
            options = $.extend(this.loadElementOptions(wrapper.$element), {
                containerSupported: true,
                container: $container
            });

        if (!$container) {
            throw new Error('Cannot switch to container: a container element is not found');
        }

        new $.oc.inspector.wrappers.container(wrapper.$element, wrapper, options);

        wrapper.cleanupAfterSwitch();
        this.setContainerPreference(true);
    }

    InspectorManager.prototype.createInspector = function(element) {
        var $element = $(element);

        if ($element.data('oc.inspectorVisible')) {
            return false;
        }

        var $container = this.getContainerElement($element);

        // If there's no container option, create the Inspector popup

View on GitHub (pinned to b608633a7e)

Solutions

Pass a positive page size, e.g. `new ReportDataPaginationParams(20, $page)`.
Guard user input before constructing: reject or default `per_page` values below 1 in the handler.
If 'no pagination' is needed, skip creating ReportDataPaginationParams entirely rather than passing 0.

Example fix

// before
new ReportDataPaginationParams((int) array_get($params, 'per_page', 0), 0);

// after
$perPage = (int) array_get($params, 'per_page', 20);
if ($perPage < 1) {
    $perPage = 20;
}
new ReportDataPaginationParams($perPage, 0);

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Validate at the request boundary
$perPage = (int) request()->input('per_page', 20);
if ($perPage < 1) {
    throw new ValidationException(['per_page' => 'Records per page must be a positive integer']);
}
$params = new \Dashboard\Classes\ReportDataPaginationParams($perPage, max(0, $page));

Type guard

/**
 * @param mixed $value
 * @returns {boolean}
 */
function isPositivePageCount($value)
{
    return is_int($value) && $value > 0;
}

Prevention

Default page size to a sane positive constant (e.g. 20) instead of 0 when input is missing.
Validate per_page/limit query parameters as integers >= 1 before building pagination.
Skip pagination entirely rather than passing 0 to mean 'all records'.

When it happens

Trigger: Constructing with `(int) get('per_page')` when the parameter is absent so it casts to 0; a UI page-size selector that allows 0 or empty; defaulting recordsPerPage to 0 in a custom report widget before the user picks a size.

Common situations: Optional 'limit'/'per_page' request parameters that arrive empty and become 0; widgets initialized before configuration loads; tests constructing the object with 0 to mean 'no pagination'.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of octobercms/october@b608633a7e (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/36f0e11612fdceed. Report an issue: GitHub.