octobercms/october · error · SystemException

Display name cannot be empty.

Error message

Display name cannot be empty.

What it means

ReportDimensionField's constructor requires a non-empty display name, because it is shown in the report UI (column headers, filter labels). The check runs after code validation and throws a SystemException when $displayName has zero length.

Source

Thrown at modules/dashboard/classes/ReportDimensionField.php:59

     * used directly, such as when it involves an aggregation function.
     * @param bool $sortable Specifies if the field is sortable.
     * @param bool $filterable Specifies if the field is filterable.
     */
    public function __construct(
        string $code,
        string $displayName,
        ?string $columnName = null,
        bool $sortable = false,
        bool $filterable = false
    ) {
        if (!strlen($code)) {
            throw new SystemException('The dimension field code cannot be empty.');
        }

        self::validateCode($code);

        if (!strlen($displayName)) {
            throw new SystemException('Display name cannot be empty.');
        }

        $this->displayName = $displayName;
        $this->sortable = $sortable;
        $this->filterable = $filterable;
        $this->code = $code;
        $this->columnName = $columnName;
    }

    /**
     * Returns the dimension field code.
     * @return string Returns the dimension field code.
     */
    public function getCode(): string
    {
        return $this->code;
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to b608633a7e)

Solutions

1. Ensure the display name resolves to a non-empty string for every locale (check the lang key exists)
2. Fall back to a humanized version of the code: $config['name'] ?? ucwords(str_replace('_', ' ', substr($code, 9)))
3. Fix the source configuration to always include a name

Example fix

// before
$field = new ReportDimensionField('oc_field_status', Lang::get('mystatusplugin::lang.status'));

// after
$name = Lang::get('mystatusplugin::lang.status');
if (!strlen(trim((string) $name))) {
    $name = 'Status';
}
$field = new ReportDimensionField('oc_field_status', $name);

$displayName = trim((string) $config['name']);
if ($displayName === '') {
    $displayName = ucwords(str_replace('_', ' ', substr($code, strlen('oc_field_'))));
}
$field = new ReportDimensionField($code, $displayName);

When it happens

Trigger: new ReportDimensionField('oc_field_status', '') — any constructor call where the second argument is an empty string.

Common situations: Lang keys that fail to resolve and return ''; config arrays missing the display-name key; localization files added for one locale but not another so the translated name is empty in the untranslated locale.

Related errors

• The dimension field code cannot be empty.
• Unknown dimension field specified:
• Invalid configuration. All keys must be non-empty strings an
• The dimension field code must have the oc_field_ prefix
• Unknown dimension type:

AI-assisted analysis of octobercms/october@b608633a7e (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/65e92fc1e258f723. Report an issue: GitHub.