oracle/graal · error · IllegalArgumentException

componentIndex must be non-negative: <componentIndex>

Error message

componentIndex must be non-negative: <componentIndex>

What it means

Version.getComponent(int componentIndex) validates its argument: a negative index throws IllegalArgumentException('componentIndex must be non-negative: <n>'). Indexes are 0-based over the version components (0 = major, 1 = minor, 2 = revision, ...); an index beyond the available components is legal and returns 0. Only negative values are rejected.

Source

Thrown at sdk/src/org.graalvm.home/src/org/graalvm/home/Version.java:362

     * Version components are indexed as follows:
     * <ul>
     * <li>{@code componentIndex = 0} represents the major version</li>
     * <li>{@code componentIndex = 1} represents the minor version</li>
     * <li>{@code componentIndex = 2} represents the update version</li>
     * </ul>
     * If the specified {@code componentIndex} exceeds the number of available components, the
     * method returns {@code 0}. For example, a version {@code 23.1} will return {@code 0} for
     * {@code componentIndex = 2}.
     * </p>
     *
     * @param componentIndex the index of the version component to retrieve; must be non-negative
     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if {@code componentIndex} is negative
     * @since 24.2
     * @see Version#create(int...)
     */
    public int getComponent(int componentIndex) {
        if (componentIndex < 0) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("componentIndex must be non-negative: " + componentIndex);
        }
        return componentIndex < versions.length ? versions[componentIndex] : 0;
    }

    /**
     * Parses a GraalVM version from its String raw format. Throws {@link IllegalArgumentException}
     * if the passed string is not a valid GraalVM version.
     *
     * @since 19.3
     */
    public static Version parse(String versionString) throws IllegalArgumentException {
        Objects.requireNonNull(versionString);
        return new Version(versionString);
    }

    /**
     * Constructs a new GraalVM version from a list of version numbers. The versions must not be
     * <code>null</code> and none of the version numbers must be negative. At least one version

View on GitHub (pinned to a66e9ccd1d)

Solutions

1. Clamp or validate the index before the call: if (i >= 0) v = version.getComponent(i).
2. For 'last component' semantics, compute it from version.toString()/compareTo data, not negative indices.
3. Validate externally supplied indices at the API boundary with a clear error message.

Example fix

// before
for (int i = n; i >= -1; i--) {
    int comp = version.getComponent(i); // i == -1 -> throws
}

// after
for (int i = n; i >= 0; i--) {
    int comp = version.getComponent(i);
}

static int component(Version v, int idx) {
    return v.getComponent(Math.max(0, idx));
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling version.getComponent(-1) directly, or getComponent(i) in a loop where i starts at -1 or is decremented past zero; passing a component index parsed from user input or config without validation.

Common situations: Reverse iteration over version components; 'find last non-zero component' loops that walk downward and overshoot; exposing version component indices in a CLI/config API where users type -1 meaning 'last' (java.util.List semantics do not apply here).

Related errors

• At least one non-zero version must be specified.
• Cannot compare {JavaLangRuntimeVersion.__name__} to {type(ot
• Invalid replay boolean flag
• Required replay field is null
• Unexpected architecture name ${archName}

AI-assisted analysis of oracle/graal@a66e9ccd1d (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/733b44e9683a0663. Report an issue: GitHub.