phacility/phabricator · error · Exception

Invalid effect!

Error message

Invalid effect!

What it means

PHUIObjectItemView::setEffect() accepts exactly four values: 'highlighted', 'selected', 'visited', or null (no effect). During rendering, a switch maps these to CSS classes and its default case throws for anything else — a typo like 'hilighted', a CSS class name like 'phui-oi-highlighted', a color name, or a legacy value that no longer exists.

Source

Thrown at src/view/phui/PHUIObjectItemView.php:336

      $item_classes[] = 'phui-oi-disabled';
    } else {
      $item_classes[] = 'phui-oi-enabled';
    }

    switch ($this->effect) {
      case 'highlighted':
        $item_classes[] = 'phui-oi-highlighted';
        break;
      case 'selected':
        $item_classes[] = 'phui-oi-selected';
        break;
      case 'visited':
        $item_classes[] = 'phui-oi-visited';
        break;
      case null:
        break;
      default:
        throw new Exception(pht('Invalid effect!'));
    }

    if ($this->isForbidden) {
      $item_classes[] = 'phui-oi-forbidden';
    } else if ($this->isSelected) {
      $item_classes[] = 'phui-oi-selected';
    }

    if ($this->selectableName !== null && !$this->isForbidden) {
      $item_classes[] = 'phui-oi-selectable';
      $sigils[] = 'phui-oi-selectable';

      Javelin::initBehavior('phui-selectable-list');
    }

    $is_grippable = $this->getGrippable();
    if ($is_grippable !== null) {
      $item_classes[] = 'phui-oi-has-grip';

View on GitHub (pinned to 5720a38cfe)

Solutions

1. Use one of the supported values: 'highlighted', 'selected', 'visited', or null.
2. For selection state prefer the dedicated setters setSelected(true) / setForbidden(true) instead of an effect.
3. If a genuinely new visual state is needed, extend the effect switch in a subclass rather than passing unknown strings.

Example fix

// before
$item->setEffect('hilighted'); // typo: throws at render

// after
$item->setEffect('highlighted');

$valid_effects = array('highlighted', 'selected', 'visited', null);
if (in_array($effect, $valid_effects, true)) {
  $item->setEffect($effect);
}

function isValidObjectItemEffect($effect) {
  return in_array(
    $effect,
    array('highlighted', 'selected', 'visited', null),
    true);
}

When it happens

Trigger: $item->setEffect('important'), setEffect('hilighted'), or passing any string not in the effect switch, then rendering the item list.

Common situations: Copy-pasting effect names from CSS class names instead of the switch in the view; custom forks adding a visual state without extending the switch; upgrades where an effect keyword was removed.

Related errors

• Unknown condition "%s"!
• Incorrect Property Passed
• Limit 3 actions per item.
• Service "%s" is unrecognized, restricted, or you do not have
• When creating a new Almanac interface via the Conduit API, y

AI-assisted analysis of phacility/phabricator@5720a38cfe (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9023de9c5a3f631d. Report an issue: GitHub.