qax-os/excelize · error

invalid cell name %q

Error message

invalid cell name %q

What it means

Error from newInvalidCellNameError, a validation helper used by coordinate/adjustment routines (insert rows/cols, merge cells, formula adjustment) when a cell reference does not parse as a valid A1-style name; at fault is the cell name string passed to the calling API.

Source

Thrown at errors.go:273

	return fmt.Errorf("incorrect index of column %q", col)
}

// newInvalidAutoFilterExpError defined the error message on receiving the
// incorrect number of tokens in criteria expression.
func newInvalidAutoFilterExpError(exp string) error {
	return fmt.Errorf("incorrect number of tokens in criteria %q", exp)
}

// newInvalidAutoFilterOperatorError defined the error message on receiving the
// incorrect expression operator.
func newInvalidAutoFilterOperatorError(op, exp string) error {
	return fmt.Errorf("the operator %q in expression %q is not valid in relation to Blanks/NonBlanks", op, exp)
}

// newInvalidCellNameError defined the error message on receiving the invalid
// cell name.
func newInvalidCellNameError(cell string) error {
	return fmt.Errorf("invalid cell name %q", cell)
}

// newInvalidColumnNameError defined the error message on receiving the
// invalid column name.
func newInvalidColumnNameError(col string) error {
	return fmt.Errorf("invalid column name %q", col)
}

// newInvalidExcelDateError defined the error message on receiving the data
// with negative values.
func newInvalidExcelDateError(dateValue float64) error {
	return fmt.Errorf("invalid date value %f, negative values are not supported", dateValue)
}

// newInvalidLinkTypeError defined the error message on receiving the invalid
// hyper link type.
func newInvalidLinkTypeError(linkType string) error {
	return fmt.Errorf("invalid link type %q", linkType)

View on GitHub (pinned to f2483381fb)

Solutions

1. Pass cell references like "A1" (letters then digits)
2. Build names via CoordinatesToCellName instead of string concatenation

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at errors.go:273 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of qax-os/excelize@f2483381fb (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b79b6f535674c3ed. Report an issue: GitHub.