qax-os/excelize · error

invalid name %q, the name should be starts with a letter or

Error message

invalid name %q, the name should be starts with a letter or underscore, can not include a space or character, and can not conflict with an existing name in the workbook

What it means

Error "invalid name %q, the name should be starts with a letter or underscore, can not include a space or character, and can not conflict with an existing name in the workbook" thrown in qax-os/excelize.

Source

Thrown at errors.go:297

	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)
}

// newInvalidNameError defined the error message on receiving the invalid
// defined name or table name.
func newInvalidNameError(name string) error {
	return fmt.Errorf("invalid name %q, the name should be starts with a letter or underscore, can not include a space or character, and can not conflict with an existing name in the workbook", name)
}

// newInvalidOptionalValue defined the error message on receiving the invalid
// optional value.
func newInvalidOptionalValue(name, value string, values []string) error {
	return fmt.Errorf("invalid %s value %q, acceptable value should be one of %s", name, value, strings.Join(values, ", "))
}

// newInvalidRowNumberError defined the error message on receiving the invalid
// row number.
func newInvalidRowNumberError(row int) error {
	return fmt.Errorf("invalid row number %d", row)
}

// newInvalidSharedStringIndex defined the error message on receive an invalid
// shared string index.
func newInvalidSharedStringIndex(idx int) error {
	return fmt.Errorf("invalid shared string index %d", idx)

View on GitHub (pinned to f2483381fb)

Solutions

1. Start the name with a letter or underscore
2. Remove spaces and disallowed punctuation
3. Pick a name not already used by another defined name or table

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at errors.go:297 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/1921134147a0a018. Report an issue: GitHub.