quarkusio/quarkus · error · IllegalArgumentException

`width` must be positive

Error message

`width` must be positive

What it means

GeoSearchArgs.byBox defines a BYBOX search area with width, height, and unit; negative dimensions are geometrically invalid, so width is validated first and a negative value throws IllegalArgumentException. Height and unit get their own checks afterward, so this error indicates the width specifically was negative.

Source

Thrown at extensions/redis-client/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/redis/datasource/geo/GeoSearchArgs.java:94

        if (unit == null) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("`unit` cannot be `null`");
        }
        this.radius = radius;
        this.unit = unit;
        return this;
    }

    /**
     * Search inside circular area according to given {@code radius}.
     *
     * @param width the width of the box
     * @param height the height of the box
     * @param unit the unit
     * @return the current {@code GeoSearchArgs}
     **/
    public GeoSearchArgs<V> byBox(double width, double height, GeoUnit unit) {
        if (width < 0) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("`width` must be positive");
        }
        if (height < 0) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("`height` must be positive");
        }
        if (unit == null) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("`unit` cannot be `null`");
        }
        this.width = width;
        this.height = height;
        this.unit = unit;
        return this;
    }

    /**
     * Use {@code ASC} order (from small to large).
     *
     * @return the current {@code GeoRadiusArgs}
     **/

View on GitHub (pinned to e1c734241f)

Solutions

1. Ensure width is non-negative before calling byBox, e.g. Math.abs or taking max-min in the right order
2. Fix the calculation that produces the box extent
3. Validate config-provided dimensions at startup

Example fix

// before
double width = x2 - x1; // x2 < x1 possible
args.byBox(width, height, GeoUnit.KM);
// after
double width = Math.abs(x2 - x1);
args.byBox(width, height, GeoUnit.KM);

if (width < 0) { throw new IllegalStateException("width must be >= 0"); }

try { args.byBox(width, height, unit); } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) { log.warn("Bad box: " + e.getMessage()); }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling byBox(-5, 10, GeoUnit.KM) or passing a width derived from data that can go negative (difference of coordinates, sentinel value, bad parse).

Common situations: Bounding boxes computed from min/max points in wrong order producing negative extents; config sentinels of -1 meaning 'unset'; swapped width/height arguments.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Must be a positive integer", "Invalid value", "Unsupported": the invalid-argument-value error family, when a library rejects the value you pass — this error's family across 35 libraries.

Related errors

• ANY can only be used if COUNT is also set
• `radius` must be positive
• `height` must be positive
• ANY can only be used if COUNT is also set
• At least `STORE` or `STOREDIST` must be set

AI-assisted analysis of quarkusio/quarkus@e1c734241f (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e0f1eaa468b06ce8. Report an issue: GitHub.