stanfordnlp/CoreNLP · error · RuntimeException

Unknown entry " " in dictionary " "!

Error message

Unknown entry "${s}" in dictionary "${mName}"!

What it means

RuntimeException from StringDictionary.get(String,boolean) when shouldThrow is true and the string s is not present in the named dictionary (mName). It is a lookup guard used by machine-reading components for known entity/role strings; unknown tokens are fatal when strict lookups are requested.

Solutions

1. Call get with shouldThrow=false to get -1 for unknown entries
2. Pre-populate the dictionary or enable mCreate so unknown strings are added
3. Check token normalization (case, whitespace) before lookup

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at src/edu/stanford/nlp/ie/machinereading/common/StringDictionary.java:95 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of stanfordnlp/CoreNLP@1b7edd19c4 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2ac6992c163ddd02. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/edu/stanford/nlp/ie/machinereading/common/StringDictionary.java:95

   * if it does not exist. If mCreate is true, the count of the entry is
   * incremented for every get If no entry found throws an exception if
   * shouldThrow == true
   */
  public int get(String s, boolean shouldThrow) {
    IndexAndCount ic = mDict.get(s);
    if (mCreate) {
      if (ic == null) {
        ic = new IndexAndCount(mDict.size(), 0);
        mDict.put(s, ic);
        mInverse.put(Integer.valueOf(ic.mIndex), s);
      }
      ic.mCount++;
    }
    if (ic != null)
      return ic.mIndex;

    if (shouldThrow) {
      throw new RuntimeException("Unknown entry \"" + s + "\" in dictionary \"" + mName + "\"!");
    } else {
      return -1;
    }
  }

  public static final String NIL_VALUE = "nil";

  /**
   * Reverse mapping from integer key to string value
   */
  public String get(int idx) {
    if (idx == -1)
      return NIL_VALUE;

    String s = mInverse.get(idx);
    if (s == null)
      throw new RuntimeException("Unknown index \"" + idx + "\" in dictionary \"" + mName + "\"!");
    return s;

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