stride3d/stride · error · ArgumentException

Expecting relative path

Error message

Expecting relative path

What it means

Package.AddExistingProject requires pathToMsproj to be a relative path (UFile.IsAbsolute must be false). Passing an absolute path throws ArgumentException because the package stores project references relative to its own location.

Solutions

1. Convert the path to relative form with respect to the package directory before calling
2. Use UFile's relative-path helpers (e.g. Path.GetRelativePath against the package root)
3. Change the calling tool to store/emit relative project references

Example fix

// before
package.AddExistingProject(new UFile(@"C:\dev\MyGame\MyGame.csproj"), logger);
// after
var abs = new UFile(@"C:\dev\MyGame\MyGame.csproj");
var rel = new UFile(System.IO.Path.GetRelativePath(package.RootDirectory, abs));
package.AddExistingProject(rel, logger);

if (projPath.IsAbsolute) projPath = new UFile(Path.GetRelativePath(package.RootDirectory, projPath));

try { package.AddExistingProject(rel, logger); } catch (ArgumentException ex) { log.Error(ex.Message); }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling AddExistingProject with an absolute path such as "C:\\proj\\My.csproj" or "/home/u/proj/My.csproj" instead of a path relative to the package root.

Common situations: Browsing for a .csproj with an absolute file path from a tool/editor and passing it directly; path built from Environment.CurrentDirectory; migrating scripts written for absolute paths.

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

• filePath must be relative
• Invalid relative path. Expecting an absolute project path
• The value must be a non-null string when type is…
• The value must be null when type is ElementType.Target.
• The value must be an Index when type is ElementType.Index.

AI-assisted analysis of stride3d/stride@96fad776d2 (2026-09-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d19609cb08517be7. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at sources/assets/Stride.Core.Assets/Package.cs:344

    /// <param name="pathToMsproj">The path to msproj.</param>
    /// <returns>LoggerResult.</returns>
    public LoggerResult AddExistingProject(UFile pathToMsproj)
    {
        var logger = new LoggerResult();
        AddExistingProject(pathToMsproj, logger);
        return logger;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Adds an existing project to this package.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="pathToMsproj">The path to msproj.</param>
    /// <param name="logger">The logger.</param>
    public void AddExistingProject(UFile pathToMsproj, LoggerResult logger)
    {
        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(pathToMsproj);
        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(logger);
        if (!pathToMsproj.IsAbsolute) throw new ArgumentException("Expecting relative path", nameof(pathToMsproj));

        try
        {
            // Load a project without specifying a platform to make sure we get the correct platform type
            var msProject = VSProjectHelper.LoadProject(pathToMsproj, platform: "NoPlatform");
            try
            {
                var projectType = VSProjectHelper.GetProjectTypeFromProject(msProject);
                var platformType = VSProjectHelper.GetPlatformTypeFromProject(msProject) ?? PlatformType.Shared;
                var projectReference = new ProjectReference(VSProjectHelper.GetProjectGuid(msProject), pathToMsproj.MakeRelative(RootDirectory), projectType);

                // TODO CSPROJ=XKPKG
                throw new NotImplementedException();
                // Add the ProjectReference only for the compatible profiles (same platform or no platform)
                //foreach (var profile in Profiles.Where(profile => platformType == profile.Platform))
                //{
                //    profile.ProjectReferences.Add(projectReference);
                //}

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