What causes "Unexpected ArraySize == 0 from DDS HeaderDX10 " in stride3d/stride?

Fix or regenerate the DDS file with ArraySize >= 1 using a reliable tool (texconv, image studio)

stride3d/stride · error · InvalidOperationException

Unexpected ArraySize == 0 from DDS HeaderDX10

Error message

Unexpected ArraySize == 0 from DDS HeaderDX10

What it means

A DDS file with an extended DX10 header declares texture arrays via ArraySize. Stride (following DirectXTex) treats ArraySize == 0 as invalid — a resource must have at least one array element — so DecodeDDSHeader throws InvalidOperationException.

Solutions

Fix or regenerate the DDS file with ArraySize >= 1 using a reliable tool (texconv, image studio)
Inspect the file's DX10 header bytes (offset 128+20) to confirm the bad ArraySize
Convert the texture to a format without a DX10 header (plain DX9-style DDS) as a workaround
Patch ArraySize to 1 in the file if you know the texture is a single image

Example fix

// before (DDS DX10 header, 4-byte DWORD at offset 128+20)
ArraySize = 0
// after
ArraySize = 1

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Check DX10 header ArraySize before decoding (after magic+DX9 header at offset 128)
int dx10Offset = 128 + 20;
if (hasDx10Header && BitConverter.ToUInt32(ddsBytes, dx10Offset) == 0)
    throw new InvalidOperationException("DDS DX10 header has ArraySize == 0; file is malformed");

Try / catch

try { image = Image.Load(ddsBytes); } catch (InvalidOperationException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("ArraySize == 0")) { // treat as corrupt asset
    log.Error("Corrupt DDS (ArraySize=0); regenerate with texconv"); throw; }

Prevention

Validate DDS assets at import time in the content pipeline
Standardize on mainstream tools (texconv) for DDS generation
Add a pre-commit asset lint that checks DX10 header fields
Hash-and-version control source textures to detect corruption

When it happens

Trigger: Loading a DDS file whose HeaderDXT10.ArraySize field is 0, produced by a tool/bad writer or corrupted file.

Common situations: DDS files written by buggy custom exporters, files corrupted in transit, older/incorrect tools writing DX10 headers incorrectly.

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

AI-assisted analysis of stride3d/stride@96fad776d2 (2026-09-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/01487b795645dca3. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at sources/engine/Stride.Foundation/Graphics/DDSHelper.cs:331

            // Setup MipLevels
            description.MipLevels = header.MipMapCount;
            if (description.MipLevels == 0)
                description.MipLevels = 1;

            // Check for DX10 extension
            if ((header.PixelFormat.Flags & DDS.PixelFormatFlags.FourCC) != 0 && (new FourCC('D', 'X', '1', '0') == header.PixelFormat.FourCC))
            {
                // Buffer must be big enough for both headers and magic value
                if (size < (Unsafe.SizeOf<DDS.Header>() + sizeof (uint) + Unsafe.SizeOf<DDS.HeaderDXT10>()))
                    return false;

                var headerDX10 = *(DDS.HeaderDXT10*) ((byte*) headerPtr + sizeof (int) + Unsafe.SizeOf<DDS.Header>());
                convFlags |= ConversionFlags.DX10;

                description.ArraySize = headerDX10.ArraySize;
                if (description.ArraySize == 0)
                    throw new InvalidOperationException("Unexpected ArraySize == 0 from DDS HeaderDX10 ");

                description.Format = headerDX10.DXGIFormat;
                if (!description.Format.IsValid)
                    throw new InvalidOperationException("Invalid Format from DDS HeaderDX10 ");

                switch (headerDX10.ResourceDimension)
                {
                    case DDS.ResourceDimension.Texture1D:

                        // D3DX writes 1D textures with a fixed Height of 1
                        if ((header.Flags & DDS.HeaderFlags.Height) != 0 && header.Height != 1)
                            throw new InvalidOperationException("Unexpected Height != 1 from DDS HeaderDX10 ");

                        description.Width = header.Width;
                        description.Height = 1;
                        description.Depth = 1;
                        description.Dimension = TextureDimension.Texture1D;
                        break;

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