ArgumentOutOfRangeException Class
Definition
Important
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The exception that is thrown when the value of an argument is outside the allowable range of values as defined by the invoked method.
public ref class ArgumentOutOfRangeException : ArgumentException
public class ArgumentOutOfRangeException : ArgumentException
[System.Serializable]
public class ArgumentOutOfRangeException : ArgumentException
[System.Serializable]
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(true)]
public class ArgumentOutOfRangeException : ArgumentException
type ArgumentOutOfRangeException = class
inherit ArgumentException
type ArgumentOutOfRangeException = class
inherit ArgumentException
interface ISerializable
[<System.Serializable>]
type ArgumentOutOfRangeException = class
inherit ArgumentException
interface ISerializable
[<System.Serializable>]
[<System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(true)>]
type ArgumentOutOfRangeException = class
inherit ArgumentException
interface ISerializable
Public Class ArgumentOutOfRangeException
Inherits ArgumentException
- Inheritance
- Inheritance
- Attributes
- Implements
Examples
The following example defines a class to contain information about an invited guest. If the guest is younger than 21, an ArgumentOutOfRangeException exception is thrown.
using System;
using static System.Console;
public class Program
{
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
try
{
var guest1 = new Guest("Ben", "Miller", 17);
WriteLine(guest1.GuestInfo);
}
catch (ArgumentOutOfRangeException argumentOutOfRangeException)
{
WriteLine($"Error: {argumentOutOfRangeException.Message}");
}
}
}
class Guest
{
private const int minimumRequiredAge = 21;
private string firstName;
private string lastName;
private int age;
public Guest(string firstName, string lastName, int age)
{
if (age < minimumRequiredAge)
throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(age), $"All guests must be {minimumRequiredAge}-years-old or older.");
this.firstName = firstName;
this.lastName = lastName;
this.age = age;
}
public string GuestInfo => $"{firstName} {lastName}, {age}";
}
open System
type Guest(fName: string, lName: string, age: int) =
let minimumRequiredAge = 21
do if age < minimumRequiredAge then
raise (ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof age, $"All guests must be {minimumRequiredAge}-years-old or older."))
member _.FirstName = fName
member _.LastName = lName
member _.GuestInfo() = $"{fName} {lName}, {age}"
try
let guest1 = Guest("Ben", "Miller", 17);
printfn $"{guest1.GuestInfo()}"
with
| :? ArgumentOutOfRangeException as e ->
printfn $"Error: {e.Message}"
Module Module1
Public Sub Main()
Try
Dim guest1 As Guest = New Guest("Ben", "Miller", 17)
Console.WriteLine(guest1.GuestInfo)
Catch outOfRange As ArgumentOutOfRangeException
Console.WriteLine("Error: {0}", outOfRange.Message)
End Try
End Sub
End Module
Class Guest
Private FirstName As String
Private LastName As String
Private Age As Integer
Public Sub New(ByVal fName As String, ByVal lName As String, ByVal age As Integer)
MyBase.New()
FirstName = fName
LastName = lName
If (age < 21) Then
Throw New ArgumentOutOfRangeException("age", "All guests must be 21-years-old or older.")
Else
age = age
End If
End Sub
Public Function GuestInfo() As String
Dim gInfo As String = (FirstName + (" " _
+ (Me.LastName + (", " + Me.Age.ToString))))
Return gInfo
End Function
End Class
Remarks
An ArgumentOutOfRangeException exception is thrown when a method is invoked and at least one of the arguments passed to the method is not null
and contains an invalid value that is not a member of the set of values expected for the argument. The ParamName property identifies the invalid argument, and the ActualValue property, if a value is present, identifies the invalid value.
Typically, an ArgumentOutOfRangeException results from developer error. Instead of handling the exception in a try
/catch
block, you should eliminate the cause of the exception or, if the argument is returned by a method call or input by the user before being passed to the method that throws the exception, you should validate arguments before passing them to the method.
ArgumentOutOfRangeException is used extensively by:
Classes in the System.Collections and System.IO namespaces.
The Array class.
String manipulation methods in the String class.
The conditions in which an ArgumentOutOfRangeException exception is thrown include the following:
You are retrieving the member of a collection by its index number, and the index number is invalid.
This is the most common cause of an ArgumentOutOfRangeException exception. Typically, the index number is invalid for one of four reasons:
The collection has no members, and your code assumes that it does. The following example attempts to retrieve the first element of a collection that has no elements:
using System; using System.Collections.Generic; public class Example4 { public static void Main() { var list = new List<string>(); Console.WriteLine("Number of items: {0}", list.Count); try { Console.WriteLine("The first item: '{0}'", list[0]); } catch (ArgumentOutOfRangeException e) { Console.WriteLine(e.Message); } } } // The example displays the following output: // Number of items: 0 // Index was out of range. Must be non-negative and less than the size of the collection. // Parameter name: index
open System let list = ResizeArray<string>() printfn $"Number of items: {list.Count}" try printfn $"The first item: '{list[0]}'" with | :? ArgumentOutOfRangeException as e -> printfn $"{e.Message}" // The example displays the following output: // Number of items: 0 // Index was out of range. Must be non-negative and less than the size of the collection. (Parameter 'index')
Imports System.Collections.Generic Module Example Public Sub Main() Dim list As New List(Of String) Console.WriteLine("Number of items: {0}", list.Count) Try Console.WriteLine("The first item: '{0}'", list(0)) Catch e As ArgumentOutOfRangeException Console.WriteLine(e.Message) End Try End Sub End Module ' The example displays the following output: ' Number of items: 0 ' Index was out of range. Must be non-negative and less than the size of the collection. ' Parameter name: index
To prevent the exception, check whether the collection's
Count
property is greater than zero before attempting to retrieve any members, as the following code fragment does.if (list.Count > 0) Console.WriteLine("The first item: '{0}'", list[0]);
if list.Count > 0 then printfn $"The first item: '{list[0]}'"
If list.Count > 0 Then Console.WriteLine("The first item: '{0}'", list(0)) End If
In some cases, the exception may occur because you are attempting to add a member to a collection by using an index that does not exist, rather than by calling the method, such as
Add
, that exists for this purpose. The following example attempts to add an element to a collection by using a non-existent index rather than calling the List<T>.Add method.using System; using System.Collections.Generic; public class Example13 { public static void Main() { var numbers = new List<int>(); numbers.AddRange( new int[] { 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 20 } ); var squares = new List<int>(); for (int ctr = 0; ctr < numbers.Count; ctr++) squares[ctr] = (int) Math.Pow(numbers[ctr], 2); } } // The example displays the following output: // Unhandled Exception: System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: Index was out of range. Must be non-negative and less than the size of the collection. // Parameter name: index // at System.ThrowHelper.ThrowArgumentOutOfRangeException(ExceptionArgument argument, ExceptionResource resource) // at Example.Main()
let numbers = ResizeArray<int>() numbers.AddRange [ 0; 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 20 ] let squares = ResizeArray<int>() for ctr = 0 to numbers.Count - 1 do squares[ctr] <- int (float numbers[ctr] ** 2) // The example displays the following output: // Unhandled Exception: System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: Index was out of range. Must be non-negative and less than the size of the collection. (Parameter 'index') // at System.ThrowHelper.ThrowArgumentOutOfRangeException(ExceptionArgument argument, ExceptionResource resource) // at <StartupCode$argumentoutofrangeexception>.$NoElements.main@()
Imports System.Collections.Generic Module Example Public Sub Main() Dim numbers As New List(Of Integer) numbers.AddRange( { 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 20 } ) Dim squares As New List(Of Integer) For ctr As Integer = 0 To numbers.Count - 1 squares(ctr) = CInt(numbers(ctr) ^ 2) Next End Sub End Module ' The example displays the following output: ' Unhandled Exception: System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: Index was out of range. Must be non-negative and less than the size of the collection. ' Parameter name: index ' at System.ThrowHelper.ThrowArgumentOutOfRangeException(ExceptionArgument argument, ExceptionResource resource) ' at Example.Main()
The following code fragment corrects this error:
var squares = new List<int>(); for (int ctr = 0; ctr < numbers.Count; ctr++) squares.Add((int) Math.Pow(numbers[ctr], 2));
let squares = ResizeArray<int>() for ctr = 0 to numbers.Count - 1 do squares.Add(int (float numbers[ctr] ** 2))
Dim squares As New List(Of Integer) For ctr As Integer = 0 To numbers.Count - 1 squares.Add(CInt(numbers(ctr) ^ 2)) Next
You're attempting to retrieve an item whose index is negative. This usually occurs because you've searched a collection for the index of a particular element and have erroneously assumed that the search is successful. In the following example, the call to the List<T>.FindIndex(Predicate<T>) method fails to find a string equal to "Z" and so returns -1. However, this is an invalid index value.
using System; using System.Collections.Generic; public class Example { public static void Main() { var list = new List<string>(); list.AddRange( new String[] { "A", "B", "C" } ); // Get the index of the element whose value is "Z". int index = list.FindIndex((new StringSearcher("Z")).FindEquals); try { Console.WriteLine("Index {0} contains '{1}'", index, list[index]); } catch (ArgumentOutOfRangeException e) { Console.WriteLine(e.Message); } } } internal class StringSearcher { string value; public StringSearcher(string value) { this.value = value; } public bool FindEquals(string s) { return s.Equals(value, StringComparison.InvariantCulture); } } // The example displays the following output: // Index was out of range. Must be non-negative and less than the size of the collection. // Parameter name: index
open System module StringSearcher = let findEquals (s: string) value = s.Equals(value, StringComparison.InvariantCulture) let list = ResizeArray<string>() list.AddRange [ "A"; "B"; "C" ] // Get the index of the element whose value is "Z". let index = list.FindIndex(StringSearcher.findEquals "Z") try printfn $"Index {index} contains '{list[index]}'" with | :? ArgumentOutOfRangeException as e -> printfn $"{e.Message}" // The example displays the following output: // Index was out of range. Must be non-negative and less than the size of the collection. (Parameter 'index')
Imports System.Collections.Generic Module Example Public Sub Main() Dim list As New List(Of String) list.AddRange( { "A", "B", "C" } ) ' Get the index of the element whose value is "Z". Dim index As Integer = list.FindIndex(AddressOf (New StringSearcher("Z")).FindEquals) Try Console.WriteLine("Index {0} contains '{1}'", index, list(index)) Catch e As ArgumentOutOfRangeException Console.WriteLine(e.Message) End Try End Sub End Module Friend Class StringSearcher Dim value As String Public Sub New(value As String) Me.value = value End Sub Public Function FindEquals(s As String) As Boolean Return s.Equals(value, StringComparison.InvariantCulture) End Function End Class ' The example displays the following output: ' Index was out of range. Must be non-negative and less than the size of the collection. ' Parameter name: index
To prevent the exception, check that the search is successful by making sure that the returned index is greater than or equal to zero before attempting to retrieve the item from the collection, as the following code fragment does.
// Get the index of the element whose value is "Z". int index = list.FindIndex((new StringSearcher("Z")).FindEquals); if (index >= 0) Console.WriteLine("'Z' is found at index {0}", list[index]);
// Get the index of the element whose value is "Z". let index = list.FindIndex(StringSearcher.findEquals "Z") if index >= 0 then printfn $"'Z' is found at index {list[index]}"
' Get the index of the element whose value is "Z". Dim index As Integer = list.FindIndex(AddressOf (New StringSearcher("Z")).FindEquals) If index >= 0 Then Console.WriteLine("Index {0} contains '{1}'", index, list(index)) End If
You're attempting to retrieve an element whose index is equal to the value of the collection's
Count
property, as the following example illustrates.using System; using System.Collections.Generic; public class Example8 { public static void Main() { var list = new List<string>(); list.AddRange( new String[] { "A", "B", "C" } ); try { // Display the elements in the list by index. for (int ctr = 0; ctr <= list.Count; ctr++) Console.WriteLine("Index {0}: {1}", ctr, list[ctr]); } catch (ArgumentOutOfRangeException e) { Console.WriteLine(e.Message); } } } // The example displays the following output: // Index 0: A // Index 1: B // Index 2: C // Index was out of range. Must be non-negative and less than the size of the collection. // Parameter name: index
open System let list = ResizeArray<string>() list.AddRange [ "A"; "B"; "C" ] try // Display the elements in the list by index. for i = 0 to list.Count do printfn $"Index {i}: {list[i]}" with | :? ArgumentOutOfRangeException as e -> printfn $"{e.Message}" // The example displays the following output: // Index 0: A // Index 1: B // Index 2: C // Index was out of range. Must be non-negative and less than the size of the collection. (Parameter 'index')
Imports System.Collections.Generic Module Example Public Sub Main() Dim list As New List(Of String) list.AddRange( { "A", "B", "C" } ) Try ' Display the elements in the list by index. For ctr As Integer = 0 To list.Count Console.WriteLine("Index {0}: {1}", ctr, list(ctr)) Next Catch e As ArgumentOutOfRangeException Console.WriteLine(e.Message) End Try End Sub End Module ' The example displays the following output: ' Index 0: A ' Index 1: B ' Index 2: C ' Index was out of range. Must be non-negative and less than the size of the collection. ' Parameter name: index
Because collections in .NET use zero-based indexing, the first element of the collection is at index 0, and the last element is at index
Count
- 1. You can eliminate the error by ensuring that you access the last element at indexCount
- 1, as the following code does.// Display the elements in the list by index. for (int ctr = 0; ctr < list.Count; ctr++) Console.WriteLine("Index {0}: {1}", ctr, list[ctr]);
// Display the elements in the list by index. for i = 0 to list.Count - 1 do printfn $"Index {i}: {list[i]}"
' Display the elements in the list by index. For ctr As Integer = 0 To list.Count - 1 Console.WriteLine("Index {0}: {1}", ctr, list(ctr)) Next
You are attempting to perform a string operation by calling a string manipulation method, and the starting index does not exist in the string.
Overloads of methods such as such as String.Compare, String.CompareOrdinal, String.IndexOf, IndexOfAny, String.Insert, String.LastIndexOf, String.LastIndexOfAny, Remove, or String.Substring that allow you to specify the starting index of the operation require that the index be a valid position within the string. Valid indexes range from 0 to String.Length - 1.
There are four common causes of this ArgumentOutOfRangeException exception:
You are working with an empty string, or String.Empty. Because its String.Length property returns 0, any attempt to manipulate it by index throws an ArgumentOutOfRangeException exception. The following example, defines a
GetFirstCharacter
method that returns the first character of a string. If the string is empty, as the final string passed to the method is, the method throws an ArgumentOutOfRangeException exception.using System; public class Example1 { public static void Main() { String[] words = { "the", "today", "tomorrow", " ", "" }; foreach (var word in words) Console.WriteLine("First character of '{0}': '{1}'", word, GetFirstCharacter(word)); } private static char GetFirstCharacter(string s) { return s[0]; } } // The example displays the following output: // First character of //the//: //t// // First character of //today//: //t// // First character of //tomorrow//: //t// // First character of // //: // // // // Unhandled Exception: System.IndexOutOfRangeException: Index was outside the bounds of the array. // at Example.Main()
open System let getFirstCharacter (s: string) = s[0] let words = [ "the"; "today"; "tomorrow"; " "; "" ] for word in words do printfn $"First character of '{word}': '{getFirstCharacter word}'" // The example displays the following output: // First character of 'the': 't' // First character of 'today': 't' // First character of 'tomorrow': 't' // First character of ' ': ' ' // // Unhandled Exception: System.IndexOutOfRangeException: Index was outside the bounds of the array. // at <StartupCode$argumentoutofrangeexception>.$EmptyString1.main@()
Module Example Public Sub Main() Dim words() As String = { "the", "today", "tomorrow", " ", "" } For Each word In words Console.WriteLine("First character of '{0}': '{1}'", word, GetFirstCharacter(word)) Next End Sub Private Function GetFirstCharacter(s As String) As Char Return s(0) End Function End Module ' The example displays the following output: ' First character of 'the': 't' ' First character of 'today': 't' ' First character of 'tomorrow': 't' ' First character of ' ': ' ' ' ' Unhandled Exception: System.IndexOutOfRangeException: Index was outside the bounds of the array. ' at Example.Main()
You can eliminate the exception by testing whether the string's String.Length is greater than zero or by calling the IsNullOrEmpty method to ensure that the string is not
null
or empty. The following code fragment does the latter. In this case, if the string isnull
or empty, theGetFirstCharacter
method returns U+0000.static char GetFirstCharacter(string s) { if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(s)) return '\u0000'; else return s[0]; }
let getFirstCharacter (s: string) = if String.IsNullOrEmpty s then '\u0000' else s[0]
Function GetFirstCharacter(s As String) As Char If String.IsNullOrEmpty(s) Then Return ChrW(0) Else Return s(0) End If End Function
You're manipulating a string based on the position of a substring within that string, and you've failed to determine whether the substring was actually found.
The following example extracts the second word of a two-word phrase. It throws an ArgumentOutOfRangeException exception if the phrase consists of only one word, and therefore does not contain an embedded space character. This occurs because the call to the String.IndexOf(String) method returns -1 to indicate that the search failed, and this invalid value is then passed to the String.Substring(Int32) method.
using System; public class Example17 { public static void Main() { String[] phrases = { "ocean blue", "concerned citizen", "runOnPhrase" }; foreach (var phrase in phrases) Console.WriteLine("Second word is {0}", GetSecondWord(phrase)); } static string GetSecondWord(string s) { int pos = s.IndexOf(" "); return s.Substring(pos).Trim(); } } // The example displays the following output: // Second word is blue // Second word is citizen // // Unhandled Exception: System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: StartIndex cannot be less than zero. // Parameter name: startIndex // at System.String.Substring(Int32 startIndex, Int32 length) // at Example17.GetSecondWord(String s) // at Example17.Main()
let getSecondWord (s: string) = let pos = s.IndexOf " " s.Substring(pos).Trim() let phrases = [ "ocean blue"; "concerned citizen"; "runOnPhrase" ] for phrase in phrases do printfn $"Second word is {getSecondWord phrase}" // The example displays the following output: // Second word is blue // Second word is citizen // // Unhandled Exception: System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: StartIndex cannot be less than zero. (Parameter 'startIndex') // at System.String.Substring(Int32 startIndex, Int32 length) // at System.String.Substring(Int32 startIndex) // at NoFind1.getSecondWord(String s) // at <StartupCode$argumentoutofrangeexception>.$NoFind1.main@()
Module Example Public Sub Main() Dim phrases() As String = { "ocean blue", "concerned citizen", "runOnPhrase" } For Each phrase In phrases Console.WriteLine("Second word is {0}", GetSecondWord(phrase)) Next End Sub Function GetSecondWord(s As String) As String Dim pos As Integer = s.IndexOf(" ") Return s.Substring(pos).Trim() End Function End Module ' The example displays the following output: ' Second word is blue ' Second word is citizen ' ' Unhandled Exception: System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: StartIndex cannot be less than zero. ' Parameter name: startIndex ' at System.String.Substring(Int32 startIndex, Int32 length) ' at Example.GetSecondWord(String s) ' at Example.Main()
To eliminate the exception, validate the value returned by the string search method before calling the string manipulation method.
using System; public class Example18 { public static void Main() { String[] phrases = { "ocean blue", "concerned citizen", "runOnPhrase" }; foreach (var phrase in phrases) { string word = GetSecondWord(phrase); if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(word)) Console.WriteLine("Second word is {0}", word); } } static string GetSecondWord(string s) { int pos = s.IndexOf(" "); if (pos >= 0) return s.Substring(pos).Trim(); else return string.Empty; } } // The example displays the following output: // Second word is blue // Second word is citizen
open System let getSecondWord (s: string) = let pos = s.IndexOf " " if pos >= 0 then s.Substring(pos).Trim() else String.Empty let phrases = [ "ocean blue"; "concerned citizen"; "runOnPhrase" ] for phrase in phrases do let word = getSecondWord phrase if not (String.IsNullOrEmpty word) then printfn $"Second word is {word}" // The example displays the following output: // Second word is blue // Second word is citizen
Module Example Public Sub Main() Dim phrases() As String = { "ocean blue", "concerned citizen", "runOnPhrase" } For Each phrase In phrases Dim word As String = GetSecondWord(phrase) If Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(word) Then _ Console.WriteLine("Second word is {0}", word) Next End Sub Function GetSecondWord(s As String) As String Dim pos As Integer = s.IndexOf(" ") If pos >= 0 Return s.Substring(pos).Trim() Else Return String.Empty End If End Function End Module ' The example displays the following output: ' Second word is blue ' Second word is citizen
You've attempted to extract a substring that is outside the range of the current string.
The methods that extract substrings all require that you specify the starting position of the substring and, for substrings that do not continue to the end of the string, the number of characters in the substring. Note that this is not the index of the last character in the substring.
An ArgumentOutOfRangeException exception is typically thrown in this case because you've incorrectly calculated the number of characters in the substring. If you are using a search method like String.IndexOf to identify the starting and ending positions of a substring:
If the character in the ending position returned by String.IndexOf is to be included in the substring, the ending position of the substring is given by the formula
endIndex - startIndex + 1
If the character in the ending position returned by String.IndexOf is to be excluded from the substring, the ending position of the substring is given by the formula
endIndex - startIndex
The following example defines a
FindWords
method that uses the String.IndexOfAny(Char[], Int32) method to identify space characters and punctuation marks in a string and returns an array that contains the words found in the string.using System; using System.Collections.Generic; public class Example19 { public static void Main() { string sentence = "This is a simple, short sentence."; Console.WriteLine("Words in '{0}':", sentence); foreach (var word in FindWords(sentence)) Console.WriteLine(" '{0}'", word); } static String[] FindWords(string s) { int start = 0, end = 0; Char[] delimiters = { ' ', '.', ',', ';', ':', '(', ')' }; var words = new List<string>(); while (end >= 0) { end = s.IndexOfAny(delimiters, start); if (end >= 0) { if (end - start > 0) words.Add(s.Substring(start, end - start)); start = end + 1; } else { if (start < s.Length - 1) words.Add(s.Substring(start)); } } return words.ToArray(); } } // The example displays the following output: // Words in 'This is a simple, short sentence.': // 'This' // 'is' // 'a' // 'simple' // 'short' // 'sentence'
let findWords (s: string) = let mutable start, end' = 0, 0 let delimiters = [| ' '; '.'; ','; ';'; ':'; '('; ')' |] let words = ResizeArray<string>() while end' >= 0 do end' <- s.IndexOfAny(delimiters, start) if end' >= 0 then if end' - start > 0 then words.Add(s.Substring(start, end' - start)) start <- end' + 1 elif start < s.Length - 1 then words.Add(s.Substring start) words.ToArray() let sentence = "This is a simple, short sentence." printfn $"Words in '{sentence}':" for word in findWords sentence do printfn $" '{word}'" // The example displays the following output: // Words in 'This is a simple, short sentence.': // 'This' // 'is' // 'a' // 'simple' // 'short' // 'sentence'
Imports System.Collections.Generic Module Example Public Sub Main() Dim sentence As String = "This is a simple, short sentence." Console.WriteLine("Words in '{0}':", sentence) For Each word In FindWords(sentence) Console.WriteLine(" '{0}'", word) Next End Sub Function FindWords(s As String) As String() Dim start, ending As Integer Dim delimiters() As Char = { " "c, "."c, ","c, ";"c, ":"c, "("c, ")"c } Dim words As New List(Of String)() Do While ending >= 0 ending = s.IndexOfAny(delimiters, start) If ending >= 0 If ending - start > 0 Then words.Add(s.Substring(start, ending - start)) End If start = ending + 1 Else If start < s.Length - 1 Then words.Add(s.Substring(start)) End If End If Loop Return words.ToArray() End Function End Module ' The example displays the following output: ' Words in 'This is a simple, short sentence.': ' 'This' ' 'is' ' 'a' ' 'simple' ' 'short' ' 'sentence'
You have passed a negative number to a method with an argument that requires only positive numbers and zero, or you have passed either a negative number or zero to a method with an argument that requires only positive numbers.
For example, the Array.CreateInstance(Type, Int32, Int32, Int32) method requires that you specify the number of elements in each dimension of a two-dimensional array; valid values for each dimension can range from 0 to Int32.MaxValue. But because the dimension argument in the following example has a negative value, the method throws an ArgumentOutOfRangeException exception.
using System; public class Example01 { public static void Main() { int dimension1 = 10; int dimension2 = -1; try { Array arr = Array.CreateInstance(typeof(string), dimension1, dimension2); } catch (ArgumentOutOfRangeException e) { if (e.ActualValue != null) Console.WriteLine("{0} is an invalid value for {1}: ", e.ActualValue, e.ParamName); Console.WriteLine(e.Message); } } } // The example displays the following output: // Non-negative number required. // Parameter name: length2
open System let dimension1 = 10 let dimension2 = -1 try let arr = Array.CreateInstance(typeof<string>, dimension1, dimension2) printfn "%A" arr with | :? ArgumentOutOfRangeException as e -> if not (isNull e.ActualValue) then printfn $"{e.ActualValue} is an invalid value for {e.ParamName}: " printfn $"{e.Message}" // The example displays the following output: // Non-negative number required. (Parameter 'length2')
Module Example Public Sub Main() Dim dimension1 As Integer = 10 Dim dimension2 As Integer = -1 Try Dim arr AS Array = Array.CreateInstance(GetType(String), dimension1, dimension2) Catch e As ArgumentOutOfRangeException If e.ActualValue IsNot Nothing Then Console.WriteLine("{0} is an invalid value for {1}: ", e.ActualValue, e.ParamName) End If Console.WriteLine(e.Message) End Try End Sub End Module ' The example displays the following output: ' Non-negative number required. ' Parameter name: length2
To correct the error, ensure that the value of the invalid argument is non-negative. You can do this by providing a valid value, as the following code fragment does.
int dimension1 = 10; int dimension2 = 10; Array arr = Array.CreateInstance(typeof(string), dimension1, dimension2);
let dimension1 = 10 let dimension2 = 10 let arr = Array.CreateInstance(typeof<string>, dimension1, dimension2) printfn "%A" arr
Dim dimension1 As Integer = 10 Dim dimension2 As Integer = 10 Dim arr As Array = Array.CreateInstance(GetType(String), dimension1, dimension2)
You can also validate the input and, if it is invalid, take some action. The following code fragment displays an error message instead of calling the method.
if (dimension1 < 0 || dimension2 < 0) { Console.WriteLine("Unable to create the array."); Console.WriteLine("Specify non-negative values for the two dimensions."); } else { arr = Array.CreateInstance(typeof(string), dimension1, dimension2); }
if dimension1 < 0 || dimension2 < 0 then printfn "Unable to create the array." printfn "Specify non-negative values for the two dimensions." else let arr = Array.CreateInstance(typeof<string>, dimension1, dimension2) printfn "%A" arr
If dimension1 < 0 OrElse dimension2 < 0 Then Console.WriteLine("Unable to create the array.") Console.WriteLine("Specify non-negative values for the two dimensions.") Else arr = Array.CreateInstance(GetType(String), dimension1, dimension2) End If
A race condition exists in an app that is multithreaded or has tasks that execute asynchronously and that updates an array or collection.
The following example uses a List<T> object to populate a collection of
Continent
objects. It throws an ArgumentOutOfRangeException if the example attempts to display the seven items in the collection before the collection is fully populated.using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Threading; public class Continent { public string? Name { get; set; } public int Population { get; set; } public Decimal Area { get; set; } } public class Example11 { static List<Continent> continents = new List<Continent>(); static string? s_msg; public static void Main() { String[] names = { "Africa", "Antarctica", "Asia", "Australia", "Europe", "North America", "South America" }; // Populate the list. foreach (var name in names) { var th = new Thread(PopulateContinents); th.Start(name); } Console.WriteLine(s_msg); Console.WriteLine(); // Display the list. for (int ctr = 0; ctr < names.Length; ctr++) { var continent = continents[ctr]; Console.WriteLine("{0}: Area: {1}, Population {2}", continent.Name, continent.Population, continent.Area); } } private static void PopulateContinents(Object? obj) { string? name = obj?.ToString(); s_msg += string.Format("Adding '{0}' to the list.\n", name); var continent = new Continent(); continent.Name = name; // Sleep to simulate retrieving remaining data. Thread.Sleep(50); continents.Add(continent); } } // The example displays output like the following: // Adding //Africa// to the list. // Adding //Antarctica// to the list. // Adding //Asia// to the list. // Adding //Australia// to the list. // Adding //Europe// to the list. // Adding //North America// to the list. // Adding //South America// to the list. // // // // Unhandled Exception: System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: Index was out of range. Must be non-negative and less than the size of the collection. // Parameter name: index // at System.ThrowHelper.ThrowArgumentOutOfRangeException(ExceptionArgument argument, ExceptionResource resource) // at Example.Main()
open System.Threading type Continent = { Name: string Population: int Area: decimal } let continents = ResizeArray<Continent>() let mutable msg = "" let names = [ "Africa"; "Antarctica"; "Asia" "Australia"; "Europe"; "North America" "South America" ] let populateContinents obj = let name = string obj msg <- msg + $"Adding '{name}' to the list.\n" // Sleep to simulate retrieving data. Thread.Sleep 50 let continent = { Name = name Population = 0 Area = 0M } continents.Add continent // Populate the list. for name in names do let th = Thread(ParameterizedThreadStart populateContinents) th.Start name printfn $"{msg}\n" // Display the list. for i = 0 to names.Length - 1 do let continent = continents[i] printfn $"{continent.Name}: Area: {continent.Population}, Population {continent.Area}" // The example displays output like the following: // Unhandled Exception: System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: Index was out of range. Must be non-negative and less than the size of the collection. (Parameter 'index') // at System.Collections.Generic.List`1.get_Item(Int32 index) // at <StartupCode$argumentoutofrangeexception>.$Race1.main@()
Imports System.Collections.Generic Imports System.Threading Public Class Continent Public Property Name As String Public Property Population As Integer Public Property Area As Decimal End Class Module Example Dim continents As New List(Of Continent) Dim msg As String Public Sub Main() Dim names() As String = { "Africa", "Antarctica", "Asia", "Australia", "Europe", "North America", "South America" } ' Populate the list. For Each name In names Dim th As New Thread(AddressOf PopulateContinents) th.Start(name) Next Console.WriteLine(msg) Console.WriteLine() ' Display the list. For ctr As Integer = 0 To names.Length - 1 Dim continent = continents(ctr) Console.WriteLine("{0}: Area: {1}, Population {2}", continent.Name, continent.Population, continent.Area) Next End Sub Private Sub PopulateContinents(obj As Object) Dim name As String = obj.ToString() msg += String.Format("Adding '{0}' to the list.{1}", name, vbCrLf) Dim continent As New Continent() continent.Name = name ' Sleep to simulate retrieving remaining data. Thread.Sleep(50) continents.Add(continent) End Sub End Module ' The example displays output like the following: ' Adding 'Africa' to the list. ' Adding 'Antarctica' to the list. ' Adding 'Asia' to the list. ' Adding 'Australia' to the list. ' Adding 'Europe' to the list. ' Adding 'North America' to the list. ' Adding 'South America' to the list. ' ' ' ' Unhandled Exception: System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: Index was out of range. Must be non-negative and less than the size of the collection. ' Parameter name: index ' at System.ThrowHelper.ThrowArgumentOutOfRangeException(ExceptionArgument argument, ExceptionResource resource) ' at Example.Main()
In this case, two resources are accessed from multiple threads:
The
continents
collection. Its List<T>.Add method is called from multiple threads. In addition, the main or primary thread assumes the collection is fully populated with seven elements when it iterates its members.The
msg
string, which is concatenated from multiple threads.
To correct the error, ensure that shared state is accessed in a thread-safe way, as follows.
if your app uses an array or collection object, consider using a thread-safe collection class, such as the types in the System.Collections.Concurrent namespace or the System.Collections.Immutable out-of-band release.
Ensure that shared state (that is, resources that can be accessed by multiple threads) is accessed in a thread-safe way, so that only one thread at a time has exclusive access to the resources. A large number of classes, such as CountdownEvent, Interlocked, Monitor, and Mutex, are available to synchronize access to resources. For more information, see Threading. In addition, language support is available through the lock statement in C# and the SyncLock construct in Visual Basic.
The following example addresses the ArgumentOutOfRangeException and the other issues from the previous example. It replaces the List<T> object with a ConcurrentBag<T> object to ensure that access to the collection is thread-safe, uses a CountdownEvent object to ensure that the application thread continues only after other threads have executed, and uses a lock to ensure that only one thread can access the
msg
variable at a time.using System; using System.Collections.Concurrent; using System.Threading; public class ContinentD { public string? Name { get; set; } public int Population { get; set; } public Decimal Area { get; set; } } public class Example12 { static ConcurrentBag<ContinentD> ContinentDs = new ConcurrentBag<ContinentD>(); static CountdownEvent? gate; static string msg = string.Empty; public static void Main() { String[] names = { "Africa", "Antarctica", "Asia", "Australia", "Europe", "North America", "South America" }; gate = new CountdownEvent(names.Length); // Populate the list. foreach (var name in names) { var th = new Thread(PopulateContinentDs); th.Start(name); } // Display the list. gate.Wait(); Console.WriteLine(msg); Console.WriteLine(); var arr = ContinentDs.ToArray(); for (int ctr = 0; ctr < names.Length; ctr++) { var ContinentD = arr[ctr]; Console.WriteLine("{0}: Area: {1}, Population {2}", ContinentD.Name, ContinentD.Population, ContinentD.Area); } } private static void PopulateContinentDs(Object? obj) { string? name = obj?.ToString(); lock(msg) { msg += string.Format("Adding '{0}' to the list.\n", name); } var ContinentD = new ContinentD(); ContinentD.Name = name; // Sleep to simulate retrieving remaining data. Thread.Sleep(25); ContinentDs.Add(ContinentD); gate?.Signal(); } } // The example displays output like the following: // Adding 'Africa' to the list. // Adding 'Antarctica' to the list. // Adding 'Asia' to the list. // Adding 'Australia' to the list. // Adding 'Europe' to the list. // Adding 'North America' to the list. // Adding 'South America' to the list. // // // Africa: Area: 0, Population 0 // Antarctica: Area: 0, Population 0 // Asia: Area: 0, Population 0 // Australia: Area: 0, Population 0 // Europe: Area: 0, Population 0 // North America: Area: 0, Population 0 // South America: Area: 0, Population 0
open System.Collections.Concurrent open System.Threading type Continent = { Name: string Population: int Area: decimal } let continents = ConcurrentBag<Continent>(); let mutable msg = "" let names = [ "Africa"; "Antarctica"; "Asia" "Australia"; "Europe"; "North America" "South America" ] let gate = new CountdownEvent(names.Length) let populateContinents obj = let name = string obj lock msg (fun () -> msg <- msg + $"Adding '{name}' to the list.\n" ) // Sleep to simulate retrieving remaining data. let continent = { Name = name Population = 0 Area = 0M } Thread.Sleep 25 continents.Add continent gate.Signal() |> ignore // Populate the list. for name in names do let th = Thread(ParameterizedThreadStart populateContinents) th.Start name // Display the list. gate.Wait(); printfn $"{msg}\n" let arr = continents.ToArray(); for i = 0 to names.Length - 1 do let continent = arr[i] printfn $"{continent.Name}: Area: {continent.Population}, Population {continent.Area}" // The example displays output like the following: // Adding 'Africa' to the list. // Adding 'Antarctica' to the list. // Adding 'Asia' to the list. // Adding 'Australia' to the list. // Adding 'Europe' to the list. // Adding 'North America' to the list. // Adding 'South America' to the list. // // // Africa: Area: 0, Population 0 // Antarctica: Area: 0, Population 0 // Asia: Area: 0, Population 0 // Australia: Area: 0, Population 0 // Europe: Area: 0, Population 0 // North America: Area: 0, Population 0 // South America: Area: 0, Population 0
Imports System.Collections.Concurrent Imports System.Threading Public Class Continent Public Property Name As String Public Property Population As Integer Public Property Area As Decimal End Class Module Example Dim continents As New ConcurrentBag(Of Continent) Dim gate As CountdownEvent Dim msg As String = String.Empty Public Sub Main() Dim names() As String = { "Africa", "Antarctica", "Asia", "Australia", "Europe", "North America", "South America" } gate = new CountdownEvent(names.Length) ' Populate the list. For Each name In names Dim th As New Thread(AddressOf PopulateContinents) th.Start(name) Next ' Display the list. gate.Wait() Console.WriteLine(msg) Console.WriteLine() For ctr As Integer = 0 To names.Length - 1 Dim continent = continents(ctr) Console.WriteLine("{0}: Area: {1}, Population {2}", continent.Name, continent.Population, continent.Area) Next End Sub Private Sub PopulateContinents(obj As Object) Dim name As String = obj.ToString() SyncLock msg msg += String.Format("Adding '{0}' to the list.{1}", name, vbCrLf) End SyncLock Dim continent As New Continent() continent.Name = name ' Sleep to simulate retrieving remaining data. Thread.Sleep(25) continents.Add(continent) gate.Signal() End Sub End Module ' The example displays output like the following: ' Adding 'Africa' to the list. ' Adding 'Antarctica' to the list. ' Adding 'Asia' to the list. ' Adding 'Australia' to the list. ' Adding 'Europe' to the list. ' Adding 'North America' to the list. ' Adding 'South America' to the list. ' ' ' Africa: Area: 0, Population 0 ' Antarctica: Area: 0, Population 0 ' Asia: Area: 0, Population 0 ' Australia: Area: 0, Population 0 ' Europe: Area: 0, Population 0 ' North America: Area: 0, Population 0 ' South America: Area: 0, Population 0
ArgumentOutOfRangeException uses the HRESULT COR_E_ARGUMENTOUTOFRANGE, which has the value 0x80131502.
For a list of initial property values for an instance of ArgumentOutOfRangeException, see the ArgumentOutOfRangeException constructors.
Constructors
ArgumentOutOfRangeException() |
Initializes a new instance of the ArgumentOutOfRangeException class. |
ArgumentOutOfRangeException(SerializationInfo, StreamingContext) |
Obsolete.
Initializes a new instance of the ArgumentOutOfRangeException class with serialized data. |
ArgumentOutOfRangeException(String, Exception) |
Initializes a new instance of the ArgumentOutOfRangeException class with a specified error message and the exception that is the cause of this exception. |
ArgumentOutOfRangeException(String, Object, String) |
Initializes a new instance of the ArgumentOutOfRangeException class with the parameter name, the value of the argument, and a specified error message. |
ArgumentOutOfRangeException(String, String) |
Initializes a new instance of the ArgumentOutOfRangeException class with the name of the parameter that causes this exception and a specified error message. |
ArgumentOutOfRangeException(String) |
Initializes a new instance of the ArgumentOutOfRangeException class with the name of the parameter that causes this exception. |
Properties
ActualValue |
Gets the argument value that causes this exception. |
Data |
Gets a collection of key/value pairs that provide additional user-defined information about the exception. (Inherited from Exception) |
HelpLink |
Gets or sets a link to the help file associated with this exception. (Inherited from Exception) |
HResult |
Gets or sets HRESULT, a coded numerical value that is assigned to a specific exception. (Inherited from Exception) |
InnerException |
Gets the Exception instance that caused the current exception. (Inherited from Exception) |
Message |
Gets the error message and the string representation of the invalid argument value, or only the error message if the argument value is null. |
ParamName |
Gets the name of the parameter that causes this exception. (Inherited from ArgumentException) |
Source |
Gets or sets the name of the application or the object that causes the error. (Inherited from Exception) |
StackTrace |
Gets a string representation of the immediate frames on the call stack. (Inherited from Exception) |
TargetSite |
Gets the method that throws the current exception. (Inherited from Exception) |
Methods
Equals(Object) |
Determines whether the specified object is equal to the current object. (Inherited from Object) |
GetBaseException() |
When overridden in a derived class, returns the Exception that is the root cause of one or more subsequent exceptions. (Inherited from Exception) |
GetHashCode() |
Serves as the default hash function. (Inherited from Object) |
GetObjectData(SerializationInfo, StreamingContext) |
Obsolete.
Sets the SerializationInfo object with the invalid argument value and additional exception information. |
GetObjectData(SerializationInfo, StreamingContext) |
Obsolete.
Sets the SerializationInfo object with the parameter name and additional exception information. (Inherited from ArgumentException) |
GetType() |
Gets the runtime type of the current instance. (Inherited from Exception) |
MemberwiseClone() |
Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object) |
ThrowIfEqual<T>(T, T, String) |
Throws an ArgumentOutOfRangeException if |
ThrowIfGreaterThan<T>(T, T, String) |
Throws an ArgumentOutOfRangeException if |
ThrowIfGreaterThanOrEqual<T>(T, T, String) |
Throws an ArgumentOutOfRangeException if |
ThrowIfLessThan<T>(T, T, String) |
Throws an ArgumentOutOfRangeException if |
ThrowIfLessThanOrEqual<T>(T, T, String) |
Throws an ArgumentOutOfRangeException if |
ThrowIfNegative<T>(T, String) |
Throws an ArgumentOutOfRangeException if |
ThrowIfNegativeOrZero<T>(T, String) |
Throws an ArgumentOutOfRangeException if |
ThrowIfNotEqual<T>(T, T, String) |
Throws an ArgumentOutOfRangeException if |
ThrowIfZero<T>(T, String) |
Throws an ArgumentOutOfRangeException if |
ToString() |
Creates and returns a string representation of the current exception. (Inherited from Exception) |
Events
SerializeObjectState |
Obsolete.
Occurs when an exception is serialized to create an exception state object that contains serialized data about the exception. (Inherited from Exception) |